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Metro To Replace A Quarter Of System's Escalators By 2020

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Metro's escalators continue to be the thorn in the agency's side; now, WMATA has issued a $150 million contract to replace 128 of the system's escalators.
Ian Freimuth: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifmuth/6187134035/
Metro's escalators continue to be the thorn in the agency's side; now, WMATA has issued a $150 million contract to replace 128 of the system's escalators.

Metro plans to replace or modernize nearly 25 percent of its escalators by the year 2020, according to the Associated Press. WMATA has awarded more than $150 million to the KONE corporation to carry out the contract. The goal is fix or replace 128 of the system's 588 escalators. 

The reliability of the transit system's escalators has become an issue and Metro General Manager Richard Sarles, in a statement, compared the overhaul to performing reconstructive surgery, rather than Band-aid solutions.

Sarles says there are some escalators that are beyond their useful life and need to be replaced.

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