7 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

Metro Magazine, 7/12:
 

Maryland MTA bracing for 24-day shut down

 

The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is preparing for critical maintenance work that will partially shut down the Metro Subway system for 24 days this summer, with officials urging riders to plan ahead and use free shuttle bus service to help get them where they need to go.

 

From July 22 to August 14, the Reisterstown Plaza, Rogers Avenue and West Cold Spring Metro Subway stations will be completely closed for maintenance of critical components of the rail system. Full service will resume on August 15.  .  .  .

 

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[CNJRoss]

MD MTA Metro Service Alert, 7/22:
 

Metro Subway Partial Shutdown July 22-Aug 14

 

Beginning 8:00 pm Friday, July 22nd to midnight Sunday, August 14th, repairs will be made to the Metro Subway lines making it necessary to close the Reisterstown Plaza, Rogers Avenue and West Cold Spring Stations completely. MTA will provide shuttle bus service linking the Metro Subway line from Milford Mill Station to Mondawmin Station during that time. No additional fare will be charged on board the shuttle bus service. We are asking you to plan up to an additional hour for your travel in either direction. We appreciate your patience during this time as we work to keep your ride safe.

 

[CNJRoss]

WTOP radio, 7/22:
 

Baltimore’s Metro Subway follows suit with station shutdowns for track work

 

WASHINGTON — It’s not just WMATA shutting down stations for lengthy track work this summer, Baltimore’s Metro Subway enters a major round of track work Friday evening that will shut three stations in the middle of the system for more than three weeks.

 

The work in Baltimore’s 14-station subway focuses on rebuilding three interlockings, similar to the switch replacement the D.C. area system has focused on in work zones like one last month near Stadium-Armory.

 

Maryland Transit Administration Deputy Administrator Suhair Al Khatib explained that the interlockings allow trains to move from one track to another near each of the three stations that are closed, and none has been rebuilt since the system opened in late 1983.

 

“They are over 30 years old, and they are reaching the end of their life cycle, and they needed to be replaced,” Al Khatib said.

 

SNIP

 

From 7 p.m. Friday through closing on Sunday, Aug. 14, the Reisterstown Plaza, Rogers Avenue and West Cold Spring stations will be completely closed. The MTA advises riders to plan up to an additional hour for each trip on shuttle buses around the closure, which will follow some lessons learned from Metro track work in the D.C. area.

 

The 60 to 70 shuttle buses in Baltimore are school buses rented through a contractor that Al Khatib said do have air conditioning.

 

More here.

[KevinKorell]

National Express is bridging commuter service with local and express shuttles during critical maintenance that has temporarily closed some of the Metro Subway stations in Baltimore.

The Maryland Department of Transportation’s Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) has contracted National Express through August 14, 2016 to link the Metro Subway service from Milford Mill Station south to Mondawmin Station.

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Staffed 24/7 with more than 100 drivers and 58 buses, free National Express shuttles will be running every 10 minutes during peak service and 20 to 30 minutes at lower-volume commuting times.

“Getting Baltimore’s commuters to their destinations safely is our focus for the next 20 days while rail maintenance is underway,” said Judith Crawford, National Express CEO of National Express Transit Corp. “We are working closely with the MTA to do what we can to minimize inconvenience for passengers while the MTA completes work that will enhance service safety and efficiency.”

Local shuttle buses will stop at each of the affected stations in both directions from Milford Mill station to Mondawmin. Express shuttle service will run directly from Milford Mill to Mondawmin without making any other station stops.

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National Express and the MTA have a team of transit ambassadors at street level to help passengers locate the local and express shuttle boarding areas.

MTA officials are urging Metro Subway riders to plan ahead — up to an additional hour of travel time — and use free shuttle bus service to help them with their commute.

Keywords

National Express   private contractor   service shutdown   shuttle   subway maintenance   

 

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[KevinKorell]

The substitute busing is bad enough ..... but school buses ????

[CNJRoss]

The substitute busing is bad enough ..... but school buses ????

 

As reported by WTOP on 7/22 (above):

"The 60 to 70 shuttle buses in Baltimore are school buses rented through a contractor that Al Khatib said do have air conditioning."

 

-Ross

[CNJRoss]

MD MTA Metro Service Alert, 8/14:
 

MTA Resumes Metro Subway Service in Baltimore City on Sunday, Aug. 14

 

The Maryland Department of Transportation’s Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) has resumed Baltimore Metro Subway service today – a day ahead of schedule – from the Milford Mill to Mondawmin stations after a 23-day partial shutdown for critical maintenance work. The MTA wishes to thank all of it's patrons for their patience during the partial shutdown. We sincerely appreciate your cooperation as we were working to keep your ride safe!

 

[CNJRoss]

Metro Magazine, 11/23:
 

Anatomy of a Rail System Shutdown, Reconstruction

 

The expressions on the faces of Maryland Transit Administration managers ranged from mild panic to stunned disbelief in April 2015, when MTA Administrator Paul Comfort sent official word to his staff that five of the Metro Subway’s busiest stations would be completely, or partially, closed for nearly a month the next summer due to track and interlocking reconstruction.

 

While scheduled repairs would take place when subway ridership was at its lowest all year, the challenges ahead in the unprecedented plan to shut down the central core of the 33-year-old subway system for 21 days were manifold.

 

“From construction delays to our alternative transportation system failing, this massive undertaking had the potential for going seriously awry and causing even more difficulties for our riding customers,” says Comfort. “But through a combination of intense planning and follow-up meetings, hard work by our construction team, and repeated messages to the public on how to make the best of the situation and plan ahead, we were able to call the shutdown a complete success.”

 

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