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I’ve ridden that route a few times and I’ve never seen anything but a 2000-series on the 961! The most I’ve seen is a 2000 wrapped in a 757 Express livery!

@@29downtheline that’s their new livery going forward. Some has the 757 express wording but the rest don’t, especially the newer buses they gotten this year, which i think what you ended up getting.

Amtrak could definitely improve on reliability of their long distance trains. Generally, though, I’ve had good experiences on them.

@airbus7373 Haha, I didn’t notice that bit about the aluminum until now!

Interesting! Do they have both brands then?

I kept checking how late Train 30 was to Martinsburg in the days leading up to this trip. It was usually around 15 minutes late, but the worst I saw (besides cancelled to DC due to a bridge fire) was probably 90 minutes late. It was only 1 minute late to Martinsburg for us, though!

Thanks for watching! The Silver Line out to Loudoun is nice to have, but its biggest shortcoming is the amount of time it takes to get into DC. It seems unlikely, but I keep hoping that someone at WMATA brings up a plan for express trains out to Dulles or Ashburn, and not just through Arlington. Regardless of time, I still use the line, anyway! It’s nice to not have to worry about driving in DC traffic, though! It’s worth a ride if you haven’t been on it yet!

Thank you so much for watching!

It is kinda unfortunate that this warrants a post, but WMATA has mostly been providing pretty good service recently, I’ve been really impressed! Auto-doors are the first step in re-automating the system to use ATO again. I was on SEPTA’s Market-Frankford Line today, and, for comparison, those doors sometimes open while the train is still moving! It was largely safety protocol that kept DC’s doors from opening quickly, but I’m glad they’ve improved it!

@@29downthelinethere’s absolutely not excuse for these doors to open and close so slowly. the technology exists to be better

@thegreypenguin5097 I agree with you there. I really don’t know why the doors are slower than those on other systems, even with the improved opening times. But I like to view this as a step in the right direction! 3 seconds is much better than 10!

As a person who lives in the DMV I find that kinda offensive

@@chickhenkein_FAK... Well, the time it takes for the doors to open is notoriously slow in DC when compared to other subways. It’s definitely something they should work on, but I really don’t think it detracts THAT much from the overall functionality of the system. I think the DC Metro does pretty well in terms of rider experience (it’s certainly nicer than SEPTA or the Baltimore Subway). And in terms of rail service, I think they’ve improved greatly over the last few years, but still have some distance to go. Thanks for the comment in defense of DC! (the DC Metro is certainly my favorite heavy rail system in the US!)

Sign was not there when I filmed this! Maybe they took it down or it got knocked over?

Apparently on some older report they said they wanted to elevate the Bypass through that future interchange, which I guess could mean the two segments of Fort Evans Rd could be reconnected together (hopefully with pedestrian access)? I haven’t ridden it, but the 70 seems like a good route, connecting downtown Leesburg, Dulles Town Center, and the NOVA Loudoun Campus. LC Transit does get bonus points for being really cheap to ride!

@sammymarrco2 I actually go to CNU (so pretty much all the way across the state), but I visit VT semi-regularly as my brother goes there! VT’s got a great campus (and bus system) though! Good school, lots of programs! Do you know what you’ll be studying yet?

@@29downtheline Geography with minors in urban planning and GIS! (if i can pass two hard NOVA math classes). My condolences going to CNU with HRT bus every hour 😭

@sammymarrco2 Oh nice, my brother there also studies geography! Maybe y’all will run into each other! Best of luck with the NOVA classes! And this might be a controversial opinion, but I actually really like HRT. The Elizabeth River Ferry is one of my favorite transit lines I’ve ever ridden! And CNU (including stops that are a short walk off campus) is actually served by buses multiple times an hour because we have 5 different bus routes running by campus. 4 of those lines run very similar routes to each other (2 are express routes that run at weird times, probably timed with shipyard shifts), as Newport News is a very linear city (about 20 miles long and 6 miles wide at its widest, less than a mile at its narrowest). Most of the day, service is every half hour or better (still lots of room for improvement though). I’ll get back to making more HRT content once I’m back at school in the fall! Thanks for watching!

@@29downtheline oh good to hear, looking forward to it!

Yep!

Yes it is!

Good point about Tysons. I think the main difference here is that Tysons was built up with large office towers, apartments, and shopping complexes to become a regional commercial hub, while Loudoun Gateway's surroundings are zoned for and being developed in to more data centers. And it doesn't seem like that's going to change much in the near future. Hopefully planners can find a way to get more use out of this station (better road connections seem like a good place to start, and this is fortunately already underway). Thanks for watching!

Amazing name! Good suggestion! This might just have to become the bird's name!

Thanks for watching!! Yeah, our wait time for The Bus 21X was a big problem. Delayed trains early on just prevented everything else from going right, so we could have had a much better time. It’s all up to delays and bus times. I think I looked at the other bus routes when planning, but it seems that backtracking on the Metro is faster in most cases (depending on frequency and delays, of course). In retrospect, using the Fairfax Connector 660 could have saved the run, but we would have had to turn around from McLean and get the express bus from Tysons to Vienna, so I’m not sure if it would have been possible with our delayed train (I believe the 660 CAN be faster to Vienna, depending on timing and traffic). Sounds like your run had a solid plan. I hope it goes well if you try it again! What would you do differently?

