SORRY, RED LINERS — those weekend delays you've been dealing with aren't quite over yet.

Now that complex platform rehabilitation work at the Metro Center station and switch replacement near the Medical Center station have concluded, a new project will soon be getting started at the Van Ness-UDC station and will take place over four upcoming weekends.

Van Ness is home to an interlocking switch that allows trains to travel from one track to another. The two nearest switches are located near the Dupont Circle and Friendship Heights stations, meaning that for inbound and outbound trains to proceed through the work zone, they'll have to share a track through the following stations: Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan, Cleveland Park, Van Ness-UDC, Tenleytown-AU and Friendship Heights. That's a pretty long stretch, meaning that there could be delays of 30 minutes.

The work will start Friday at 9 p.m. and wrap up by closing on Sunday — a pattern that will repeat during the weekends of Feb. 29-March 2, March 7-9 and March 14-16.

The service pattern goes as follows:

Continue Reading "With Van Ness Work, Red Line Delays to Continue" »

REMEMBER THAT BIG PROJECT to fix a sagging platform at the busy Metro Center station? It's ramping up again this President's Day weekend, which means riders should prepare for half-hour delays on the Red, Blue and Orange lines, the transit agency says.

The rehabilitation work, which Metro says is aimed to stabilize the platform that carries Red Line trains over the area that serves the Blue and Orange lines inside the Metro Center station, will begin at 10 p.m. on Friday and last until midnight on Monday. Crews will be making structural concrete repairs as well as replacing bearing pads that help support the bridge, among other things.

Here's how the construction will affect riders:

RED LINE:
» During the day, Red Line trains will start their journeys from Glenmont and Shady Grove every nine minutes. Trains will share a track between Farragut North and Judiciary Square, operating through that area every 18 minutes. Two trains traveling one direction, spaced two minutes apart, will move through the work zone, then two trains will be allowed to travel in the opposite direction.

» After 10 p.m. on Friday and 9:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Red Line trains will leave the terminal stations 20 minutes apart.

Continue Reading "Get Ready for Delays: Metro Center Work to Resume" »

IF YOU STAND ON the Red Line's Shady Grove-bound platform at the busy Metro Center station, you'll notice a section of the platform that's slightly depressed and marked off with striped warning tape. The area in question sits at a point where the Red Line track and platform cross over the Blue and Orange lines on the lower level — and it's a bridge that's slowly sagging.

There's no immediate cause for alarm, Metro says, but this weekend, the transit agency will start $1.3 million worth of structural improvements to correct the problem. And as The Post's Get There blog reports, the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend will be a slow go for many Metrorail riders starting Friday at 10 p.m.

Trains on the Red Line will share the same track between the Farragut North and Judiciary Square stations, while trains on the Blue and Orange lines will share a track between the Smithsonian and Farragut West stations. Trains will run through the work zone every 18 minutes, and chances are, you'll wait at least six minutes for trains coming in the opposite direction to clear the Metro Center work zone. Overall, there will be fewer trains in service on the Red, Blue and Orange lines, so expect delays and crowded trains.

Continue Reading "Metro Center Work to Cause Big Weekend Delays" »

A SWITCH REPLACEMENT near the Medical Center station will slow Red Line trips over four upcoming weekends. Although trains will service the entire length of the Red Line, single tracking between the Friendship Heights and Grosvenor-Strathmore stations will lead to the following changes, starting on Friday night:

» During the work periods, trains will run every 18 minutes through the work zone and on to the Red Line's Shady Grove terminal.
» During the day, alternating trains running from Glenmont and downtown D.C. will terminate at the Friendship Heights station before returning to Glenmont. During that time, trains will run at nine-minute intervals between Friendship Heights and Glenmont.
» After 9 p.m., all Red Line trains will run at 18-minute intervals, meaning that weekend warriors on Fridays and Saturdays, and those out on Sunday nights, will likely experience longer wait times for the Red Line.

The work periods will be in effect for the following weekends:

» Friday, Jan. 11, 9 p.m. through midnight closing on Sunday, Jan. 13.
» Friday, Jan. 25, 9 p.m. through midnight closing on Sunday, Jan. 27.
» Friday, Feb. 1, 9 p.m. through midnight closing on Sunday, Feb. 3.
» Friday, Feb. 8, 9 p.m. through midnight closing on Sunday, Feb. 10.

