[Archived] Metro to Temporarily Close Van Dorn and Franconia Metrorail Stations for Critical Blue Line Safety Work

For Immediate Release: November 24, 2020

Metro has announced plans to accelerate major capital work on Metrorail’s Blue Line in Virginia, which will modernize the signal system in the Alexandria Rail Yard, resulting in improved safety, reliability and on-time performance. Taking advantage of the historically low ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic, Metro will consolidate the project into a shorter series of outages that will close two stations – Franconia-Springfield and Van Dorn Street.

The work will take place over 10 weekends beginning Friday, November 27, and ending Sunday, March 14. In addition, a two-week shutdown will take place during the winter holiday period when ridership typically drops even further. During all closures, local and express shuttle bus service will replace train service at Franconia-Springfield and Van Dorn St. Blue Line trains will operate between Huntington and Largo Town Center. The schedule includes a break in work during Wreaths Across America (December 19), inauguration week (January 16-24) and Presidents Day weekend (February 13-15).

Weekends beginning Friday, November 27 – March 14:

• Blue Line service will operate between Huntington and Largo Town Center.
  • Rail service on the Blue Line will be adjusted when Platform Improvement Project work begins at Arlington Cemetery in mid-February.
• Franconia-Springfield and Van Dorn Street closed.
• Free local and express shuttle buses will operate between:
  • Franconia-Springfield, Van Dorn Street (Bus loop Bay D) and Eisenhower Avenue
  • Franconia-Springfield and Pentagon
• With the exception of the first weekend, weekend closures will include Saturday and Sunday only.
• Yellow Line service is available as an alternative for travel between Virginia and downtown D.C.
• Weekend service frequencies may vary based on additional scheduled track work. Use Metro’s trip planner before traveling or check wmata.com/weekend for details.

 Weekdays December 21-25 and December 28 – January 1:

• Blue Line service will operate between Huntington and Largo Town Center.
• Franconia-Springfield and Van Dorn Street closed.
• Free local and express shuttle buses will operate between:
  • Franconia-Springfield, Van Dorn Street and Eisenhower Avenue
  • Franconia-Springfield and Pentagon (excluding holidays)
  • Van Dorn Street and Pentagon rush hour service only: 5 a.m.-8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (excluding holidays)

Ridership at Franconia-Springfield and Van Dorn Street remains down by 80% or more compared with pre-COVID levels.

During construction, Metro will replace all of the major components of the signal system in the Alexandria Rail Yard where it connects to the Blue Line, including switches, signals, track circuits and signal control rooms. The signal upgrades are necessary to modernize Metro’s Automatic Train Control System, which is more than 40 years old. This work cannot be done safely with trains in service and is best done with a shutdown.

In addition to the construction, work crews will conduct a series of safety tests on thousands of circuits to safely commission the new equipment for use. These tests are critical to ensure the integrity of the signal system.

Working with local jurisdictions, Metro decided on the series of shutdowns because completing the same work with weekend single tracking could more than double the time for completion, while providing severely limited rail service with waits up to 36 minutes between trains.

Visit wmata.com for more information.

For inquiries from the news media only, contact Andrea Blackford, Senior Communications Officer, at andrea.blackford@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.3959.