WMATA’s first SafeTrack Surge ahead of schedule in many categories

WMATA

Planned work for the first Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) SafeTrack "surge" between Ballston and East Falls Church is at 96 percent complete.

Crews are also ahead of schedule in may work categories including tie replacement, insulator renewal fastener renewal and leak repairs. As of Monday, June 13, WMATA crews and contractors have exceeded many of the key tasks originally planned for the first Surge period, including insulator renewal (113 percent completed); fastener renewal (118 percent completed); track bed cleaning (110 percent completed); drain maintenance (131 percent completed); leak repair (294 percent completed) and intrusion detection warning system renewal (160 percent completed).

“Given the importance of quickly getting into this intensive track rehab program, I am pleased with the work getting done in Surge number one and want to thank the entire region for their support over the last twelve days,” said WMATA General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Paul Wiedefeld. “While the immediate benefit for any surge is safety, as we conclude the surges, customers should see an improvement in track reliability and overall ride quality along this area of the Orange and Silver lines.”

The first Surge project began June 4, involving continuous single tracking between East Falls Church and Ballston stations so that miles of deteriorated wooden ties could be removed, the substructure of the railroad could be rebuilt and thousands of new ties, fasteners, ballast and other infrastructure could be installed.

SafeTrack is an accelerated trackwork plan to address safety recommendations and rehabilitate the WMATA system to improve safety and reliability by significantly expanding maintenance time on weeknights, weekends and midday hours and includes 15 “safety surges.”

The overall objective of SafeTrack is to bring WMATA tracks and structures into a state of good repair by eliminating safety hazards, increasing service reliability and improving the ride quality of the system.

Around-the-clock single tracking between East Falls Church and Ballston will conclude at the end of the day June 16; surge number two will begin June 18.