Metro To Close 5 Red Line Stations This Summer For Purple Line Project

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Beginning in early June, the Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glen, Silver Spring and Takoma Metro stations on the Red Line will close, the transit agency announced.

The closure will continue through early September, with the possibility of reducing the work zone to allow the Takoma Metro Station to reopen prior to the end of construction.

The planned work includes upgrading the signaling system, installing communication and train control cables, and repairing the interlocking, which allows trains to cross from one track to the other outside the Takoma Metro Station.

Service plans, including free express and local shuttle buses, are being developed and will be announced at least a month prior to the start of the closure in June, Metro said.

The work is being planned in coordination with the Maryland Transit Administration Purple Line Project to build a new mezzanine on the platform at Metro’s Silver Spring Station to provide easier access between Metro and the future MTA Purple Line.

The Maryland Purple Line light rail line is not part of the Metrorail system, but building the new connection between the two will require the use of both tracks for an extended period and cannot be completed safely and timely with single tracking only, Metro said.

Metro also outlined other plans for station shutdowns following this summer's Red Line closures.