The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) has begun live-wire testing of Purple Line light rail vehicles on the western section of the route between the Lyttonsville Operations and Maintenance Facility and Bethesda Station in Montgomery County.
The testing marks the first time Purple Line vehicles have operated under live overhead power in Montgomery County. It follows the completion of track installation across the 16-mile light rail route earlier this year and comes as overall construction reaches approximately 90%.
Engineers and trained operators are testing the vehicles over a 2.5-mile section of dedicated track running through Lyttonsville, Chevy Chase and Bethesda. The programme is designed to assess the performance of the railway’s electrical infrastructure, track systems and vehicle operation before passenger services begin.
During testing, operators will evaluate acceleration, braking and other operational functions at different speeds. Horns and bells may also be sounded periodically as part of the testing programme.
Initial testing is taking place overnight between 9 pm and 5 am before moving to daytime weekday testing between 7 am and 7 pm.
This latest phase means live-wire vehicle testing is now underway on four of the Purple Line’s seven construction sections. Installation of the project’s overhead line infrastructure has also been completed, with all 1,187 power line poles now in place.
Although the trains are operating on a segregated section of railway and are not interacting with road traffic or pedestrians during this phase, the MTA has reminded the public to stay off the tracks and station platforms. It also noted that the light rail vehicles operate relatively quietly, producing a similar level of noise to road traffic.
The Purple Line will provide a 16-mile east-west light rail connection between Bethesda in Montgomery County and New Carrollton in Prince George’s County, linking to existing Metrorail, MARC and Amtrak services. Once complete, the line is intended to improve connections between communities outside central Washington, D.C., without requiring travel through the city centre.
