Metro News Release

For immediate release: April 15, 2004

Metro announces New York Avenue-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet U Station weekend Track work


Track work to shut down a portion of the Red Line this weekend

In preparation for the opening of the New York Avenue-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet U Metrorail station on the Red Line at the end of this year, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) will conduct the first of several major track projects on the Red Line between Union Station and Fort Totten, resulting in a partial shutdown of the Red Line. To minimize customer inconvenience, this major rehabilitation project will occur over several weekends this spring and summer, and customers are advised to plan accordingly.

The schedule for this weekend is:

New York Avenue - Track Realignment/Tie-In
When: Friday, April 16, 9 p.m., to Monday, April 19, 5 a.m. This spring and summer, Metro personnel will realign rail track, tie in new track to existing track, install a new double crossover, and install new communications and signals on the Red Line between Union Station and Rhode Island Avenue. This construction work will support the opening of the New York Avenue-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet U Metrorail station.

To perform this work, Metro will institute the following weekend service patterns:

  • All Metrorail Red Line service will be suspended between Union Station and Fort Totten, resulting in the closure of the Rhode Island Avenue and Brookland-CUA Metrorail stations.
  • Metrorail Red Line service will operate between Shady Grove and Union Station, and between Glenmont and Fort Totten.
  • Metro will run free shuttle buses between Fort Totten and Union Station with stops at the Brookland-CUA and Rhode Island Avenue Metrorail stations. Customers who normally board at Brookland-CUA or Rhode Island Avenue will need to take a free shuttle bus from those stations to either Union Station or Fort Totten, depending on their direction of travel.

On these weekends, Metrorail Red Line trains will operate every 8-10 minutes during the day, and every 12-15 minutes during the evening between Shady Grove and Union Station, and between Glenmont and Fort Totten.

Metro will add extra trains on the Green Line between Fort Totten and Gallery Place-Chinatown to accommodate extra customers.

Customers traveling between Glenmont and Takoma on the Red Line can transfer to the Green Line at Fort Totten, travel to Gallery Place-Chinatown, and transfer back to the Red Line toward Shady Grove. Customers traveling on the Red Line to Takoma and all stops to Glenmont can transfer to the Green Line at Gallery Place-Chinatown, travel to Fort Totten, and transfer back to the Red Line.

"On the weekends when Red Line construction work is scheduled, we strongly encourage our customers who are traveling to, or coming from Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glen, Silver Spring, and Takoma, to transfer at Fort Totten and ride the Green Line for service into downtown D.C.," said Lem Proctor, Chief Operating Officer for Rail. "We will operate additional trains on the Green Line throughout the weekends to handle the additional demand expected for scheduled activities throughout the nation’s capital."

Additionally, over these two weekends, Metro personnel will perform track maintenance along on the Red Line between the Rhode Island Avenue and the Brookland-CUA Metrorail stations, resulting in the closure of these stations.

To alert customers about this work, regular station and train announcements will be made throughout the Metrorail system. Additional information will be available on Metro’s Web site at www.metroopensdoors.com.

"We recognize the inconvenience this phase of work will cause and we are sorry for causing these delays," said John Thomas, Project Manager for the New York Avenue-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet U Station project. "However, we want our customers to know that we will provide the best possible level of service. It may take customers slightly longer to get to where they are going, but they will arrive at their destinations safely. We want our customers to know how much we appreciate their patience as we continue the next phase of work as we prepare to open this new station."

The New York Ave-Florida Ave-Gallaudet U Metrorail station is known as an "in-fill" station because it will be the first station in Metro’s 28-year history to be constructed between two existing, operating rail stations - Union Station and Rhode Island Avenue. The train station will have two entrances - M Street, NE, and Florida Avenue, NE The station will have two sets of elevators and improved signage and lighting.

Funding for this project ($103.7 million) was made possible through a partnership that includes the District of Columbia, the federal government, and a special assessment district of area private land owners. While the station will not add any miles of track to the rail system, it will increase the total number of Metrorail stations in the regional system to 84.

Metro is also designing and constructing the portion of the Metropolitan Branch Bike Trail with the station contract. The trail will enhance access to the station by pedestrians and bicyclists.

The Ride Guide, located on Metro’s Web site, will not reflect the impact of this weekend’s track work on its schedules. Customers should allow more time for their trips because of this work. For more information on traveling by Metrobus or Metrorail, customers may call (202) 637-7000 or TTY (202) 638-3780.

News release issued on April 15, 2004.