As Capital Metro is in the midst of making more than $100 million worth of upgrades to its MetroRail commuter line, construction delays have hampered a new schedule it launched in January.
The new schedule was intended to make use of new trains the transit agency purchased thanks to a $28 million grant from the Texas Department of Transportation. The scheduled aimed to offer double capacity on the three highest-use MetroRail morning and afternoon trips. Because its platforms are not long enough, Capital Metro could not link two trains together. Instead, a second train followed the first one five minutes later.
However, siding construction is underway at three stations—Lakeline, Howard and Crestview—to add a second set of tracks that will allow trains to pass in opposite directions. This has caused recent delays to trips over the past several days, sometimes up to an hour, and has left many commuters frustrated.
The agency’s new President and CEO Randy Clarke, who started the job March 7,
responded that day on Twitter to commuter frustration.
“These projects are an investment in the future of Capital Metro’s rail line and will pay off with doubled frequency and capacity,” he said. “Having said that, we owe it to our customers to communicate any delays and modified schedules in a more proactive manner.”
Capital Metro halted work March 8-9 for South by Southwest Conference & Festivals and announced a new schedule would begin March 19 that could alleviate heavy construction delays. Staffers will test the new schedule for one week.
When siding work is finished in December and the new permanent downtown rail station opens in 2021, the agency would like to expand service and run trains every 15 minutes.
“That is the thinking around here: We ultimately want a seven-day-a-week service to cover all stations and provide as much service as we can possibly deliver,” said Roberto Gonzalez, Capital Metro’s director of service planning.
On March 19, Capital Metro will also operate a new schedule on three of the agency’s rail connector bus routes: 464 and 465 serving the Martin Luther King Jr. Station and the Capitol and The University of Texas, and 466 serving The Domain and UT Pickle Research Campus.
The agency is also continuing to evaluate its schedules that will be part of the June service changes, a representative said. In June, Capital Metro is planning to overhaul more than half of its bus routes to make the system more frequent and connected.
