D.C. Plan for Yellow Line Stalls

Although some board members agreed that the Green Line needs additional capacity, they said that Metro has to look at the train system as a whole and that there are deficiencies on other lines.

Zimmerman, who represents Virginia, said that commuters on the Blue Line, which runs between Franconia-Springfield and the Largo Town Center stations, would be helped tremendously by a proposal to turn the line into two lines so that riders could skip several stops on the District's west side.

In an interview, Smith said he wanted "turnbacks" on the Red Line to end. Some trains reverse direction at Montgomery County's Grosvenor-Strathmore and Silver Spring stations during peak hours to accommodate the majority of riders who get off at or before those stops. Commuters wanting to go farther north must wait for trains that go to the ends of the line.

Zimmerman told the Metro staff, which researched the Yellow Line extension, to look into its effect on suburban communities. He also wanted to know why the staff chose the Yellow Line extension to Fort Totten when there were three other options: increasing Green Line service, stopping a Yellow Line extension at Georgia Avenue-Petworth in the District and extending it as far as Greenbelt.

The staff said that Graham wanted to focus on the Fort Totten scenario, but Zimmerman said the board should get information about all of the alternatives.

Green and Yellow line riders who were getting off at the Gallery Place-Chinatown Station said the possibility of relief from crowded weekend trains was welcome news.

"Oh, yeah, that would work," said Chris Clanton, 19, a frequent rider of the Green Line.

The committee will meet again April 6.