Red Line riders in Montgomery County are facing some changes to their commutes during Metro's final SafeTrack maintenance surge, which began Saturday.
Service is shut down on the segment from Shady Grove to Twinbrook. Two stations -- Shady Grove and Rockville -- are closed.
The changes will remain in effect through June 25.
Shuttle buses are running along the affected stretch of the Red Line, with express shuttle buses between Shady Grove and Twinbrook during rush hour. (Scroll down to the "Transportation Alternatives" section for details.)
Riders who normally use the Shady Grove or Rockville stations are encouraged to begin their trips at Twinbrook, White Flint, Glenmont or Wheaton instead, Montgomery County transportation officials said.
On the rest of the Red Line, trains are operating between Glenmont and Twinbrook every eight minutes instead of every six minutes. Extra trains are running between Glenmont and Silver Spring every four minutes instead of every three minutes.
During midday and evenings, trains are operating every 12 minutes, with extra trains between Grosvenor and Silver Spring.
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After 10 p.m., trains run every 15 minutes.
Weekend train service may vary during the SafeTrack surge; see weekend train statuses online here.
Alternatives to Metrorail:
BUS:
WMATA Shuttles: WMATA is running free shuttle buses on two routes:
A local route is operating between Shady Grove, Rockville and Twinbrook. The local shuttle is picking up passengers on the west side at Bay C at Shady Grove.
During weekday rush hours, an express route is running between Shady Grove and Grosvenor-Strathmore from 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The express shuttle is picking up passengers on the east side of Bay G at Shady Grove.
Ride On Bus: Montgomery County's bus service is another option.
Transportation officials recommend Ride On's Route 46, which runs between Montgomery College-Rockville and Medical Center, or Route 47, which runs between the Rockville and Bethesda Metro stations. Metro also suggests Route 55, which services Rockville, Shady Grove, the Lake Forest Transit Center and the Germantown Transit Center. See options during SafeTrack here.
Metrobus: WMATA has a full list of Metrobus routes serving affected stations on its site here. WMATA recommends Metrobus routes 1, 2, Q1, Q2, Q5, Q6, T2 and C4.
COMMUTER RAIL
MARC's commuter rail trains may be an option for some riders. Montgomery County transportation officials suggest using the Brunswick Line, which has stations at Metropolitan Grove, Rockville, Garrett Park, Kensington, Silver Spring and Union Station.
See MARC's Brunswick Line timetable here. More information on fares and parking at MARC stations is available here.
BIKE
Consider biking as another travel alternative. See Montgomery County bike maps online here.
Don't have your own bike? Find a map of Capital Bikeshare stations here. Bikeshare has an option for users to buy a single trip for $2.
RIDESHARE
See Maryland's Commuter Connections page online here.
