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DC Officials Set To Reconstruct Metro System, Commuters Brace For Massive Delays

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Steve Birr Vice Reporter
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D.C. Metro officials will unveil an ambitious, comprehensive plan to fix the deteriorating transit system Friday, which when implemented is expected to cause long-term closures and massive delays.

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld will host a press conference Friday morning to discuss the specifics, which is being described as a full reconstruction of the Metro system that will affect all lines, except recently constructed portions of the silver line. Tracks between roughly two to three stations will be shutdown for weeks for round the clock repairs, and certain lines will be single tracked for extended periods of time.

The system is plagued by increasingly regular saftey threats like track fires from broken equipment and decades of poor maintenance, bringing the transit agency under national scrutiny. Officials previously slated a two-year time frame for repairs, however the plan will reportedly fix all of Metro’s maintenance issues within months. Wiedefeld said tracks will need to be repaired virtually from the ground up, in a memo to employees obtained by WAMU.

Riders should also expect shortened service hours at night and on weekends so crews have more time to make the necessary fixes.

“The current paradigm of running service 135 of 168 hours a week on a two track system with significant maintenance needs simply isn’t sustainable,” Wiedefeld said in the memo. “The hard truth is that 33 hours a week is not enough to dig out of the deferred maintenance hole, and at this rate, we will not reach an acceptable state of safety and reliability for several years.”

Workers will be replacing everything from rail switches to electrical cables. Some of the equipment reportedly has not been replaced since the D.C. Metro first opened. Metro officials are coordinating with the local government and businesses to facilitate alternate modes of transport. (RELATED: DC Metro Unnecessarily Put Passengers At Risk In Deadly 2015 Fire)

The long awaited maintenance plan comes on the heels of a devastating report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on the 2015 track fire at L’Enfant Plaza station claimed a life. The NTSB found officials used crowded commuter trains to inspect potential safety threats in tunnels. The report also exposed several contributing factors including broken sfatey equipment and slow response times.

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