Capital Metro welcomes New Year with more trips for riders

Starting January 7th, Capital Metro will implement enhancements to both their MetroRail and MetroExpress systems. Capital Metro is increasing capacity of Metro Rail by adding three more trips in the morning and the evening to decongest the rail trains for rider convenience.

Sam Sargent, Program Manager of Community Involvement for Capital Metro, said the change was years in the making. A $50 million dollar grant from TxDOT allowed the public transportation provider to acquire four new rail trains.

“We hope this makes the trips a lot more easier we know we’ve been a victim of our own success it’s because during peak times our busses and our trains are more packed and so we want to be able to move people more efficiently and more comfortable as possible,” Sargent said.

Riders can also expect 50 percent more service on MetroExpress.

The busses will have free access to MoPac’s lanes which will increase service.

Two routes, new Route 981 Oak Knoll Express and Route 985 Leander/Lakeline Direct will use the Express Lanes to bypass traffic congestion and serve downtown Austin directly.

For more information on schedule and times click here.