Metro To Close 4 Red Line Stations This Weekend For Track Work

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Metro will close four stations on the Red Line on Saturday and Sunday to perform track work, with normal service scheduled to resume on Monday at 5 a.m.

The Shady Grove, Rockville, Twinbrook and North Bethesda stations will be closed on Sept. 16 and Sept. 17. Free shuttle buses will be provided for customers from Shady Grove to Grosvenor during normal Metrorail operating hours over the weekend.

Customers may also want to consider using Metrorail from the Grosvenor Station as an alternative, where Metro parking is free on the weekends, WMATA said. Normal Red Line service will operate between Glenmont and Grosvenor, every eight minutes during the day, and every 10 minutes after 9 p.m.

Normal Red Line service will resume, and all stations will reopen by the start of normal service on Monday, Sept. 18, at 5 a.m. For weekend service information, customers can visit the WMATA website.

During this weekend’s track work, Metro will replace the switches in the interlocking outside the Twinbrook Station. The switches and equipment in the interlocking are part of the signaling system embedded on the tracks to ensure trains are routed properly and can safely cross over from one track to the other in the event of a service disruption or single tracking.

Metro is also planning additional work between these stations to install fiber-optic cables to upgrade the radio and signal capabilities, laying the necessary groundwork for future infrastructure needs such as Communications-Based Train Control, Metro said.

The shutdown will also allow maintenance teams to remove and install new rail, replace rail ties that support and provide stability to the tracks, and make repairs to damaged fencing that helps to keep out trespassers.

The work on the Red Line will begin overnight after the system closes on Friday, continuing through the weekend.