Metro workers will replace 120 feet of critical track at the Van Ness Metrorail station in a $600,000 project that will slow weekend Red Line service for the next month by at least 30 minutes.
Metro workers will replace the 27-year-old section of rail, called the “switch,” that intersects to allow trains to move from one track to the other, officials said.
Switches are strategically placed throughout the main line and have a life of 25 to 30 years before they must be replaced.
“When we have sick customers or other service disruptions, the switches play a vital role in allowing us to keep moving,” Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said. “We can single track around the disruption, and that’s why they are critical.”
A similar project at the Friendship Heights Metro station is tentatively scheduled to begin after the work in Van Ness and is projected to slow weekend Red Line service for an additional four weeks.
Switch replacements for the Rosslyn Blue and Orange line transfer station and the Pentagon station will be next in line, officials said, but have not been scheduled yet.
Metro just finished replacing the switches at the Medical Center station on the Red Line.
“The system itself will be 32 years next month,” Taubenkibel said. “We’re reaching that middle-age state where there are a lot of things that need to be repaired, replaced and changed out.”
The transit agency has replaced the switches at 14 of its oldest stations over the pastthree years, including three that required station shutdowns to complete the work.
“We still have a few more to get to — we know it’s an inconvenience, and we hope passengers will understand that it’s important for us to do this type of work to maintain service reliability,” Taubenkibel said. “The good news is that when this work is done, we won’t have to come back here for another 25 or 30 years.”
