Metro service on the Blue Line returned last week following a three-month long shutdown caused by platform reconstruction at the Arlington Cemetery station.
Metro reinstated Blue Line service last Sunday, after completing renovations at the Arlington Cemetery station that featured new digital information screens standing five feet tall, electrical outlets, wider digital signs posting wait times and LED light bulbs that cut agency energy costs, according to a report from The Washington Post. Metro officials shut down the Blue Line in February as a part of its 10-year, $15.5 billion Platform Improvement Project that launched construction work at Arlington Cemetery and Addison Road for three months.
The two stations were closed during construction before reopening last Sunday. The new renovations at the stations include new tiles, wiring, concrete, granite and platform edge repairs, according to a press release that Metro issued last month.
“Crews have worked night and day to make these stations safer and more convenient, and we’re excited to welcome customers back,” Paul Wiedefeld, Metro’s general manager and CEO said in the release. “The quick pace of platform reconstruction is indicative of our commitment to building a safer and more modern system to serve the entire region, especially as communities that rely on transit work to recover from the pandemic.”