Metro Adding Trains Saturday for Women's March on Washington

WASHINGTON, DC — The Women's March on Washington is expected to be big -- so big, in fact, that even the normally inflexible Metro system is bending over backwards to accommodate them.

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld announced this week that the Metrorail system would open two hours early at 5 a.m. on Saturday and add up to two dozen additional trains to assist those hoping to attend the Women's March on Washington, which could swell to 200,000 demonstrators the day after Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20.

Metro is calling it an "enhanced Saturday schedule" and there will be no track work on any line on that day. Trains should run at 4 to 6 minute intervals at all stations in downtown D.C., WMATA says.

"For additional capacity on Saturday, Metro plans to add more than a dozen trains on the Red and Orange lines to accommodate expected high ridership traveling to the march," the WMATA statement adds. "In addition, Metro will add trains between Franconia-Springfield and Greenbelt, running on the 'Rush Plus' route via the Yellow Line Bridge from approximately 6 to 10 a.m. and 1 to 5 p.m."

On Inauguration Day, Metro will open at 4 a.m. and run 17 consecutive hours at rush-hour service levels. Metro is urging participants in the march to use L'Enfant Plaza or Capitol South rather than Federal Center SW, which is technically closest to the gathering location, to avoid crowding.

For more information on the Women's March on Washington, click here.

Image via WMATA