Expect Delays on Orange, Silver Lines Starting June 4

Metro will soon be undertaking a significant maintenance effort that will accelerate three years worth of work into approximately one year, and Fairfax County is offering tips to commuters on how to survive major delays that will start for Orange and Silver line riders beginning June 4.

Metro's plan, called SafeTrack, expands maintenance time on weekends, weeknights and midday hours and includes 15 “Safety Surges”— long-duration track outages for major projects in key parts of the system.

The Orange and Silver lines will continuously single track between East Falls Church and Ballston from Saturday, June 4-Thursday, June 16.

Here are some key point, from Fairfax County:

• Orange Line trains between Vienna and Ballston will operate every 18 minutes
• Additional Orange Line trains will operate between Ballston and New Carrollton only
• Silver Line trains will operate every 18 minutes
• At 10 p.m. all trains will operate every 20 minutes
• Metro closes at midnight seven days a week for the duration of all safety work

Fairfax County Resources for Surge #1

During most safety surges, Fairfax Connector will provide supplemental express service on existing routes or on rush-hour shuttles.

For surge #1:

• Supplemental trips in the Dulles/I-66 corridor on express Route 599 from Reston to Pentagon.
• Express rush-hour shuttle service from Vienna Metrorail Station via I-66 to Pentagon.
• Existing express service on routes 393 and 394 from Saratoga Park-and-Ride via I-95/395 to Pentagon.

SafeTrack supplemental and shuttle service fare is $4 per trip

Due to reduced capacity and expected longer travel times, Metrorail riders are encouraged to consider using alternate travel options while safety surge work is scheduled on their line. Fairfax County commuters are strongly urged to use alternate ways to get to work during the Safety Surges and consider teleworking as much as possible. Here are some options for your commute:

• Virginia Railway Express is operating regular service.
• Use park and ride lots and carpool from there with co-workers or friends.
• Consider ridesharing through Commuter Connections.
• Ride your bike the first and last parts of your trip; place your bike on Fairfax Connector.

The impacts of the SafeTrack work will likely affect the whole region for the next year, even if you don’t ride Metro. In a letter to local businesses, Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova said, “Even if your employees do not regularly use Metrorail to commute, they may still be impacted by the changes in traffic patterns. In Fairfax County, people travelling on the major corridors (I-66, I-495, Dulles Toll Road, I-95) could be significantly affected by Metro’s track work due to the influx of additional traffic from rail riders who are driving to work.”

On May 24, Metro briefed the Board of Supervisors about the SafeTrack plan. Watch a video here, courtesy of Fairfax County: