2 Orange Line stations reopen, Metro moves on to Green Line construction

Metro crews replaced rail and installed fiber-optic cable along the Orange Line during summer 2023 construction. (Courtesy WMATA)
Metro crews work to replace rail on the Orange Line during summer 2023 construction. (Courtesy WMATA)
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After the reopening of two stations on Metro’s Orange Line, the D.C.-area transit agency turns its attention to the Green Line with construction starting Saturday.

Between Saturday, July 22 and Sept. 4, the transit agency will shut down five Green Line stations between Fort Totten and Greenbelt.

On July 22 and 23, Green Line service will be unavailable at Fort Totten, but Red Line service at the station will remain available.

Metro said that frequent free shuttle buses will replace trains between the affected stations.

Green Line Greenbelt – Georgia Ave-Petworth: July 22-23, 2023 Shuttle Service
A local service shuttle will run every 10 minutes between Greenbelt, College Park, Hyattsville Crossing, West Hyattsville, and Fort Totten stations during construction. (Credit WMATA)

During the Green Line closure, Metro crews will install fiber-optic cable, replace platform edge lighting and replace power cables and switch machines.

Greenbelt, College Park-UMD, Hyattsville Crossing (formerly Prince George’s Plaza) and West Hyattsville stations — four of the five stations that will be closed this summer — were closed from May to September in 2021 for restoration work.

2 Orange Line stations reopen

The Vienna and Dunn Loring stations on Metro’s Orange Line reopened Monday after weeks of construction work, the transit agency said in a news release.

Metro closed the four Orange Line stations west of Ballston-Marymount University in early June to replace some of the oldest rails in the system. The East and West Falls Church stations reopened earlier this month.

“Replacing this section of rail was critical to ensuring the Orange Line is safe and reliable for years to come,” said Metro Chief of Infrastructure Andy Off in a statement. “We appreciate our customers’ patience while we completed this important work to improve our system.”

In the latest phase of its four-part maintenance initiative, the transit agency said it replaced nearly 25 miles of rail and cleared more than 97,000 feet of vegetation to keep areas around the tracks clear in case of storms. Metro also said it installed fiber-optic cables along the corridor to modernize communications and allow for more efficient future maintenance.

Welcome back! The Orange Line track work is complete; Vienna and Dunn Loring stations are open. Thank you for your patience as we replaced the rail to make it safer for you. Learn more : https://t.co/XWOk7Hz5OX #wmata pic.twitter.com/BmURUr1J4N

— Metro Forward (@wmata) July 17, 2023

WTOP’s Ciara Wells contributed to this report.

Thomas Robertson

Thomas Robertson is an Associate Producer and Web Writer/Editor at WTOP. After graduating in 2019 from James Madison University, Thomas moved away from Virginia for the first time in his life to cover the local government beat for a small daily newspaper in Zanesville, Ohio.

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