Washington Metro rolling stock
The rolling stock of the Washington Metro system consists of 1,242 75-foot (22.86 m) cars that were acquired across seven orders. All cars operate as married pairs (consecutively numbered even-odd), with systems shared across the pair. The 7000-series cars, the system's newest, have an operator's cab in only one of each married pair's cars (the even numbered one) and operate in groups of three or four.
The system's track gauge is 4 ft 8+1⁄4 in (1,429 mm) – 0.25 inches (6 mm) narrower than 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge, but is not considered narrow gauge in the traditional sense despite the gauge. Also, at 40 inches (1,016 mm) above top of rail, the floor height of the cars is lower than that of most other East Coast mass transit systems, including New York City, Boston and Philadelphia.
As of February 2026, Metro owns a fleet of 1,216 cars, 1,208 of which were in active revenue service.
| Active railcars | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series | Manufacturer | Number purchased | Entered service | Planned retirement | Currently owned | Currently active | Traction System | Planned replacement |
| 3000 | Breda (Refurbished by Alstom) | 290 | 1987 (Refurbished 2004-2009) | 2027–2029 | 276 | 250 | IGBT-VVVF (Alstom ONIX 2000) | 8000-Series |
| 6000 | Alstom | 184 | 2006 | TBD | 184 | 180 + 2 as money train |
8000-series (if option order is exercised) | |
| 7000 | Kawasaki | 748 | 2015 | 748 | 748 | Toshiba IGBT-VVVF | ||
| Retired railcars | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series | Manufacturer | Number purchased | Entered service | Retired | Currently owned | Traction System | Replacement |
| 1000 | Rohr | 300 | 1976 | 2016–2017 | 2 preserved | GE 3-Level GTO-VVVF | 7000-series |
| 2000 | Breda (Refurbished by Alstom) | 76 | 1982 (Refurbished 2002-2004) | 2024 | 2 preserved+ 2 as Money Train | IGBT-VVVF (Alstom ONIX 2000) | |
| 4000 | Breda | 100 | 1991 | 2017 | 2 preserved | Westinghouse Chopper-Control | |
| 5000 | CAF / AAI | 192 | 2001 | 2018–2019 | 2 preserved | IGBT-VVVF (Bombardier MITRAC DR1000) | |
| Future railcars | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Series | Manufacturer | Number purchased | Year planned for entering service (estimate) |
| 8000 | Hitachi | 256 (with options for up to 800) (proposed) |
2028 |