Metro News Release

For immediate release: March 7, 2007

Metro Testing New Platform Edge Lights at Gallery Place-Chinatown

It’s now a lot easier for Metrorail riders to identify when the next train is arriving at the Gallery-Place Chinatown Metrorail station. The transit authority recently improved the platform edge lights on the station’s platforms as part of a six-month pilot program.

Last month, Metro installed new amber LED platform edge lights on the Yellow and Green Line lower level platform. In the last week, Metro installed new red LED platform edge lights on the Red Line platform.

“We hope with the installation of the new LED lights at Gallery Place-Chinatown that our customers will take note of the red platform edge lights and step away from the edge of the platform when an oncoming train is expected,” said John Catoe, Metro’s General Manager.

Each lamp contains 34 LED bulbs and consumes approximately ten watts of power and is estimated to last ten to twelve years. The bulb burns steady at 50 percent power, and flashes at 100 percent power when a train approaches or is at the station.

“We wanted to find a technology that would lower our maintenance costs and reduce the number of times we must take a track out of service to install the platform edge lights,” said David Knights, General Superintendent of Track and Structures and Systems Maintenance. “Another benefit is reducing energy consumption which has a direct benefit of lower electricity costs for the authority.”

In late 2005, Metro installed white, energy efficient LED bulbs on the platform edge of the Rosslyn Metrorail station. Due to the success of those bulbs, Metro is migrating over to the LED lamps, but decided to test yellow and red LED’s since they are cost effective.

Last year, Metro employees started replacing burned out light bulbs in stations within two weeks, instead of nearly three months. All lights are cleaned, inspected, replaced and repaired every 10 months, instead of annually, and brighter light bulbs are installed on top of pylons.

It costs the transit authority up to $400,000 annually to relamp and power the existing incandescent platform edge lights. If the pilot program is successful, the transit authority could save up to $100,000 annually using the new amber LEDs.

The red and amber LED lamps costs $76 and the traditional white LED lamps cost $108.

It takes more than 269,000 bulbs, lamps and tubes and costs up to $11 million a year to light the Metro system, including stations, parking garages, bus garages and rail yards. Metro is currently focusing its stepped up lighting efforts on rail stations, which have more than 73,836 lights.

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News release issued at 12:00 am, March 7, 2007.