Metro awards $179M contract to replace escalators

130 escalators to be replaced at 32 stations

Published February 16, 2021 by Kate Andrews

Metro is replacing 130 of its escalators beginning May 2021. Credit: WMATA/photo by Larry Levine

Metro will begin replacing 130 escalators in 32 stations in May, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) announced Tuesday. The transportation authority that runs the Metrorail and Metrobus lines in the Washington area has awarded a $179 million, seven-year contract to KONE, a Finnish elevator and escalator company with its U.S. headquarters in Illinois.

Metro’s oldest escalators average 38 years in service, according to Metro General Manager and CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld. The replacement of the 130 escalators in Metro stations in Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., follows the completion of an eight-year project concluded in 2019 in which 145 escalators were replaced and 153 escalators were renovated. After the completion of this project, 517 of the system’s 618 escalators will have been replaced or renovated since 2011, according to WMATA.

To install the new escalators, KONE will demolish existing escalators and remove the parts, making room for new electrical cables and equipment made specifically for the project. Among the replacements will be four escalators at the Rosslyn station that date to 1977 and rise nearly 10 stories. No more than 18 escalators will be out of service at any one time, according to the statement, and additional scheduling details will be provided later.

More information, including which stations will be impacted, is available here.