Posts about Track Work

WMATA planned the single tracking between Eastern Market and Cheverly to accommodate a range of repairs and reconstruction in that segment. Half-hour headways may have been necessary to ensure worker safety and maximize efficiency, so that the work could be completed prior to Monday's rush hour. That's all perfectly justifiable.

But there was absolutely no reason for riders along the entire length of the Orange Line to be left with such terrible service. Metro's track schematic clearly shows there are crossover tracks between Federal Center SW and Capitol South stations. Trains coming and going west from Federal Center SW could have used that crossover track to turn around, ensuring regular weekend headways through downtown Washington and in Virginia.

We know trains can turn around using the crossover tracks since they do it every day at Mount Vernon Square and Grosvenor, so why couldn't they have done so last weekend at Federal Center SW? This simple solution would have prevented thousands of Metro customers from being greatly inconvenienced.

It's possible that Metro had repairs under way elsewhere along the Orange Line, but the press release didn't communicate that. In any event, there are crossover tracks every few stations all throughout the system. Trains could have turned around at McPherson Square, Foggy Bottom, or Clarendon, and at least riders west of the turnaround wouldn't have been faced with 30-minute waits.

Sometimes officials forget that keeping the rail system in proper order is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself. If the system isn't serving customers then it's not working. The next time Metro has to perform single tracking, they should use one of the system's many turnarounds to ensure short headways along the rest of the line.

Cross-posted at BeyondDC.

One of these stations is East Falls Church, where all westbound Orange Line trains from downtown terminated this past weekend due to the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. Thus, Orange Line trains bound for East Falls Church display "SPECIAL" all the way from New Carrollton to East Falls Church. This work has been going on throughout 2011, and will continue in 2012, based on Metro's track work schedule.

Because the PIDS (the in-station "next train" display boards) are also driven by trains' destination codes, more often than not they only display "Train".

Regardless of the destination code set, the train operator can manually override a train's side destination signs, forcing them to "SPECIAL" or "NO PASSENGERS" with the use of a switch in the cab. In certain circumstances (especially when there's no track work going on), it may be the case that the train operator has the right destination code entered but has failed to set the train identity control switch appropriately. In those cases, a kind word on the intercom or through the cab window will often get the problem resolved.

The situation is an accessibility and wayfinding nightmare. While operators of "SPECIAL" trains are supposed to make frequent public address announcements with regard to the train's route, they're often inaudible to the majority of passengers, and at their best, they still do nothing for hearing-impaired riders.

Where a station without a destination code is a frequent terminal due to work (like East Falls Church), the best solution would be for WMATA to revise the destination code table plugged into each railcar's display system. Unfortunately, that requires bringing every railcar into the shop, an expensive and time-consuming proposition.

In the meantime, riders may find it helpful to know that if, for example, there's track work on the Orange Line, but not the Blue Line, then westbound trains at downtown stations that display "SPECIAL" are almost certainly operating on the Orange Line and terminating at East Falls Church.

Even if Metro can reduce the use of "SPECIAL" destination signs for frequent work, these trains will always exist. Not every station can have a destination code; there simply aren't enough codes.

Sometimes trains will need to terminate at a certain station due to work very infrequently, and for them it's probably not worth it to reset the codes for a one-time event. That was the case this past weekend, when Green Line trains from Greenbelt terminated at Georgia Avenue. Their destination signs displayed "SPECIAL" while going southbound, but the switch replacement work on the Green Line at U Street was a one-weekend event.

In any circumstance, since they're going to continue to exist, Metro should make more of an effort to communicate the route and destination of "SPECIAL" trains to customers.

Metro instituted a similar closure along a section of the Red Line on Labor Day weekend. On that weekend, I went to have brunch at a friend's house in the Brookland neighborhood. During that time, Metro shuttles were running down his street every 2 minutes. Many of the buses were nearly empty, but for a moment I was jealous at the thought of transit service every 2 minutes.

Likewise, if WMATA keeps similarly short headways for the shuttles this weekend, the agency might actually enhance mobility between the Convention Center, Shaw, U Street, Columbia Heights, and Petworth.

One of Metro's main shortcomings is that riding during non-rush periods, especially on weekends or at night, can entail waiting on platforms for as much as 24 minutes. This is an unacceptably low level of service, but our region lacks the political leadership to set a minimum level of transit service the way we do for utilities.

In DC, where 37% of households lack a car, the mayor and council chairman drive luxury cars at taxpayer expense, and other councilmembers receive free parking in front of the Wilson Building.

In the abstract, our leaders may appreciate the importance of frequent service, but nothing drives home the point like waiting on a Metro platform with 100 other people only to watch a packed train arrive half an hour later.

Though buses can't match the speed and comfort of rail service, the frequency of bus shuttles this weekend might prove to be a significant, though temporary, transit improvement.

While closing stations and forcing passengers to use a bus may be disruptive for those passing through the work zone, they actually worked quite smoothly last time, Metro used them, on Memorial Day weekend. Many readers reported using them.

