The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) announced its new 8000-series train car designs Aug. 26, which will launch in 2027.
The new design, which returns the trains to their original 1970s look, will replace the 1980s-era 3000-series train fleet and was voted for by some 20,000 riders who selected it from three options. In addition to the retro exterior design, the train cars will include heated floors, WiFi and improved ventilation to prevent the spread of airborne viruses.
Zoe Auld (CAS ’27), who voted on the train car design, said she is excited to see the new trains but has never felt the 3000-series were too old.
“I’ve never been on the train and been like, ‘Wow, this is out of date, I feel unsafe,’” Auld told The Hoya. “You can just tell if it’s a little bit older.”
Naama Ben-Dor (CAS ’26), who grew up in the Washington, D.C.-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area, said she did not like the new design because it fails to feel vintage since the train itself is modern.
“Honestly, if it’s trying to look more old-timey, it kind of fails, because the actual design of the train has a more modern look, but only the color has changed,” Ben-Dor told The Hoya. “It’s failing to be modern, but it’s also failing to be old-timey.”
Randy Clarke, WMATA’s general manager and CEO, said the new train car design is both modern and retro.
“While the exterior design of the new 8000-series fleet pays homage to Metro’s past, the interior is all about the future,” Clarke said in a press release. “This new rail fleet will improve the customer experience in every way.”
Even as the WMATA touted the train design, Ben-Dor said the exterior design should not be the focus of the transportation department.
“If the design was updated only in order to make it look nicer, then I don’t think this should be the focus of the transportation industry, at least in the DMV, because I do think it’s a waste of money,” Ben-Dor said.
Many areas in Washington, D.C., do not have a Metro station, including the Georgetown neighborhood. In 2021, the City Council allocated $10 million to construct a metro station on M Street, but geological challenges, including hard bedrock coupled with close proximity to the river, halted the project.
Ben-Dor said adding more stations around the city would be a better allocation of taxpayer dollars.
“In terms of the actual look of the cars, I’m not really interested in investing our taxpayer money into that, because I think a better use of that money would be more destinations,” Ben-Dor said.
Auld said Southeast Washington is also in need of a train station, which includes Ward 7 and 8, the lowest-income neighborhoods in the city, having about 54% to 58% car ownership, which is below the city average.
“It would be great to have easier transportation to Georgetown and to a lot of areas,” Auld said. “I know Southeast has a real problem with transportation, and that’s the area where actually the least amount of people own cars.”
D.C. residents who lack proper public transportation and cannot afford a car struggle to access grocery stores, doctors and other amenities, according to the D.C. Policy Center, a nonpartisan research group.
Valerie Santos, chair of WMATA’s board of directors, said the new train cars are what the District’s transportation system needs.
“Our region deserves a modern rail system, and the new 8000 series fleet will be instrumental in providing the safe, frequent and reliable service our customers expect,” Santos said in a press release.
Ben-Dor said the lack of public transportation makes it difficult to reach grocery stores, which he said changing the design of train cars would not help with.
“As a student living off campus, and who tries to maintain a relatively healthy diet, I try to cook for myself as often as possible,” Ben-Dor said. “The lack of public transportation, though, makes it very difficult to find the time to go purchase groceries, since it takes me significantly longer to walk to the grocery store and back than to actually purchase the items I need.”
