Once upon a time, the Washington Metro was the gold standard of mass transit. It had clean stations and trains with carpets and cushioned seats. Very little crime occurred in the system. Service was very frequent and reliable. And then, things went downhill.

People started littering in the system. The carpets on the trains became moldy. Violent crimes started to occur on a regular basis. Service became less and less reliable. Once, there was even an emergency systemwide shutdown in 2016 due to an issue with some of the electrical cables in the various tunnels (imagine shutting down the entire NYC subway). The sleek 7000 series trains were taken out of service in the fall of 2021 due to flaws in the wheelsets. When I last fanned the DC Metro back in summer 2021, I rode on 7000 series trains. My railfanning adventure could've had a tragic ending.

With that said, I still like the DC Metro. It's a fun system to railfan. Thankfully, I don't have to rely on it on a daily basis. In this clip, a Shady Grove-bound Red line train is traveling from Silver Spring to Union Station. Enjoy the ride!