Massive Metro Overhaul Will Take Roughly a Year: Report

Bad news, Metro riders: Your commute is going to get a lot uglier for a very long time.

Metro on Friday will announce a huge rehab effort that could last a year and result in shutdowns of entire sections of a track at a time, according to a WAMU report quoting transit authority sources.

The work will apply to the entire Metro rail network, except for new portions of the Silver Line, and Metro general manager Paul Wiedefeld is expected to unveil the plan on May 6, according to the report. The program could begin in June.

What does that mean for commuters? In some locations, entire segments of track covering two or three stations will undergo single-tracking or be shut down entirely for days at a time, the report states.

Track shutdowns could take stations out of service for weeks to give repair crews the time and space to rip out existing, old equipment and install modern replacements, NBC Washington transportation reporter Adam Tuss told WTOP.

“We are talking about rebuilding the system literally from the ballast — or the gravel under the tracks — on up,” Tuss said.

Workers would make a number of improvements during the closures, including replacing electrical cables, rail ties, fasteners and switches, or making priority safety improvements identified by federal officials.

The popular Twitter account UnsuckDCMetro -- with 50,000 followers and a site of frequent complaints about the rail system -- has not happy with the looming delays. Readers asked where $5 billion in federal money previously given to the transportation system went, and where leaders, including members of Congress, have been.

Earlier this year, Metro shut down the entire rail system for a full day to make emergency fixes on cables that were believed to be at risk to cause dangerous fires -- one of which officials believe killed a woman at L'Enfant Plaza last year. Despite the day-long shutdown, the Metro system has continued to experience problems with cables in the system and speculation has grown that a major effort would be needed to correct problems system-wide.

WTOP reports the track repairs Wiedefeld will propose could cost $1 billion.

»Original post by Patch Editor Dan Taylor