Maryland Purple Line live-wire testing has expanded to Silver Spring, with trains now running between the Lyttonsville and Bethesda stations.
Live-wire testing, which is now being conducted in four of the seven Purple Line sections, evaluates the light rail line’s overall system functionality to ensure the vehicles operate smoothly, as well as testing track integrity and electrical systems.
All 1,187 overhead wire poles have now been installed, and train operators are also testing acceleration and braking at varying speeds during live-wire testing, as well as periodically testing the train’s horn and bell (YouTube video below).
Testing first ran overnight from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., later moving to weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and represents the first time that the light rail line’s trains have undergone live testing in Montgomery County, according to Maryland Transit Administration officials.
Although the light rail vehicles do not interact with vehicles or pedestrian traffic during this phase, MTA officials remind the public that the overhead power lines are energized and that they should never walk on the tracks or station platforms in this area.
Additionally, the Purple Line’s light rail vehicles are quiet, producing about the same noise level as cars and trucks, officials said.
“I am excited to share that [the] Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) Purple Line project is more than 90% complete,” Purple Line senior project director Ray Biggs II said in the agency’s July outreach newsletter. “This month, light rail vehicle (LRV) live wire testing has advanced all the way to Bethesda, another step towards the critical trial running phase planned for 2027 and certifying the system for operations.”
In addition to the new live-wire testing, applications are now being accepted for the next round of Beyond the Rails community group and organization grants, which are due by November 30.
The grant program launched in 2023 and ranges from $1,000 to $3,000, is awarded twice per year, and is designed to benefit a community adjacent to the Purple Line corridor. Previous grant recipients include SEEC, the Carole Highlands Neighborhood Association, Interfaith Works, One Montgomery Green, and the Sligo Creek Education Foundation.
Riverdale Park-based Purple Line Transit Partners, which is comprised of main partners Meridiam and Tikehau Star Infra, is the Purple Line project’s private-sector partner and sponsors the Beyond the Rails community grant program to give back to the communities where the Purple Line is being constructed and will operate.
PLTP said that its grant program will continue to support Purple Line communities for 30 years after the light rail system begins service.
“As a long-time member of the community itself, PLTP sponsors the Beyond the Rails community grant program as a way of giving back to communities in which PLTP, in partnership with MTA, is building the Purple Line and through which it will operate the system for 30 years after opening,” PLTP said at the program’s launch in 2023.
Once operational, the Maryland Purple Line will connect Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, linking to Metro, MARC, Amtrak, and local bus networks, eliminating the need to travel through downtown Washington.
The 16-mile, 21-station light rail project is now more than 90 percent complete, with all tracks installed as of early May, and is slated to begin service in winter 2027. purplelinemd.com