Maryland Purple Line Update July 2021!

More "loop lines" like the purple line need to be built in the country. Such a shame about the bad contractors

The fact that people oppose the rail construction because it’s on top of the path means we need more paths too (like you say in the video)! Walking goes hand in hand with transportation. Love to see the purple line construction!

My company is one of the electrical contractors for this project. Before it got shut down we had built a few of the Electrical rooms, which we have been storing at our facility. Hopefully well actually ship the rooms now that its kicking back up.

Goodness me, looks like I won't be sleeping after all.

The state of NC tried doing light high speed rail in Raleigh years back to take the load off I-440. It was the same thing, people screaming about traffic then yelling "not in my backyard." They even went as far as offering an elevated railway so it would be safer and building a greenway for walkers and bikers. The whole plan finally got abandoned. People will never cease to amaze me.

For the Library station, constructing the station under the overhang directly in front of the entrance is genius. It reminds me of the San Diego Trolley's One America Plaza station

Thanks for doing this. I live in DC and I was wondering what was going on with this project as I am always taking the metro to Silver Spring. (Rant on) It's amazing that those in the suburbs are always fighting transit projects, yet they continually drive into major cities to go to work, all the while contributing to the noise and air pollution as well as traffic that is plaguing major cities (rant off). I hope this project gets finished.

Man, I know outer loop train lines like this are one of the best ways to expand a system, but seeing this light rail line running through the center of a six/seven lane highway with mostly low density commercial and massive parking lots on either side is a bit of a shame. Hopefully those areas would be upzoned upon completion, but I’m also a bit skeptical of it actually happening. Another amazing overview as always nonetheless!

I’m glad you pointed out that it’s MTA’s design changes and incompetence that brought about most of the delays, as they never should have signed the contract without working with the State Environmental Dept and CRX over what would need to be done to meet their specifications (and in fact it might have helped if they had updated the light rail specs for Maryland at the same time as they are out-of-date too. No where near as advanced as Barcelona’s or Vienna for example).

“You should do an update on the Baltimore Red Line-“ “Wait. That’s Illegal.”

This really helped to explain the project for me. Also: Nice touch to wear a purple shirt for the video!

Fantastic comprehensive overview! I live in Maryland and will be using this line when it opens and I didn't know this much work had already been completed. I hope they can find a way to get this back on track. It's really sad what has happened to this project.

Nice video. I'm from wheaton area. What maryland REALLY should do, is to build something like this but from rockville all the way to frederick to ease traffic on 270. But the cost will be enormous! But it should be done in my opinion. Great vid my dude. Peace

id love to see an updated version of this video now that full construction will start later this week

You should do a construction update on the Baltimore Red Line! Oh, wait...

The commuter rail system here in the US is an embarrassment. We stagnate as the Europeans look to the future in mass transportation that will be needed, . .Maybe our Rail corporations and their Engineers need to ask the train people in Holland, on how to build and run a modern commuter rail system that would service not only the large cities but also smaller ones. Sometimes you have to look beyond the fast buck, and look what is needed for the future. How wide or the number of lanes can we add to our roads for automobile, buses and trucks? We already have converging roads that look like a bowl of spaghetti.

This explanation is fantastic. I left DC in 2019, but will be returning in the next month. It is encouraging to see the progress made in the last two years, even if the opening date is much farther back. Hoping for the best for this project, I know it will be incredibly useful.

Shame that the designers didn't believe that light rail and roundabouts can coexist. Phoenix and Salt Lake City indicate otherwise.

The Purple Line is literally where I grew up. First in Silver Spring near 16th Street, then a block away from Adelphi Rd, then Bethesda. It's all gone now.

Given all the street running and at grade crossings, I was wondering (and I imagine many of the people watching this vid) how much signal priority the purple will have. So I asked them via email, and here’s what they told me, ver batim: Many of the street intersections through which the Purple Line passes will give Preemption or Priority to the Purple Line trains. Signals with “Preemption” will always set the proceed phase for the Purple Line vehicle (LRV) such that they will never have to stop. Signals with “Priority” will provide an expedited proceed phase or a longer proceed phase for the LRV such that their average wait time will be reduced. The delays due to traffic signals with “Priority” or “None” have been modelled for the morning and evening peak periods and the mean delay and standard deviation calculated. These calculations have been incorporated into the estimated end-to-end travel time. However, the traffic signal phase sequences and/or timing for some intersections are still under discussion with the MDOT State Highway Administration (SHA) and Montgomery County so, during the Trial Running period (immediately precedes Revenue Service when all systems have been tested and line has been safety certified for non-passenger service) the actual delays due to traffic impacts will be measured and compared with the predicted values. Of the 55 signalized intersections across the corridor, 42 (76%) will have some level of Transit Signal Preemption or Priority. Along the 16-mile corridor, approximately three miles (19%) are in mixed traffic. Within the three miles of mixed traffic, the only signalized intersection without some level of Transit Signal Priority is where the LRV will cross US 1 in College Park.