Metro News Release

For immediate release: January 22, 2009

Track maintenance to affect Metro's Orange and Red lines this weekend

Orange and Red Line riders should add 25 minutes to their trips this weekend

Track maintenance on the Orange and Red lines this weekend (January 23-25) will cause inbound and outbound trains to take turns sharing one track.

Orange Line Track Maintenance

Metrorail customers traveling between the New Carrollton and Cheverly Metrorail stations should add 25 minutes of travel time because of switch maintenance at the New Carrollton Metrorail stations. A switch or “interlocking” is an intersection in the track, where trains can “switch” from one track to another, depending on their destination and route. Trains will share one track between these locations from 10 p.m., Friday, January 23, to closing (midnight) on Sunday, January 25. Every other Orange Line train in the direction of the New Carrollton Metrorail station will terminate at the Cheverly Metrorail station and return to the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metrorail station, to move the most passengers quickly.

Red Line Track Maintenance

Metrorail customers traveling between the Grosvenor-Strathmore and Medical Center Metrorail stations should add at least 25 minutes of travel time for their trips because personnel will replace rail fasteners that stabilize the rail tracks. Trains will share one track between these locations from 10 p.m., Friday, January 23, to closing (midnight) on Sunday, January 25.

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News release issued at 11:16 am, January 22, 2009.