Metro is delaying the reopening of two Maryland stations until early next year because of the transit system’s train shortage and flaws found during construction of a new station canopy.
The Rockville and Shady Grove stations, which sit at the end of the Red Line, have been closed since Sept. 11 for the demolition and replacement of the canopy over the Rockville station platform, repairs on the Shady Grove station canopy, and construction of a new mezzanine stairway at Shady Grove.
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Metro was scheduled to reopen the stations Dec. 4, but the opening is being delayed until mid-January, transit officials said. Glass-fiber-reinforced concrete panels that were being installed during the Rockville canopy project were damaged in shipping, Metro spokesman Ian Jannetta said. The panels have been sent back to the manufacturer to be replaced.
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“We are working to get those replacement panels delivered to complete the project,” Jannetta said in a statement.
Metro also halted construction in recent days so it could bring several older-model rail cars out of storage at the Shady Grove Rail Yard, the agency said.
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Metro has been running limited service on its rail system since Oct. 17 using older cars after the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission ordered transit officials to pull the majority of cars out of service. The cars are from Metro’s 7000 series, which makes up 60 percent of the agency’s roughly 1,200-car fleet.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigation of an Oct. 12 derailment on the Blue Line revealed a wheelset defect that has been found more than 50 times over four years on cars in the series; it causes the wheels to shift from fixed axles and makes trains more prone to derailments. The safety commission, which oversees Metrorail safety, will not permit the series to go back into service until Metro monitors unaffected rail cars for the defect, which investigators say surfaces after an unknown period of time or miles. Metro began testing a screening process Friday and said it will take a couple of weeks to finish.
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Metro expects to continue operating with reduced service levels until December on a schedule that includes 15-minute waits on the Red Line, 20-minute waits on the Green Line, and 30-minute waits on the Orange, Blue and Silver lines.
Transit officials said they are using all available older-model cars to create up to 50 train sets to serve passengers. Metro retrieved 32 rail cars from the Shady Grove Rail Yard last week after dismantling a construction platform over the Rockville Station.
The platform has been reconstructed and construction work is resuming, Metro said.
“The trains stored at Shady Grove Rail Yard will provide relief to our system by reducing crowding and wait times for customers, while we continue the work to bring 7000-series trains back into service,” Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said in a statement.
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In addition to replacing the canopy at Rockville, workers will install LED lights, an upgraded speaker system for station announcements, larger passenger information displays and closed-circuit television cameras, Metro said.
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Maintenance workers are also performing track work in the shutdown area, and radio cable is being laid on the tracks.
The transit system said it will continue to provide free parking and shuttle buses at the Shady Grove and Rockville stations that will bridge transit users to train service. The buses, which run every five to 10 minutes between 4:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays, stop at the Shady Grove, Rockville and Twinbrook stations.
Metro said Amtrak and MARC commuter trains continue to operate during construction with no service disruptions at Rockville.