Metro’s latest platform shutdown project has begun
WMATA Orange Line New Carrollton Bound Train at Metro Center Station. Image by Elvert Barnes licensed under Creative Commons.
Five stations on the Orange Line closed this past Saturday and won’t be back open until September, according to Metro. New Carrollton, Landover, and Cheverly are the latest in Metro’s line to have their platforms ripped up and new ones to be installed, along with new lighting, displays, and other improvements.
The station closure began Saturday, May 28, and includes more than just the aforementioned three stations. Deanwood and Minnesota Ave will close as part of the work as well, even though Metro isn’t replacing their platforms. Riders on the Silver and Blue line see impacts as well, with no train service on weekends between Stadium-Armory and Benning road for unrelated aerial structure repairs.
Metro says the stations are scheduled to reopen on Monday, September 5.
Metro began a project in 2019 with the goal of completely replacing the platforms at 20 of its stations, focusing on those outdoors in the elements that have deteriorated due to lack of maintenance and corrosive road salt. The agency so far closed stations and have redone platforms along the Yellow, Blue, Orange, Silver, and Green lines, so this summer’s work is a repeat for Orange line riders.
Weekdays
On weekdays, Monday through Friday, it’s Orange Line riders heading to Minnesota, Deanwood, Cheverly, Landover, or New Carrollton that need to find another way around. Metro is running three shuttle bus routes between the closed stations to Stadium-Armory where riders can hop the Orange, Silver, or Blue lines.
On weekdays, the five Orange Line stations east of Stadium-Armory will be closed. Image from WMATA. 
Amtrak and MARC trains aren’t impacted by the Metro closure, so riders could opt to take one of those trains from New Carrollton to Washington Union Station instead of Metro if that’s a reasonable alternative.
Weekends
On weekends, Blue and Silver Line riders also lose their one-seat ride into downtown. There are no trains running between Stadium-Armory and Benning Rd so other Metro crews can perform work on the aerial bridge structure.
Metro is running an additional shuttle bus route on weekends between Benning and Stadium-Armory to bridge that gap. Bus shuttles run every 15 to 20 minutes.
Orange Line trains will run every 10 minutes between Vienna and Ballston each weekend of the shutdown, acting as a shuttle to transfer riders to the Silver Line. The Silver line will run from Wiehle to Stadium-Armory, along with the Blue Line running up from Franconia.
Image from WMATA. 
Metro never made an announcement, but it appears that riders can use BusETA and third-party apps for tracking shuttle buses during this shutdown. Metro has not published schedules or departure times for any of the bus shuttles, so the map with actual bus locations can come in fairly handy.
Metro’s BusETA platform shows real-time and scheduled bus location information. Image from WMATA. 
Shutting stations is more efficient, but has been costly
Shutting down stations instead of trying to work on them while trains continued through was a strategy Metro pushed when announcing the project. The agency said it would be able to replace a station’s platform in one month in the time it might otherwise take 10 or 18 under different work scheduling strategies. The agency has since closed and rebuilt platforms at 17 stations generally on schedule, though the scope and cost of the project have significantly increased over time.
Metro initially planned for the project to span three years costing between $300 and $400 million dollars, but partially changed course before the program began. The program is now in its fourth year and is going to cost over $1 billion by the end of this latest Orange Line shutdown. Phase 1 cost $186 million, $258 million for Phase 2, $337 million for Phase 3, and now $267 million for Phase 4.
Metro contractor Kiewit has been the prime contractor on all four phases of the platform shutdown work.
Part of the change in cost is a result of Metro’s change in scope of the platform project. Rather than simply tearing out and rebuilding the platform, Metro is “using the time to make improvements that enhance the customer experience,” it says. The agency says it’s installing new LED lighting, larger display screens, new shelters with power outlets, and better CCTV surveillance equipment.
When the stations reopen, riders can expect them to look like the other 17 stations that have been rehabbed during the project. However, it is far from certain how often trains may be running at that point in September and if the 7000-series cars are back in force.