The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) just announced an expansion of their summer station closures on the Orange and Silver Lines.

Nine stations in the western suburbs of Virginia will be temporarily closed beginning May 23 through the summer. 

This decision Increasing the number of closed stations was made based on the current stay-at-home orders across the DMV. Ridership for the months of March and April are down significantly, over 90 percent at some stations, and WMATA is looking for ways to improve efficiency across the system. 

"This is about two things: working smarter and working safer. Closing the stations to get the work done while ridership is historically low allows us to limit the exposure of our frontline staff and contractors, mitigate delays to our capital program, and minimize inconvenience to the public." —Paul J. Wiedefeld, Metro General Manager and Chief Executive Officer

Metro, trains

The Virginia Metro stations to be closed this summer are on the western end of the Orange Line and the Silver Line:

  • East Falls Church
  • West Falls Church
  • Dunn Loring
  • Vienna
  • McLean
  • Tysons
  • Greensboro
  • Spring Hill
  • Wiehle-Reston East

Once the closures go into effect, WMATA will roll out additional information about free shuttle bus services and express lines. Shuttle buses will run every 10 minutes during weekdays and every 15 minutes on weekends. During the shutdown, commuters can park for free at the Vienna and Dunn Loring Metro stations.

This major change in train schedules is not related to the Platform Improvement Project which was previously planned. For more information about the stations to be closed, or alternative commuter options, visit the official WMATA website.

*The photos in this article are courtesy of WMATA.

Will these additional station closures affect your travel or commuting plans this summer? Sound off in the comments!