Photo by Mr. T in DC

For users of the Foggy Bottom Metro station, yesterday was a big day — after months of commuter backups and having to climb immobilized escalators, the station’s third escalator was re-opened after a full replacement.

The work started in January and represented the first full replacement of any of Metro’s 588 escalators in over a decade, reported the Examiner. The escalators, which are expected to last 20 to 30 years, cost $5.9 million to install. Foggy Bottom will also be getting a standard staircase and a canopy at some point next year.

Also yesterday, Metro officials celebrated the re-opening of seven escalators at Union Station after a $2.2 million modernization.

Of course, not everyone is impressed with the news, writes TBD. Celebrating the replacement or modernization of an escalator seems to show how bad things have gotten for the transit system, after all.

Then again, a smooth escalator ride can be significant consolation after a hard day’s work. Foggy Bottom was notorious for its human back-ups going into the station (not to mention a February collapse), likely increasing broader frustrations with the system. Metro officials must know the morale booster that the new escalators will provide to commuters who use the station. (The broader problems with Metro’s escalators became so legendary that even The New York Times covered them.)

The next big project Metro has mapped out for the system’s escalators is at Dupont Circle’s southern entrance. Starting in February 2012, the entrance will be closed altogether for anywhere between eight and 10 months, during which the three escalators will be fully replaced.

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