Metro News Release
For immediate release: January 19, 2010
Metro successfully completes Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend track work
Grosvenor-Strathmore Metrorail station reopened on-time
Weekend rail rehabilitation work on the Red Line between the Medical Center and Grosvenor-Strathmore Metrorail stations during the three-day Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend was completed successfully and the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metrorail station reopened on time -- at 5 a.m. today, Tuesday, Jan. 19.
During the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, Metro replaced 1,400 feet of rail, replaced several hundred ties and track fasteners, 200 tons of ballast, 600 anchor bolts, repaired 200 feet of grout pads on the aerial structure, repaired 60 to 80 water leaks, replaced 300 tunnel lights for safety and made track circuit upgrades between the Grosvenor-Strathmore and Medical Center Metrorail stations. To view a brief video of some of the work, click here.
“We thank our customers for their patience and understanding of the value of these projects while we completed this safety-sensitive work over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend,” said Dave Kubicek, Metro’s Acting Deputy General Manager and Chief Operating Officer.
As a safety precaution, Red Line trains will be operating at 35 miles per hour for the remainder of the day in the work zone location between the Medical Center and Grosvenor-Strathmore Metrorail stations.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Monday is traditionally a relatively slow ridership day on the Metrorail system with about 500,000 fewer trips than an average weekday. On Monday, Jan. 18, about 273,000 people took Metrorail trips.
The free shuttle buses were busy throughout the weekend with buses filling up as trains emptied at the White Flint and Medical Center Metrorail stations. Approximately 37,514 people used the shuttle buses to help complete their trips during the entire weekend of work.
Seventy-two additional Metro employees along with Metro Transit Police officers were on site throughout Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend guiding customers from the rail platforms to the shuttle buses to assist them in completing their trips.
Next month, during the President’s Day holiday weekend, Metro plans to close the Rosslyn Metrorail station from 10 p.m., Friday, Feb. 12 to closing, Monday, Feb. 15. During the President’s Day holiday weekend, Metro will install two new rail switches at the Rosslyn Metrorail station.
To help people get around the work zone, Metro will operate free shuttle buses between the Court House and Foggy Bottom-GWU Metrorail stations and between the Pentagon and Foggy Bottom-GWU Metrorail stations. Customers should build an extra 40 minutes into their travel plans if they need to pass through the work zone.
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Media contact for this news release: Steven Taubenkibel or Lisa Farbstein at 202-962-1051.
For all other inquiries, please call customer service at 202-637-7000.
News release issued at 10:40 am, January 19, 2010.