WMATA Archives - Page 30 of 37

Metro and Montgomery County emergency responders hold full-scale emergency exercise at Wheaton Station on Sunday, Feb. 26

Published February 25, 2023 at 1:49PM

Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) and Montgomery County emergency responders will conduct a full-scale emergency response exercise at Wheaton Station on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023 from opening until approximately 2 p.m. Members of the public may notice a large number of emergency vehicles on site. Please be assured that this is only an exercise.

The exercise will take place inside the tunnel between Wheaton and Forest Glen and will simulate real-world conditions to test the operational and evacuation coordination, and interagency communication between MTPD, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, Montgomery County Police, Metrorail and Metrobus operations staff, on-scene responders and support personnel.

Purple Line: Rendering and Additional Information on the Future Manchester Place Station in Silver Spring

By MCS Staff

Published February 22, 2023 at 8:28AM

The future Manchester Place station will be near Plymouth Street in Silver Spring. The Purple Line, yesterday, tweeted a rendering along with some additional information regarding the future station. It will have separate westbound and eastbound side platforms inside the 1,000-foot Plymouth Tunnel, built exclusively for the Purple Line.

This station provides entry into the Plymouth Street Tunnel. Access into the station can be made from East Wayne Avenue and Plymouth Street using stairs or elevators. Map below:

More Metrorail Service Coming to the Red Line on Busiest Days of the Week Starting Today

By MCS Staff

Published February 21, 2023 at 7:19AM

Beginning today (Tuesday, February 21), Red Line customers will see more trains on the busiest days of the week. Trains will operate every 8 minutes all day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, which have become Metro’s highest ridership days as the region recovers from the pandemic.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and Metro General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke announce new partnership between Metro Transit Police and DC Metropolitan Police to enhance public safety on Metro

By MCS Staff

Published February 10, 2023 at 6:43AM

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser and Metro General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Randy Clarke announced a new partnership between the Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) and the DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to enhance public safety and security on the transit system. The partnership will increase police presence and MPD will be the first partner.

“We know that residents and visitors want to see a strong police presence in our community, and that’s what this partnership will allow us to provide,” said Mayor Bowser. “When police are in the community, people feel safer and our officers can respond faster. Hundreds of thousands of people use Metro every day to move around DC, and now, they can expect to see more MPD officers out during their commutes.”

Metrorail to run more rush hour trains during busiest days of the week starting Feb.7

By MCS Staff

Published February 6, 2023 at 9:00PM

Metro is boosting mid-week service for customers who use the Blue, Orange and Blue Plus lines (info on Red line below) during the morning and evening rush hour periods. As announced just over a week ago, service on the three lines will increase to every 12 minutes instead of 15 minutes from 6 – 9 a.m. and 3 – 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. In the heart of the system, between Rosslyn and Stadium-Armory where the lines merge, trains will arrive at stations every four minutes.

Per WMATA: The service improvements are focused on the middle of the week, where ridership is growing the most. As ridership has evolved post-pandemic, peak period demand is increasing with the heaviest ridership concentrated on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. In focusing on the busiest times and days of the week, Metro is working differently to provide more targeted service on #YourMetro when and where it is needed. The improvements come as Metro continues to return more 7000-series trains, increasing the number of daily trains in service by more than 40 percent since July.

Work Begins at Future Purple Line Station at Silver Spring Library

By MCS Staff

Published February 5, 2023 at 11:17AM | Updated February 5, 2023 at 5:22PM

Purple Line work began this week on the future Silver Spring Library station at the Brigadier General Charles E. McGee Library. Walls and fencing were installed and PurpleLineMD has made it clear that access to the library & businesses on Bonifant St will always be maintained throughout the construction phase (photographs below).

WMATA: Mobile U-Pass Now Available on iPhone and Apple Watch

By MCS Staff

Published January 22, 2023 at 9:52AM

The convenience of taking Metro just got easier for college students with a U-Pass SmarTrip card. As of January 19, eligible students at participating universities can add their U-Pass to Apple Wallet on iPhone or Apple Watch to use on Metrorail or Metrobus. It’s quick and easy to do. Just add the U-Pass card to Apple Wallet, and there’s no more plastic to carry around.

