To enhance rail passenger safety by making it easier for customers, first responders and operations personnel to identify a rail car, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) is installing new train identification numbers atop all of its 1,130 rail cars.
The retrofit, which began last fall, removes the 2¼-inch, non-reflective exterior car numbers below the operator’s window and installs new, reflective five-inch numbers atop the end of each rail car. The program also features the installation of new, interior rail car door leaf numbers, making it easier to identify a rail car door number if there is an issue with a door.
The new reflective and taller numbers atop the fleet of rail cars make it easier for customers, first responders and Metro staff to identify a rail car immediately in an emergency or other incident on Metrorail.
Metro officials expect to have the entire fleet retrofitted with the new identification numbers by this summer.
The retrofit program costs $162,000, which includes material, labor, installation, and the design for the exterior rail car and interior door leaf numbers.