Several Downtown DC Metro Stations To Have Shutdown In December

WASHINGTON, DC — A shutdown at several downtown DC Metro stations will impact commuters for part of December.

Metro announced the Red Line will be closed at Farragut North, Metro Center, and Gallery Place-Chinatown from Dec. 18 to 30. In addition, Judiciary Square Station will be closed from Dec. 22 to Dec. 24. During the shutdown, Red Line service will run eight minutes from Shady Grove to Dupont Circle and Union Station to Glenmont.

Metro Center will continue to have Blue, Orange and Silver Line service, and Gallery Place-Chinatown will have Green and Yellow Line service. Riders coming from Northern Virginia can still take the Blue, Orange and Silver Lines to Metro Center and Yellow Line to Gallery Place-Chinatown, but transfers to the Red Line will not be available at these stations.

Free shuttle buses will be an alternative to rail service during the shutdown.

During the two-week shutdown, Metro will be repairing the tunnel and track infrastructure, upgrading signal and communications systems, and installing new platform edge lights. This includes addressing structural issues in the nearly 50-year-old tunnels.

The shutdown is being scheduled at a less busy time of the year, when commuters may be away for the winter holidays. Historically, Metro said ridership is 40 percent lower during this time.

"We are proud of the important system improvements our team completed over the summer and are prepared to continue these upgrades on the Red Line during the holiday season,” said Andy Off, Metro's chief of infrastructure. "Thanks to our customers for their understanding of these service outages this year. Completing these critical repairs will improve the reliability of our system for years to come."

Metro said the shutdown is an alternative to weekend shutdowns, which would have taken three months of weekends to complete the project.