9-Month Maintenance Blitz For D.C. Subway Set To Begin

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nine months of major disruptions to the transit network in the nation's capital are about to begin.

Metro is starting a maintenance blitz on Saturday that's meant to make the subway system safer and more reliable.

For days or weeks at a time, sections of track will either be closed entirely or trains in both directions will be sharing a single track, leading to major delays.

The first slowdown will be in northern Virginia. Trains will be single-tracking for 13 days between the Ballston and East Falls Church stations, leading to crowded trains and major delays on the orange and silver lines.

Metro has also started closing the system at midnight every night instead of staying open until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

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