Upgrades Make Metro Announcements Clearer

Map It:  Court House 

BY THE TIME THEY REACHED riders' ears, announcements made over the public address system at the Court House station on the Orange Line used to be little more than guttural fuzz, distorted by a poorly placed speaker system and a jarring echo off of the station's soaring coffered ceilings.

But late last fall, that changed. Now, word of delays, elevator outages and other important commuter information has been crisp and understandable.

Like 18 other stations, Court House's speaker systems got a makeover — and placement was the key. According to Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel, public address speakers inside the rail system had been positioned adjacent to mezzanines or in other spots that haven't been the most ideal for distributing sound. Now, workers are installing speakers on brown platform pylons at underground stations, bringing the announcements closer to the passengers waiting on platforms.

The upgrades are part of a two-year contract covering 38 stations. Taubenkibel said he expected the full slate to be completed by the end of the fall.

Here's a list of stations that have seen improvements thus far:

Friendship Heights
Pentagon City
Ballston-MU
Farragut West
Crystal City
Rosslyn
Capitol South
Metro Center (Lower Level)
Gallery Place-Chinatown (Lower Level)
Tenleytown-AU
Van Ness-UDC
Bethesda
Medical Center
U St./African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo
Shaw-Howard University
Columbia Heights
Georgia Avenue-Petworth
Waterfront-SEU
Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter

Photo by Michael Grass/Express