WASHINGTON — The plan to bring station closings and single-tracking to Metro more often will require “sacrifice” from riders, the system’s general manager said.
While General Manager Paul Wiedefeld did not set a timeframe Thursday for announcing details of the track work plan, he now says that the plan will be a draft that could change.
“It will require more sacrifice from our customers in terms of the impact it will have on the service availability, but clearly with 168 hours in a week, and 135 of those being used for revenue service, it’s awfully hard to catch up, and the current plan just is not working in my estimation,” Wiedefeld said.
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Transit Administration have criticized Metro for prioritizing expansions of service over time on the tracks for safety or maintenance crews.
“We will be seeking assistance from all the local jurisdictions in support of this, so we’ll be coming out with a draft plan in the near future, and then we’ll ask them to help us whether it’s traffic mitigation, additional buses … any of those types of things that we can do,” Wiedefeld said.
Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans says the region can weigh in on how to move forward.
“All we know is what we’re doing now isn’t working, so what are we going to do to make it work?” Evans said.
Wiedefeld promises advance notice of any significant track work, which he hopes can cut the amount of time needed to get Metro back on a regular maintenance schedule from years to months. He says the change will help address a backlog of Federal Transit Administration and National Transportation Safety Board recommendations sooner.
Metro currently lists its major track-work plans for mid-days and weekends online for the next month or so, although some long-planned projects are posted slightly farther out.
The list right now includes three weekend shutdowns of stretches of track served by the Orange Line and Silver Line through early June. This weekend single-tracking affects all lines but the Green Line, and includes a maintenance surge on the Red Line to address smoke problems between Van Ness and Medical Center.
