By Olivia Anderson | oanderson@alextimes.com
Metro announced on Monday that the opening of the Potomac Yard Metrorail Station will be delayed by at least five months to fall 2022 from its previously scheduled opening in April 2022, according to a news release.
The five-month push is the most recent in a long running series of delays related to the project. Engineers determined that the original design of the Automatic Train Control systems, which prevents trains from getting too close to one another, did not meet all the requirements to ensure the safe operations of trains, according to the release.
Metro is working with its contractor to reduce delays in the project schedule. Construction of the station will largely continue on schedule, but there are some track-related construction elements that are dependent upon the completion of the ATC design, according to the release.
Mayor Justin Wilson released a statement on Monday in response to the development stating, “With the large investment of $370 million being made by the City and other governmental and private partners to fund the station construction, internal systems should have caught the error.”
“While we appreciate Metro’s acceptance of accountability and recent diligence in addressing this issue, the contract language mistake is inexcusable,” Wilson added in his statement.
