Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL)– It’s been a frustrating few days for riders of Metro’s Red Line. A train filled with smoke Saturday causing major delays, and an arcing insulator shut down the Friendship Heights station for a period of time during rush hour Wednesday morning. The frustration will continue over the next few days as trains single track between the Van Ness and Medical Center stations for what spokesperson Dan Stessel is calling a “maintenance surge” to fix problems caused by water leaking onto the tracks.
“What happens with that water coming in is that it starts interfacing with the electrical components of the third rail. It can cause arcing insulators, and it also has an effect on anything that’s steel, like the rails themselves,” Stessel said.
Red Line trains will only be coming every 20 minutes or so from 8 p.m. to closing Thursday and Friday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, and then all weekend while work is underway. Extra trains will be used after the Capitals games Thursday and Saturday nights to accommodate the crowds.
The “maintenance surge” will have crews cleaning out drains, replacing worn insulators, double checking power cables and replacing corroded steel parts. Their last task will be to do a thermal imaging scan.
“What that thermal imaging does, is it will give you an early warning of any potential arcing or any hot spots where electricity’s flowing where it shouldn’t be so that we can address that,” said Stessel.
Water has been leaking onto tracks between Van Ness and Medical Center for decades. Stessel explained this stretch of tunnel is deep underground where it is vulnerable to water infiltration. Newer tunnels built below the water table, like those between Glenmont and Silver Spring, are surrounded by a waterproof membrane to keep water out, but these were built before that method went into use.
Stessel said the work this weekend isn’t a long-term fix, and similar maintenance will need to be done regularly for the next few years. A request for proposal was sent out for a project to stop the problem long-term, but only one company responded. General Manager Paul Wiedefeld has since asked his staff to divide that one project into smaller ones and send out another RFP.
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