Riders who spoke to News4 said they didn’t notice the switch to automatic train operation. News4’s Joseph Olmo reports.
Metro's switch to automatic train operation (ATO) on the Red Line Sunday went well — aside from a few times in which trains went past the stations' platforms before stopping, a spokesperson for Metro said.
The spokesperson said there were no impacts to Red Line service and that the ATO system was "performing well with only minor, first-day adjustments.”
“I did not notice anything at all. It was a smooth ride," one woman told News4 after getting off a train Monday. "So it just felt like a normal Monday morning.”
The ATO system accelerates and decelerates the trains as they leave and pull into the stations. Metro said it's supposed to result in a smoother, less forceful ride for passengers.
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“It was a little less jerky, now that you say it. Yeah," one woman said when asked if she noticed any difference in the way the train tugged or pulled.
“I didn’t feel it at all," another woman said.
Metro said it's monitoring the transition and making adjustments. On Monday, Metro said only underground Red Line trains were operating automatically because of the rain.
Sunday was the first time in 15 years that Red Line trains ran on the ATO system. According to Metro's website, ATO could mean more on-time trains, quicker speeds and an overall smoother ride.
Metro first used ATO when it opened its doors to the public in 1976 but suspended ATO after the 2009 Metro crash, which killed nine people and injured another 80. The cause of the crash was later found to be a track defect, not ATO.
The Red Line is Metro's first line to return to ATO.
