Metro Offering Limited Service on Blue, Orange, and Silver Lines MLK Day Weekend
Rosslyn tunnel infrastructure to be repaired and track upgrades will be installed
ALEXANDRIA, VA-Travel on Metro? Starting Jan. 12 and ending Jan. 15 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend – WMATA is closing parts of the Silver, Orange, and Blue lines to accommodate infrastructure repairs and maintenance. The Rosslyn and Court House stations will be closed. Metro will provide free shuttle bus service to riders to bypass these stations.
The work is scheduled for the holiday weekend when, WMATA says, “it will impact the fewest customers.” According to a press release, ridership is 27 percent lower during this period than regular Friday to Monday periods.
The Rosslyn tunnel is one of the busiest sections of the system. Trains go through every three to four minutes daily. As a result, there is significant wear on the infrastructure. Crews will replace dozens of concrete grout pads, which will support the rails. In addition, new rails will be installed along with asteners, platform edge lighting and fiber-optic cables, and drain maintenance. Welding the rails together, WMATA says, will make for “a smoother, better ride.”
Riders traveling to and from Reagan Washington National Airport can use the Yellow Line via Gallery Place or L’Enfant Plaza . Those going to and coming from Dulles International Airport will need to allow for additional travel time for shuttle buses that connect to the Silver Line.
Outside of the work zone, Blue Line trains will run from Franconia-Springfield to Arlington Cemetery and Foggy Bottom to Downtown Largo; Orange Line service will operate from Vienna to Clarendon and Foggy Bottom to New Carrollton; and Silver Line trains will run between Ashburn and Clarendon only.
An unrelated project will affect the Red Line on Jan. 13 and 14. Construction of MDOT’s MTA Purple Line will be underway. Trains will operate in two segments from Shady Grove to Takoma and Glenmont to Forest Glen. Service will be unavailable between Takoma and Forest Glen. The Silver Spring Station will be closed.
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