Image courtesy WMATA

A TRACK FIRE that flared up on the Red Line around 3:30 p.m. has been causing big delays this afternoon.

The situation has been been resolved, but Metro reports that riders can expect residual delays through 5 p.m. Happy travels.

MORE BAD NEWS for Metro's Red Line: Ultrasonic testing overnight turned up another set of flaws on a different part of the heavily traveled corridor, a development that will continue the slowdowns riders have been experiencing throughout the week.

The flaws were detected in sections of track at the Forest Glen, Takoma and Fort Totten stations, Metro says. Those flawed sections of track come in addition to the imperfections discovered earlier in the week between the Medical Center and Friendship Heights stations.

The transit agency says that track workers will be installing new sections of rail while the system is closed — work that's expected to be completed overnight and into the weekend. Until it's finished, though, trains will operate at a reduced speed — 35 miles per hour instead of the usual 44 — in the spots where track flaws were found as a safety precaution. Those speed restrictions have been in place all week between Friendship Heights and Medical Center.

Metro's cautioning riders to be on the lookout for minor delays.

» "Rail Flaws Continue to Cause Minor Delays Today on Parts of the Red Line" [WMATA]

THE WEEK'S BARELY BEGUN and it's already been a bumpy ride for the Red Line.

First, an ultrasonic scan on Sunday found track flaws between Friendship Heights and Medical Center, which led the transit agency to mandate a decreased speed on that section of track on Monday. Then, smoke sparked by a trash fire underneath the electrified third rail prompted Metro officials to close the Union Station stop for 40 minutes during Monday's evening rush, The Post's Martin Weil and Lena H. Sun report.

The speed restrictions are still in place this morning, so expect travels on the Red Line to be a bit slower than usual today, too.

» "Smoke Shuts Metro Stop During Rush" [WaPo]

MORNING METRORAIL COMMUTERS may have seen an advisory that trains have been traveling at reduced speeds on the Red Line. Why?

From a Metro announcement:

A special ultrasonic testing machine detected the flaws last night in a section of track between Medical Center and Friendship Heights stations. Trains have been traveling at reduced speeds in the area since this morning. They are moving at a maximum speed of 35 miles per hour, instead of 44 miles per hour, until repairs can be made overnight.

Track workers made temporary repairs last night and plan to install a new 39-foot section of rail between Medical Center and Friendship Heights stations tonight, once the rail system closes.

The defects were detected by a special machine operated by Sperry Rail Services. The machine rides the rails and uses ultrasonic testing to detect cracks or other flaws. This type of inspection is conducted fives times a year, which is more than double the number of inspections from three years ago. Track inspectors also visually inspect the rails twice a week to ensure the reliability and safety of the rail system.

Image courtesy WMATA

Track maintenance is scheduled for the following areas this weekend:

» RED LINE: Trains will share the same track between the Fort Totten and Takoma stations on Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Add 20 minutes of travel time through that section of track.

» GREEN LINE: Regularly scheduled testing of new rail cars will force Green Line trains to share the same track in and out of the Greenbelt station on Saturday from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. and on Sunday, from opening to 3:30 p.m. Expect minor delays.

» "Weekend Work to Cause Red and Green Line Delays" [WMATA]

SCHEDULED METRORAIL TRACK WORK will affect the following lines this weekend ...

» RED LINE: Trains will share the same track between the Fort Totten and Takoma stations, Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Add 20 minutes of travel time through that section of track.

» ORANGE LINE: Trains will share the same track between the New Carrollton and Cheverly stations 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on Saturday. Add 30 minutes of travel time through that section of track. Alternating outbound trains from the District will terminate at Cheverly and return to Vienna-Fairfax via downtown.

» GREEN LINE: Trains will share the same track between the Congress Heights and Branch Avenue stations starting midnight to closing, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Add 15 minutes of extra travel time on the southern end of the Green Line.

Also, regularly scheduled testing of new rail cars will force Green Line trains to share the same track in and out of the Greenbelt station, Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m.