WMATA Unveils Three-Year Capital Construction Plans

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Over the next three years, WMATA will complete track work that includes station closures on its Red Line starting this summer.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced its three-year capital construction plans. These plans include station closures along part of the Red Line between summer 2024 and summer 2026. The track work will continue through summer, winter, and extended weekend outages to avoid “extensive” single tracking. 

According to WMATA, the Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glen, Silver Spring, and Takoma stations on the Red Line will be closed starting in June until early September with a possibility of reducing the work zone so Takoma Station can be reopened before the start of the closure.

As reported in January, Maryland’s MTA Purple Line project is taking place and impacts the above listed stations. WMATA reports the work here will be planned in coordination with the Purple Line Project “to build a new mezzanine on the platform at Metro’s Silver Spring Station to provide easier access between Metro and the future MTA Purple Line.” As mentioned before, the MTA Purple Line light rail line is not part of the Metrorail system, “but building the new connection between the two will require the use of both tracks for an extended period,” because the work cannot be done safely and on time with only single tracking.

In addition, crews will complete other important maintenance which include completing automatic train control system replacements, installing traction power cables, replacing drain pumping station, and completing leak mitigation and tunnel standpipe replacements. Crews will also complete maintenance work on the elevator and escalator.

WMATA detailed work that will take place 2025-2026, listed below:

DECEMBER 2024 TO JANUARY 2025

• Construction Foggy Bottom /GWU to L’Enfant Plaza: Over the course of two weeks, crews will pour new grout pads and replace fasteners. This includes 6,400 linear feet of grout pad and fastener replacement, according to the report. Crews will install 15,000 linear feet of fiber optic cable for train control and communication. To allow for this work, there will be isolated closures, but not “full segments between all stations.”
  • Affected stations include: Farragut West, McPherson Sq, lower level of Metro Center (upper-level Red Line open), Federal Triangle, and Smithsonian Station.

SUMMER 2025

• Construction Franconia-Springfield to King Street: Over three weeks, the Van Dorn St and Franconia-Springfield stations will be closed. So crews can replace the “obsolete” signal system and upgrade the train control system. Crews will also complete system upgrades to bridge to the next-gen signaling system. 
• Construction Congress Heights to Branch Avenue: Over six weeks, the Southern Ave, Naylor Road, Suitland, and Branch Ave stations will be closed so crews can install 52,000 linear feet of radio and ancillary fiber optic cable for communication and train control system. They will also repair elevated tracks and bridge and work on a required modernization project to improve communications and address FTA findings.

WINTER 2025 TO WINTER 2026

• Construction L’Enfant Plaza to Fort Totten: Crews will replace running rail and repair restraining rail as well as replace grout pad and fasteners. They will install fiber optic cable for communication and train control system as well as signals along tracks to support the train control system upgrades. WMATA reports it is developing construction plans to “optimize service which may include smaller, closures, single tracking, or combination of both.”

SUMMER 2026

• Construction Friendship Heights to Grosvenor-Strathmore: The Medical Center and Bethesda stations will be closed as there will be construction to connect Maryland’s MDOT MTA Purple Line with the Bethesda Metrorail Station. According to the report, the MDOT MTA Purple Line is slated to open mid-2027.