(Courtesy of WMATA)

The last surge of the year in Metro’s SafeTrack plan is also the final one scheduled for the western end of the Orange and Silver lines. But before riders can get back to their regular commutes, they face another 24 days of single tracking and severely reduced service.

Between today and December 21, Orange Line trains between Vienna and New Carrollton and Silver Line trains between Wiehle-Reston East and Largo Town Center will run every 20 minutes. Blue Line riders at Rosslyn and into the District should also expect crowding as a result of the reduced capacity, and riders across the Orange and Silver lines will see service affected.

The western segment of the system has been the focus of three previous surge work periods. But because of the location and nature of the work, the impacts will be significantly more severe this time around.

“The first two weeks of this surge will be the worst that anything most of our riders have experienced so far since we started SafeTrack,” said Metro’s chief operating officer Joseph Leader. “We need about half of all our riders on the Orange and Silver lines to stay off Metrorail altogether.”

Because of the configuration of the signaling system, Metro won’t be able to add more Orange and Silver line trains going into downtown for the first two weeks of the surge.

“Even though the work is happening in Virginia, the major impact will be felt from one end of the line to the other end of the line,” Leader said. “Riders who made it through previous surges on the Orange and Silver line, such as Surge 1, 5, and 9, will find this one more severe.”

The work area will shift after the first two weeks and Metro will be able to add more trains outside the track work area.