WMATA reveals major capital construction plans during next three years

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has revealed plans for major capital construction during the next three years to modernize the Metrorail system, improve safety and reliability and maintain a state of good repair. Planned closures are scheduled between summer 2024 and summer 2026, with additional construction planned during the winter holidays.

Beginning in early June 2024, Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glen, Silver Spring and Takoma stations on the Red Line will be closed. The closure will continue through early September 2024, with the possibility of reducing the work zone to allow Takoma Station to reopen prior to the end of construction.

The planned work includes upgrading the signaling system, installing communication and train control cables and repairing the interlocking, which allows trains to cross from one track to the other outside the Takoma Station. Detailed service plans, including free express and local shuttle buses, are being developed and will be revealed by WMATA at least one month prior to the start of the closure.

The work is being planned in coordination with the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) Purple Line Project to build a new mezzanine on the platform at WMATA's Silver Spring Station to provide easier access between WMATA and the future MTA Purple Line. The Maryland Purple Line light-rail line is not part of the Metrorail system but WMATA notes building the new connection between the two will require the use of both tracks for an extended period and can’t be completed safely and timely with single tracking only.

Additional work includes leak mitigation, automatic train control system replacements, traction power cables installation, drain pumping station replacement, tunnel standpipe replacement and elevator and escalator maintenance.

Improvements in planning and scheduling track work through summer, winter and extended weekend outages instead of extensive single tracking has also helped reduce the amount of planned service disruptions. In the past seven years, WMATA says the impact to budgeted service declined by half to four percent, with more weekends free of track work on almost all lines.

Following the Red Line closure this summer, major construction is also planned:

December 2024 – January 2025

Blue Line Orange Line Silver Line Construction Foggy Bottom – GWU to L’Enfant Plaza

Duration: Approximately two weeks
Farragut West, McPherson Square, lower level of Metro Center (upper-level Red Line open), Federal Triangle, Smithsonian stations affected
Pour new grout pads and replace fastener replacements to provide smooth, safe rides
Includes 6,400 linear feet of grout pad and fastener replacement
Installation of 15,000 linear feet fiber optic cable for communication and train control
Construction will require isolated closures, but not the full segment between all stations. Developing plans and analysis to close smaller segments and/or single tracking.
Alternative to planned work - four months of weekend single tracking, or up to 400 late-night single tracking

Summer 2025

Blue Line Construction Franconia-Springfield to King Street

Duration: Approximately three weeks (Exact dates and order of outages to be determined)
Van Dorn Street and Franconia-Springfield stations closed
Upgrade train control system
Replace worst performing, obsolete signal system
System upgrades will bridge to potential next generation signaling system
Alternative to planned work – 10 weekend outages and 10 weeks of early weekday closures

Green Line Construction Congress Heights to Branch Avenue

Duration: Approximately six weeks (Exact dates and order of outages to be determined)
Southern Avenue, Naylor Road, Suitland and Branch Avenue stations closed
Install 52,000 linear feet of radio and ancillary fiber optic cable for communication and train control system
Required modernization project to improve communications and address Federal Transit Administration findings
Repair elevated tracks and bridge
Alternative to planned work - seven months of consecutive weekend outages

Winter 2025 – Winter 2026

Green Line Yellow Line Construction L’Enfant Plaza to Fort Totten

Exact dates and duration to be determined
Replace grout pad and fasteners
Install fiber optic cable for communication and train control system
Replace running rail and repair restraining rail
Install signals along tracks to support train control system upgrades
Stations served by 82 percent more trains than the system average
Developing construction plans to optimize service which may include smaller closures, single tracking or combination of both

Summer 2026

Red Line Construction Friendship Heights to Grosvenor-Strathmore

Exact dates and duration to be determined
Medical Center and Bethesda stations closed
Construction to connect Maryland’s MTA Purple Line with the Bethesda Metrorail Station
MTA Purple Line currently scheduled to begin operating mid-2027