Red Line Riders Benefit: MARC Brunswick Line Keeps $3 Tickets Through September

| at 7:00 am | Categories Silver Spring
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Metro’s Red Line has reopened after summer construction, but discounted fares on the MARC Brunswick Line will continue through the month’s end.

One-way tickets from Silver Spring, Kensington, and Garrett Park stations to Washington Union Station will be discounted to $3.00 through September 30. Multi-ride fares will continue to be discounted by 50 percent, and Trains 890, 878, and 891 will continue to stop at Kensington, according to a posted Service Alert. 

Tickets are available at ticket vending machines, on the MTA CharmPass app, or aboard the train from the conductor on a cash-only basis.

Four Red Line stations — Silver Spring, Forest Glen, Wheaton, and Glenmont — reopened on September 1 after being closed since June for Red Line rehabilitation work this summer, which coincided with the construction of part of a new Maryland Purple Line mezzanine at the Silver Spring station.

The summer closures were part of Metro’s three-year capital construction project to modernize the Metrorail system, enhance safety and reliability, and ensure proper maintenance. In the summer of 2026, the transit agency will close the Medical Center and Bethesda stations to connect the Purple Line to the Bethesda Metrorail Station.

Purple Line crews constructed columns to support the walkway from the Purple Line station to the Metro Red Line platform. Construction at the Silver Spring station will continue, with scaffolding remaining on site until 2027. Metro said in August that the mezzanine work will cover about one-third of the platform, but the station will remain open to customers.

During the construction, Metro crews:

  • Replaced 6,500 feet of rail;
  • Replaced 6,000 feet of grout pads, which improve ride quality;
  • Repaired 857 areas for leak mitigation;
  • Restored 1,350 square feet of concrete;
  • Installed 102,000 feet of fiber optic cable for communications;
  • Replaced 183 track signs;
  • Replaced 2,500 crossties that support the rails;
  • Replaced 1,000 fasteners that hold the rail to the grout pads;
  • Replaced six switch machines;
  • Replaced 12 train control processors;
  • Replaced 650 insulators that insulate electricity around the third rail;
  • Repaired 72,000 square feet of tile joints;
  • Cleaned 40,000 feet of track bed;
  • Cleaned 8,500 feet of drains;
  • Repaired sidewalks;
  • Replaced 354 signs on mezzanines, platforms, and entrances;
  • Painted 12,700 square feet of interior and exterior surfaces; and
  • Restriped parking and bus loop traffic directional arrows and crosswalks.

Additional work during the summer closures included replacing automatic train control systems, installing traction power cables, replacing drain pumping stations, replacing the tunnel standpipe, maintaining elevators and escalators, and reconstructing an interlocking switch area between the Fort Totten and Takoma stations before the Takoma station reopened ahead of schedule in late June.

Metro said that construction crews completed eight months of weekend closures and disruptions during the summer construction.

“More than 850,000 trips were made on the [bus] shuttles during the construction work. We thank customers for their patience as MTA made progress on this key connection between the Purple Line light rail and Metrorail,” Metro said last month.

Later this year, Metro will install new digital passenger information displays on platforms and station entrance digital screens at the Silver Spring, Takoma, Forest Glen, Wheaton, and Glenmont stations. Metro said last month that supply chain issues during the summer construction window delayed the installation of the screens.

More information on the Maryland Purple Line, which is now more than 65 percent complete and currently slated to begin service in winter 2027, can be found at PurpleLineMD.com.

Photo: “MARC train Brunswick MD2” by Acroterion is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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