Following the directive from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to review the SafeTrack program schedule to focus on a section of the Red Line as well as two sections of the Orange and Silver Lines with one section also including the Blue Line, Rail Transit OPS has independently prepared a recommended service solution to address concerns.
Red Line
Area of Concern: Van Ness UDC to Medical Center
Recommended Solution: Under the current draft of the WMATA SafeTrack program, there was no planned work between Van Ness UDC and Friendship Heights. This area was identified by the FTA as a concern needing to be addressed.
Continuous Single Tracking over a estimated period of 28 days
Off-Peak from 5:00AM-7:00AM; 9:00AM-4:00PM; 7:00PM-12 midnight weekdays and all day on weekends and federal holidays:
Service from Glenmont to Van Ness UDC would operate normally with trains operating every 12 minutes, with additional trains operating from Farragut North to Silver Spring providing 6 minute headway service between these stations.
Service from Shady Grove to Grosvenor will operate every 10 minutes.
Service from Grosvenor to Van Ness UDC will operate every 26 minutes via a eight car shuttle train
Peak from 7:00AM-9:00AM weekdays:
Service from Van Ness UDC to Glenmont would operate every 6 minutes and one way service from Shady Grove to Silver Spring every 6 minutes with every other train terminating at NoMa (for mid-day storage in Brentwood Yard).
Service outbound from Grosvenor to Shady Grove every 12 mins
There will be NO OUTBOUND SERVICE between Van Ness UDC and Grosvenor from 7:00-9:00 AM on weekdays. Shuttle buses will depart Van Ness every 10 mins to service the skipped stations with additional buses departing every 15 mins express to Grosvenor.
Peak from 4:00 – 7:00PM weekdays:
Same service as above EXCEPT:
There will be NO INBOUND SERVICE between Grosvenor and Van Ness UDC – Shuttle buses will depart Grosvenor every 10 minutes with express busses to Van Ness departing every 15 mins.
One way service will operate from from Silver Spring and NoMa to Shady Grove during this time every 6 minutes.
Blue/Orange/Silver Line Work Recommendation
Below are the draft plans for work on the Blue/Orange/Silver lines.
We are recommending a work consolidation option. This will be a even more drastic impact but would reduce the impact to a one time event.
An approximately 18-day shutdown in two areas:
- Potomac Av and Stadium-Armory
- Arlington Cemetery
Orange and Silver Line trains would operate from Vienna/Wiehle-Reston East to Eastern Market every 6 minutes with combined service headways of 3 minutes from East Falls Church to Eastern Market.
Orange Line Shuttle would operate from New Carrollton to Minnesota Av every 10 minutes at all times
Silver Line Shuttle would operate from Largo Town Center to Benning Road every 10 minutes at all times
Shuttle buses would operate from Minnesota Av/Benning Road/Stadium-Armory/Potomac Av to Eastern Market AND from Largo Town Center to New Carrollton to allow passengers the option to access the MARC Penn Line during the hours of 6:00AM to 8:00PM
Shuttle buses will also operate every 15 minutes from Pentagon to Rosslyn
Blue Line Service would operate every 12 minutes from Franconia-Springfield to Mt. Vernon Sq.
Yellow Line service would operate every 12 minutes from Huntington – Greenbelt
Rail Transit OPS Group is an independent group that monitors rail transit operations, performance, and safety procedures to proactively address potential issues We can be found at railtransitops.org as well as on Facebook and Twitter
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