WASHINGTON — Blue and Orange line trains will continue to use a single track between the Smithsonian and Federal Center Southwest stations through the evening, and riders should expect crowded stations and significant rush-hour delays.
After the rush hour, the single tracking zone will be extended from Federal Center Southwest to McPherson Square, Metro said.
Delays could be 20 to 40 minutes during the rush hour, according to Metro.
Silver Line trains will continue to run only between Wiehle-Reston East and Ballston. Silver Line riders should use Orange Line trains to travel between Downtown D.C. and Ballston.
Metro posted to Twitter earlier that track repairs could last through the end of the service day. Metro told WTOP that there was no estimate when the track repairs would be completed.
Defective rail fasteners were found near the Smithsonian Station by inspectors during what Metro called a routine walk of the tracks.
Failed fasteners allowed the rails to spread apart and ultimately led to a Blue Line train derailment near the Smithsonian Station in August 2015, which closed several stations downtown for most of a day. Track inspectors didn’t catch the widening rails. Although specialized equipment detected the problem, the warning was incorrectly deleted from a report and the tracks weren’t fixed. Three Metro employees resigned as a result.
Riders traveling to Virginia stations south of the Pentagon should take the Yellow Line instead of the Blue Line. And riders traveling between D.C. and Orange Line stations in Arlington can take Metrobus 38B as an alternate route home.