Metro also carried more passengers that weekend than the previous year, even with the shuttles. Metro spokesperson Dan Stessel said that over the Memorial Day weekend in 2010, Metro carried around 70,300 riders on the Blue and Orange Lines between Federal Center SW and Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road.

This year, the line was closed so that the interlocking at Eastern Market could be replaced. Passengers had to ride shuttle buses between Federal Center SW and Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road. Despite that, Metro carried 84,600 riders on the bus bridge.

It appears that the line closure and bus bridge did not deter riders from taking Metro. Hopefully, as closed segments and shuttle buses become a regular sight on Metro, they will continue to run as smoothly.

But in 1971 BART had yet to open, and the Metrorail system had only broken ground two years earlier. Operating experience in the years since has shown that while single-tracking may preserve service, it does so at the expense of lengthened headways and disruptions along the entire length of the line.

Today, taking this experience into account, WMATA has announced a new approach to weekend track work on the Metrorail system, in which entire sections of lines will be closed and replaced with buses.

Single-tracking doesn't just disrupt riders in the work area itself; it slows down the entire line, and affects riders throughout the Metrorail system.

WMATA's new approach to track work will preserve service on the open portions of lines, and avoid the follow-on effects which usually occur when trains are single-tracking.

Closing lines to speed repairs is, by itself, nothing new. In 2006, London Underground elected to close the Waterloo & City Line in its entirety for five months, in order to avoid a projected 70 weekend closures necessary to complete the major overhaul of the line.

Because of the complete closure, weekday riders who would have been spared disruption under a program of weekend closures instead had to take alternate routes. But because the complete closure was more efficient, the work was done (and the disruption ended) in 5 months, rather than in more than a year for weekend closures alone.

New York City's MTA has also been examining partial line closures as an alternative to frequent evening and weekend disruption. No decision has been made yet, but MTA Chairman Jay Walder seems to think it's a strategy that's proven itself in London, and which may prove viable in New York as well.

So, how well will this strategy work for Metrorail? At the extremities of lines, complete closures will probably be superior to single-tracking. Work will go faster with no trains running through the work areas, and the unaffected parts of the line won't have to contend with the bottleneck caused by single-tracking. In the core of the network, though, where ridership levels are high even on weekends, shuttle buses may end up swamped with passengers, leading to delays for riders traveling through the closed areas.

In the end, riders will face disruption whether trains are single-tracking or replaced with shuttle buses—but in this case, replacing trains with shuttle buses means a faster end to the work, and a quicker return to normalcy.

Starting tonight, Metro will close the Blue and Orange lines between Metro Center and L'Enfant Plaza. Metro Center and L'Enfant Plaza will still have Blue and Orange Line trains, but Federal Triangle and Smithsonian will be closed. They'll reopen on Tuesday morning.

All riders should keep in mind that the last train on all lines will depart 20 minutes earlier than usual throughout the weekend.

Like all line closures, Metro will be providing free shuttle bus service around the closure. These buses typically can't handle the number of passengers that exit the stations in large clumps as trains are offloaded. So passengers generally are forced to wait for a bus they can fit on.

This delay and being forced to exit the system and wait on a street corner in the elements is a major, though necessary, hassle.

Metro could reduce demand for shuttles by letting riders know how close Federal Triangle is to Metro Center and Archives and how close Smithsonian is to L'Enfant Plaza. They've done this in the past for major events, by encouraging riders not to change lines, and instead walk from the nearest station.

For those continuing longer distances, since each separate section of the Blue and Orange Lines connects to other Metro lines, many riders may well choose to avoid the shuttle buses and simply take the Green/Yellow and Red lines around the closure.

Unfortunately, the Green, Yellow, and Red lines will be operating typical weekend frequencies. The Red Line will be the most frequent, despite 2 different work projects on either end of the line. Red trains will be coming through Metro Center every 7-8 minutes, but the more frequent service will only be between Grosvenor and New York Avenue.

This means passengers will risk a long wait at 2 transfer stations if they attempt to take Metro around the work zone. If Metro could run a few more trains, they could make this easier, though that would also cost money they don't really have.

Running more frequent Red Line service at least between Farragut North and New York Avenue could virtually eliminate the wait for passengers transferring at Metro Center and Gallery Place. And wait times on the Green and Yellow lines between L'Enfant and Gallery Place could be alleviated by adding special Blue Line trains from Franconia-Springfield to Mount Vernon Square. Or as a cheaper option, just running shuttle trains from Pentagon City to Mount Vernon Square.

While beefing up Metro service on the unaffected lines would make getting around the closure easier, it would probably not completely eliminate the need for shuttles. Some passengers may want or need direct service to Federal Triangle or Smithsonian.

Metro officials did not respond to our inquiry about beefing up rail service as an alternative or plans to communicate about nearby stations.

If you have to travel around this closure, a choice between the bus shuttle and a hop on the Red and Green lines is likely to be a crapshoot.