WASHINGTON 鈥� Major Metro track work that will hit rush hour and more over the next 10聽months will not be enough to eliminate many problems Metro riders are familiar with, Metro Board Chairman and D.C. Councilman Jack Evans said.
鈥淎t the end of the year, it鈥檚 not the end. It鈥檚 not even the beginning of the end,” Evans said. 鈥淎t best, it鈥檚 the end of the beginning. We have a long way to go to fix Metro, but this is a first step.鈥�
聽that after 15 鈥渟urges鈥� 鈥斅爓hich include a week or more of round-the-clock single-tracking or similarly lengthy shutdowns that will impact 聽鈥� 鈥渋t [the Metrorail system] will be better, it won鈥檛 be perfect.鈥�
of massive repairs, intermittent shutdowns and service cuts in order to improve Metro’s聽aging rail system.聽, such as rebuilding tracks that, in some cases, have not been completely overhauled in 30 years or more.
Evans and Wiedefeld said issues with rail cars and stations are not directly addressed by the plan, which also includes extended track work at night, in the middle of the day and on weekends.
for at least the next year. Metro has said that will allow more time for regular maintenance.
鈥淎t the end of a year鈥檚 worth of work, we are not going to be there,鈥� Evans said. 鈥淲e are going to have a safer system, hopefully a more reliable system, but there are enormous challenges ahead of us.鈥�
鈥淪o, I want to caution everybody not to expect a brand-new system a year from now, but a system that is better than the system that we have today,鈥� he added.
Monday morning is the first rush hour that will be impacted by the round-the-clock work.
聽tracks between Ballston and East Falls Church.
While riders using stations along the entire Silver Line and much of the Orange Line will be affected, the most significant service cuts are at stations west of Ballston 鈥� Vienna; Dunn Loring; West Falls Church; East Falls Church; Wiehle-Reston East; Spring Hill; Greensboro; Tysons; McLean 鈥� 聽and east of Stadium-Armory 鈥� Largo Town Center; Morgan Boulevard; Addison Road; Capitol Heights; and Benning Road.
That is because trains are only scheduled every 18 minutes on the Silver Line and every 18 minutes to and from Vienna on the Orange Line in order to try to keep trains moving in each direction through the single-tracking zone once they leave the end of the line.
Additional Orange Line trains are planned for peak of rush hour periods between Ballston and New Carrollton, but and more crowding.
Evans asked riders and others affected聽by the 24/7 work zones scheduled to last through March 2017 to offer on how things can go more smoothly.
鈥淢etro, itself, will be on top of all of the suggestions, and I want to encourage the riding public to let us know 鈥� this is an unfolding event 鈥� how can we do this better over the next year to make this work for everybody,鈥� Evans聽said.
