Baltimore Metro to close this weekend for more tests of the new railcars

Baltimore's Metro subway line will be out of service this weekend as the Maryland Transit Administration continues tests of a new train control system, the agency has announced.

All 14 stations between Owings Mills and the Johns Hopkins Hospital will close at 8 p.m. Friday and reopen at 4 a.m. Monday. The MTA will run shuttle buses between Metro stops for riders who would otherwise take the train.

The state agency will be testing a new "communications based train control system" that it says will be critical for new railcars that will run on the subway system starting next year. Such a system allows more precise tracking, which should allow riders to track trains more reliably.

Brand-new Hitachi railcars will start replacing the Baltimore Metro's 40-plus-year-old fleet in mid-2025 — one of the largest single investments in the transit line since it opened in the 1980s. The 78 new railcars, which will replace the original 100 still in service today, are part of a $550 million-plus overhaul of the Metro system that includes new signal and communications systems.

The agency plans to conduct more tests on later dates.

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