Metro riders can expect more delays in 2012 because the transit agency is planning extensive track work that will cause station shutdowns and single tracking throughout the system.
At least one part of the rail network will be closed nearly every weekend through March, when the agency suspends work briefly for the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
Trains also will be forced to share a single track on many weekends and weeknights. Together that means riders will have extralong waits on platforms and shuttle bus trips around shuttered stations.
| Planned Metro track work |
| • This week: Metro plans to force Red Line trains to share a single track between Friendship Heights and Medical Center, beginning at 10 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday and at 8 p.m. on Thursday. |
| • Jan. 14-16: Federal Center SW and Capitol South closed on the Blue/Orange lines, shuttle buses running between L’Enfant Plaza and Eastern Market. |
| • Jan. 21-22: Medical Center closed on the Red Line, shuttle buses running between Bethesda and Grosvenor-Strathmore. |
| • Jan. 28-29: Woodley Park and Cleveland Park closed on the Red Line, shuttle buses running between Dupont Circle and Woodley Park. |
| • Feb. 4-5: No rail service on the Orange/Blue lines between Foggy Bottom and Rosslyn, with the possibility that Rosslyn will be closed entirely. Shuttle buses will ferry riders across the Potomac River. |
And those who use the Dupont Circle station will face an even bigger challenge starting Feb. 1, when the agency closes the south entrance of the station entirely for at least eight months to replace all the escalators there.
Riders may especially wince when Metro rolls out its budget proposal later this month: General Manager Richard Sarles plans to seek a fare increase to pay rising costs.
The agency says the track work is necessary to restore the system’s aging tracks and systems — intentional delays in the short term to prevent unintentional delays in the long term when the tracks break down.
“We’re trying to take advantage of every work window we can,” Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said.
The agency is also replacing all track circuits to avoid the problems that caused the deadly 2009 Fort Totten crash, so the agency can eventually return trains to the smoother automatic train service instead of operating trains in the current herky-jerky manual mode. But even with the track work planned out for months, Stessel said, Metro isn’t ready to pinpoint when it can return to automatic operations.
