D.C. Metro Making Progress on Escalator Fixes

Escalators at the Wheaton Metro station (photo by Aaron Landy via Flickr)

Metro riders in D.C. are getting to see the first fruits of the transit system's $150 million plan to rebuild or replace the system's notoriously aging  (and long!) escalators: this week marked the first time in a year that all three escalators at the Foggy Bottom entrance have been operational.

Over the past year, Metro has replaced the three entrance escalators at its Foggy Bottom station with new units and refurbished seven escalators at Union Station. Metro General Manager and CEO Richard Sarles says these 10 "new and like-new" escalators represent significant progress in the plan to overhaul or replace 153 escalators at 25 stations on all five rail lines.

Union Station is the first Red Line station under the current capital plan to have all seven of its planned escalator units rehabilitated.

The number of broken or stopped escalators in the Metro system and the slow pace of repair has angered commuters in recent years. D.C.'s transit system has a total of 588 escalators -- more than any other subway system in the country -- and the third largest number of any system in the world.

Metro's Superintendent for Escalators and Elevators, Rodrigo Bitar, has said 75 percent of them are 25 years or older. Because Metro has relied on multiple manufacturers, many of which are out of business, Bitar said "getting parts to maintain this equipment gets harder everyday."