End of Turnbacks Will Double Number of Trains to Shady Grove
Metrorail’s rush-hour service to Rockville will double beginning Monday, Dec. 17, with the elimination of the so-called turnback at the Grosvenor-Strathmore station.
Metro announced the start date for the additional service this fall, after Metro’s Board of Directors approved the end of the turnbacks in July. Under the turnbacks, every other Red Line train during rush hour starts and turns around at Grosvenor-Strathmore, forcing riders at White Flint, Twinbrook, Rockville and Shady Grove to wait eight minutes between trains. With the additional service, riders at those stations will wait just four minutes.
A public outreach survey conducted last spring found that 70 percent of Red Line riders supported the service increase. At a public hearing earlier this year, Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton, on behalf of the Mayor and Council, testified in support of eliminating the turnbacks.
For more information about the coming change, visit www.wmata.com and search
“Approval for Additional Red Line Service,” to find a link to Action Item IX-A from the July 12 board meeting, or visit www.youtube.com/cityofrockville and search “Eliminating Grosvenor Metro Turnback.”