After you add a U-Pass to your Apple Wallet, you can toss out the card or keep it as a souvenir. The physical card will no longer work when transferred because all the content is now available through your U-Pass in Wallet on iPhone or Apple Watch. Students at participating schools can use the mobile U-Pass just like a physical card at any of Metro’s 97 rail stations in DC, Maryland and Virginia and all Metrobus routes. Just hold your iPhone or Apple Watch near the card reader on the faregate or farebox to pay with U-Pass. With Express Mode, there’s no need for Face ID, Touch ID or to unlock the device.

North Entrance Officially Reopens at Silver Spring Metro Station With Two New Escalators; South Side Escalator Construction to Begin Soon

By MCS Staff

Published January 17, 2023 at 6:51AM

As part of customer improvements at the Silver Spring Station, Metro is replacing the five entrance escalators at the Silver Spring Station with brand-new escalators that are more durable and reliable. Work started at the north entrance between East-West Highway and Second Ave on Tuesday, Sept 6, and after just over four months of construction, reopened on Monday morning, January 16th.

Metrorail service was not impacted and customers were able to access the station via the escalator and elevator at the south entrance closest to the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center. Now that construction on the north side escalators has been completed and the entrance has reopened, work will begin to replace the three south entrance escalators. The entrance will remain open and the new escalators will be installed one at a time. Construction is expected to take approximately 11 months to complete.

Metro Appealing WMSC Directives that Sideline More than 50 Certified Rail Operators, Stall Railcar Return Plan, and Disrupt Customer Service

By MCS Staff

Published January 16, 2023 at 1:49PM

Metro has filed formal petitions for reconsideration of Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (WMSC) directives that remove certified operators from service and stalls the previously agreed upon 7000-series Return to Service plan.

Train service on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines will be reduced for customers, from every 15 minutes to every 25 minutes, beginning Tuesday, Jan. 17, through most of the week. The move is required to comply with directives received at 4:30 p.m., Friday evening of the holiday weekend from the WMSC. No Red and Green line service impacts are expected. “Safety is an absolute core value of Metro; however, we are exasperated with directives that are not based on risk analysis or facts,” said Chair Paul C. Smedberg. “The Board has tremendous confidence in the job our General Manager and his team of operations and safety professionals are doing, as evidenced by significant improvements we have seen in safe and reliable rail service.”

Crews Will Begin Work on the Purple Line’s Silver Spring Library Station Later in January

By MCS Staff

Published January 12, 2023 at 6:57AM

Per Purple Line MD: On or about January 23, 2023, crews will begin work on the Purple Line’s Silver Spring Library station located at the Brigadier General Charles E. McGee Library. Access to the library and businesses surrounding the library including Bonifant Street will be maintained at all times. ADA-compliant pedestrian access will be maintained to and around the library via Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street. Pedestrian pathways will change intermittently around the work zone; please follow on- site signage. Fencing will be installed to delineate the work zone immediately followed by excavation, utility relocations, systems, and trackwork. Access to Bonifant Street will remain one-way, eastbound from Georgia Avenue. Construction may occur 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., weekdays and weekends, as needed through December 2023. Please note that weather and unforeseen conditions may impact work schedule.

Featured photo courtesy of MCDOT

Metro: New Escalators at L’Enfant Plaza Starting Monday; Escalators Currently Being Replaced at a Few MoCo Stations

By MCS Staff

Published January 8, 2023 at 11:26AM

Starting Monday, three new escalators will be up and running at L’Enfant Plaza Station following eight months of construction that closed the north entrance at Maryland Avenue and 7th Street SW. The project, completed on budget, will provide better, more reliable escalators for customers and includes the latest safety features and LED lighting. The reopening of the north entrance will also restore the connection to Virginia Railway Express (VRE) and the closest Metro entrance for government agencies, office buildings and some of the most popular museums on the National Mall.

During construction, Metro’s contractor, Kone, removed all three escalators at once. New concrete encased support beams had to be installed before replacement work could begin. Each escalator is custom built to fit the entrance and is industrial grade, designed to be more durable for the weight and traffic of a busy station. The completion of the north entrance escalators is part of a seven-year project to replace 130 escalators by 2028 and brings the number of escalators replaced in the past two years to 39. Work will begin next year to replace the remaining six escalators at L’Enfant Plaza’s two other entrances.