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The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Metro to hire contractors for escalator upkeep

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority will hire outside contractors to oversee escalator maintenance across the rail service.

The contractors would handle day-to-day maintenance on Orange Line stations, potentially including the Foggy Bottom Metro station, Dan Stessel, chief spokesman for the transit agency said.

Bringing on outside contractors would “allow us to redeploy our inhouse resources to the rest of the system,” Stessel said.

Riders at the Foggy Bottom Metro will be able to use a second, brand new escalator “early next week,” Stessel said. A third escalator will undergo upgrades after the second opens.

Each new escalator unit is being shifted a few feet north of where the originals existed, toward GW Hospital to create room for a staircase on the other side, he said.

“We’re on track for early next year to have the project wrapped up,” he said.

The canopy above the escalators and stairs will be added early next year.

Renovations to fix the chronically malfunctioning Foggy Bottom Metro escalators began in late January. One of the three new escalators, already in place, was the first replacement to the station’s escalators in 15 years.

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