The pre-series train was inspected by metro general manager and CEO Mr Richard Sarles, Maryland senators Mrs Barbara Mikulski and Mr Ben Cardin, Maryland state governor Mr Martin O'Malley, and the mayor of Washington DC Mr Vincent Gray.
WMATA says the train will be tested on the network over the next few months and data gathered during trial running will be sent back to the Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing facility in Lincoln, Nebraska, to finalise the design for the series trains. Full production is expected to begin in the middle of this year.
WMATA placed an initial $US 886m order with Kawasaki in 2010 for 428 7000 series cars. Around 300 of these vehicles will replace the oldest 1000 series trains, while the remainder will provide the additional fleet capacity required for the opening of the Silver Line to Washington Dulles International Airport and Ashburn.
A $US 184m follow-on order was placed in May 2013 for 100 additional cars, which will replace Breda 4000 series vehicles which entered service in the 1990s but suffer poor reliability.
Sarles has announced that WMATA hopes to order a further batch of 220 vehicles in 2015 as part of its 2025 strategic plan, which will allow the metro to operate more eight-car trains and increase capacity at peak times.
All of the 23m-long stainless steel vehicles currently on order from Kawasaki are due to be delivered by 2018.
The trains will operate as four-car units in eight-car formations, which will accommodate 40 more passengers than the trains they are replacing.
