Metro News Release
For immediate release: September 30, 2010
Metro to conduct rail repairs near Cheverly Metrorail station
Work will return trains to normal speeds; ensure long-term safety
Metro’s Board of Directors today (Sept. 30) approved a contract award to install a long-term stability structure between the Cheverly and Deanwood Metrorail stations, which will allow Metro to increase train speeds to normal and ensure long-term safety along the tracks.
The work is part of a larger project to stabilize the ground, repair both the abutment and aerial structure and realign the tracks to return them to a state of good repair after a developer performed work on land adjacent to Metro property that shifted the land and caused movement of the aerial structure. To ensure safety, trains have been operating under a speed restriction since the shift was discovered three years ago. Once the work is completed, trains will resume normal speeds.
In addition to reducing train speeds from 55 miles per hour to 40 miles per hour, Metro track personnel have monitored the status of the track alignment closely
and have adjusted the tracks as needed to ensure proper track alignment for safe train movement since the shift was discovered.
The initial phase of the corrective action will necessitate some weekends of single tracking and closures between the Stadium-Armory and New Carrollton Metrorail stations on the Orange Line.
From 10 p.m. to closing (midnight) on Nov. 5 to 7 the Orange Line will be closed between the Stadium-Armory and New Carrollton Metrorail station. To help customers get around the closure, Metro will provide free shuttle bus service between the Stadium-Armory and New Carrollton Metrorail stations. During the weekend work, customers should add an additional 40 minutes to their travel time.
The entire project will include modification of the existing aerial structure, which includes returning the elevated tracks to their original alignment. This labor-intensive project involves rehabilitating two bridge piers, restoring proper site drainage, realigning approximately 500 feet of the railroad tracks, and reworking the buried power, communication, and train control cables between the Deanwood and Cheverly Metrorail stations.
All repairs will be completed by the summer of 2011. Work approved today is expected to cost $2.5 million.
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News release issued at 2:46 pm, September 30, 2010.