Montgomery County commuters will take the brunt of the ongoing overhaul of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's rail system in August, as the first repairs to affect the Red Line begin on Monday, Aug. 1, leaders warn, with "major rush hour delays" likely.

WMATA's SafeTrack initiative accelerates three years of track repairs into less than a year by significantly expanding maintenance work. SafeTrack's 15 "Safety Surges" – long-duration track outages for major projects in key parts of the system – will cause delays throughout the region. The next surge, starting next week, will affect Montgomery County residents. Metrorail's Red Line will be the focus of work during Surge #6. The next round of repair work runs from Monday, Aug. 1 through Sunday, Aug. 7. Trains will continuously single track between Takoma station in the District and Silver Spring station in Maryland.

Surge #7 will be in effect Aug. 9 to 18. These surges, and especially Surge #6, are expected to cause major delays on the entire Red Line — the Metrorail system's busiest line. Metro is urging commuters to find alternatives, particularly during weekday, peak travel hours. Riders using the Red Line could face one-hour delays in both directions starting Monday, reports NBC Washington.



Note: During Surges #6 and #7, Montgomery County's 311 Call Center is extending its hours to assist commuters and will operate from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday. What is County Doing to Help Travelers?

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation is assisting travelers during SafeTrack as outlined below.

For Riders: