Lots of Single Tracking in Metro’s ‘SafeTrack’ Plan

On Friday, Paul Wiedefeld, general manager of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, announced “SafeTrack,” a plan to carry out three years of repairs to D.C.’s Metrorail system in a single year.

The planned work is to include repairs to rails, insulators, fasteners, ventilation systems, tunnel lighting and third-rail cables, boots and cover boards, as well as radio-system installation, debris cleaning and tunnel leak-mitigation and washing.

Starting Friday, June 3, according to the plan, extended weekend service will be eliminated, with the system closing at midnight every night. Over the course of the year, there will be 15 SafeTrack Surges, “long-duration outages on selected line segments,” the first to be on the Blue Line between Franconia and Van Dorn, from June 4 to 19.

The stated goal is to continue to provide a minimum level of service, with single tracking or “bus bridges” — shuttles of 40 to 50 buses — connecting stations, such as between Braddock Road and National Airport from July 5 to 12 and between Pentagon City and National Airport from July 12 to 19.

The draft plan awaits approval by the WMATA board, chaired by Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans. Wiedefeld, who started as GM last November, did not provide an estimate for the work’s total cost, saying that the funds will come from Metro’s capital-improvement budget, with some taken from future years.

Among those commenting on the “tough medicine,” in Wiedefeld’s phrase, was President Obama. “It is just one more example of the underinvestments that have been made,” he said. “We’ve known for years now that we are $1 trillion or $2 trillion short in terms of necessary infrastructure repair.” The president placed the blame on “an ideology that says government spending is necessarily bad.”