Also crazy how you were like “last time we’ll be able to stick our head out the cab then metrofest happened like 2 months later.

@car_tar3882 I definitely didn’t foresee Metro Fest being a thing (but sitting in the real cab was SOOOOOOO much better)!

@@29downtheline metrofest was awesome! I hope they have a 3/6000 at the next.

If only they’d bring out the 2000s! I feel like this would be enough of a special occasion!

@@29downtheline yeah, I’m curious if the signaling system could allow or be overridden to allow 3 2 car sets on the platform maybe a 2 a 6 and half a 7

I do think this line is helpful; I actually wish it ran more frequently! I think the odd parts are the route it uses and the fact that crosswalks or grade-separated pedestrian crossings weren’t built, like on other places of the same road. Even if pedestrian access is improved, I’d like to see this route stick around!

Glad you enjoyed!

Good name!

Thank you so much for watching!!! (and thanks for typing all those time stamps out!)

Best music genre out there!

@@29downthelinelies

The never-ceasing Yellow Line changes continue! Makes sense considering the Purple Line!

Makes sense! I was also told that at least some of them are for repositioning trains going out of service to bring them to a different yard!

@@29downtheline How do they do that for example red to blue line for example? Because red is an independent line and can’t connect with other lines on different tracks

@lionfan11 I have yet to personally see any revenue service trains run on to or off of the Red Line from any other line (although there used to be Green Line rush hour trains that ran on a connector track on to the Red Line, bypassing Fort Totten, before the Green Line was completed). It’s possible to move trains onto the Red Line at Fort Totten (via that previously mentioned connecting track) and via a tunnel between McPherson Sq and Farragut North.

I’m hoping to go to the second one, it depends on my work/class schedule though!

Thanks for watching!

Awesome! Quite a bit more stations up in NYC!

@@29downtheline The New York City Subway lines were made by several private transportation companies that eventually formed them into one entity: New York City Transit Authority, that became New York City Transit on April 30, 1996. This rapid transit system is the largest rapid transit system in the United States like Tokyo and Japan. The New York City Subway has more than 240 miles of tracks and exactly 472 stations. I am still a subway buff. Thank you for typing to me.

I caught your first comment, but am not steadily on TH-cam. Thank you for typing to me.💙

With dmv moves what if metro buys the purple line and extends to tysons

😮

​@@car_tar3882 Well, the purple line doesn't belong to the Metro, since it belongs to the Purple Line company, so...

@@S-CB-SL-Animations what if they BUY

@car_tar3882 This is gonna be a long-winded comment, but I very much have thoughts on the Purple Line. I’m very intrigued by the idea of a Purple Line extension to Tysons; I think it would make a lot of sense and provide a nice transit route across the Potomac! Not sure how the operation of it would work if it stayed under MDOT MTA or if WMATA could ever feasibly obtain control of the line. I’d personally love to see the Purple Line be gradually extended as an orbital route all the way around DC, passing National Harbor and Alexandria in the process (for this reason I’m not a fan of the Bloop proposal; I think light rail better suits the purpose of connecting these places). I’m excited for what the Purple Line will bring to the table, and I’m definitely hoping it gets extended, connecting more suburban sections of the Metro system!

Thanks for watching!!

It would fit right in with the other weird trains like SV and BL to New Carrollton that I’ve seen! It’s very possible there are a couple of random YL trains here and there that go to Greenbelt, but I haven’t seen any regularly-scheduled ones since when I filmed this!

I agree! I have another video involving LC Transit already filmed (featuring some of their full-size Gillig buses) and am hoping to film one on the commuter buses they run!

Farragut West! This is the elevator between the mezzanine and the westbound platform, inside fare control. It’s been this way for months and there seems to be no immediate effort to change it (I’m still hoping they never change it)!

Thank you so much!

@@29downtheline No problem.😁

Awesome! What do you think of everything so far?

@@29downtheline it’s pretty sweet! I just got an icee thing a minute ago

Indeed! Interestingly, the Chick-Fil-A stop isn’t even on the route map!

@@29downtheline​​maybe it’s a fun surprise in case you get hungry lol

It’s in the Transit App if you look far enough ahead and it’s also in Google Maps (you can find it by getting directions between New Carrollton-Ashburn, etc). For example, there’s a Silver Line train that leaves New Carrollton at 5:32a tomorrow. Not sure if there’s a BL to New Carrollton anymore, since scheduling might have changed. There is also a SV that will terminate at Dulles Airport leaving from Largo right now. I think just playing around with departure times and destinations is probably the best way to do it; I don’t think there’s any official schedule posted for them, unfortunately!

Thank you!

This at least seemed to be one of the less pervasive instances of single-tracking; service on the line north from L’Enfant Plaza was relatively frequent despite the altered schedules. It was still cool to see YL trains running their full former route!

@@29downtheline I understand when the Yellow Line reopened after the bridge work and tunnel/ The Yellow Line decided to go back to Mount Vernon Square.

I’ve seen the two-way lefts all over the place, too, I just thought it was interesting that it was applied to left-side driving traffic! It just seems weird making a right in front of oncoming traffic!