Photo by ep_jhu

Between a cracked rail yesterday morning and a systemwide communications failure contributing to hourlong delays in the early hours of today, it hasn’t been a great couple of days for Metro’s Red Line.

And, guess what? It’s not going to be that swell this weekend either, but at least this time there’s fair warning. Per Metro’s announcement, the Red Line will be closed for track work between Dupont Circle and Van Ness from 10 p.m. tonight through closing time on Sunday, which will be a bit earlier in the direction of Glenmont. Shuttle buses are scheduled to replace along the affected stretch of rail.

Among the changes to Red Line service this weekend:

• Trains will operate between Shady Grove and Van Ness and between Dupont Circle and Glenmont. During daytime hours, every other train from Dupont Circle will turn back at Silver Spring.
• Customers traveling through the work zone should allow about 25 minutes of additional travel time. All other customers should allow about 10 minutes of additional travel time.
• On Friday and Saturday, the last Red Line train from Shady Grove will depart at 2 a.m. (30 minutes earlier than normal). The last train from Glenmont will arrive at Dupont Circle 3:10 a.m. The last train from Van Ness will depart at 3:40 a.m., arrive at Shady Grove at 4:06 a.m.
• On Sunday, the the last Red Line train from Shady Grove will depart at 11 p.m. (30 minutes earlier than normal). The train from Glenmont will arrive at Dupont Circle 12:10 a.m. The last train from Van Ness will depart at 12:40 am, arrive at Shady Grove at 1:04 am.

Metro’s also got work scheduled for the rest of the system, too, this weekend. Blue and Orange line trains will travel on a single track between McPherson Square and Smithsonian all weekend and will run with reduced frequency. Similar case for the Green Line, on which trains will single-track between Naylor Road and Branch Avenue. As an upshot of Green Line service, the Yellow Line will operate only as far north as Mt. Vernon Square.

All the work this weekend is part of a menu of upgrades recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board. As DCist contributor Marc Tomik noted yesterday, Metro is trying to comply with a sweeping overhaul of its system and, for the most part, “providing consistent updates that they are working to fulfill the recommendations from outside agencies.” Let’s just keep our fingers crossed this weekend that Metro doesn’t have any communications blackouts or Twitter silences like it did last night.