Records Show a Subway System on the Decline

Washington’s subway system, which for three decades has shaped the metropolitan region and delivered thousands of commuters to work on time, has fallen into a decline -- and mismanagement has been a key factor, records show.

Trains break down 64% more often than they did three years ago, and the number of daily delays has nearly doubled since 2000. Although the majority of trains are on time, more than 14,400 subway riders a day experience delays or mechanical problems that force them off broken trains.

Metro officials have spent nearly $1 billion in recent years to turn around the system, but the Washington Post reports that records show that those projects have created new problems.