FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Kathryn Lamb
Communications Director
Office: 240-695-9245
Cell: 667-423-9569
Virtual Meetings Highlight Progress as Live Wire Testing Expands Across Both Counties
RIVERDALE, MD (September 3, 2026) – The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration Purple Line today announced the Fall 2026 Community Advisory Team (CAT) meeting schedule, highlighting the significant progress the Purple Line project has made since the last set of meetings held in the spring. Construction is now 92% complete and light rail vehicle testing is underway across more than half of the 16-mile alignment, including sections in both Prince George’s and Montgomery counties. The seven meetings will be held virtually October 13 – 28 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Local businesses, residents and community organizations are highly encouraged to attend to stay informed and involved.
“After celebrating the last piece of rail installed on the alignment in May, we now anticipate significant completion of Purple Line construction this year and expansion of live wire light rail vehicle testing across all 16 miles of the east-to-west alignment,” said Senior Project Director Ray Biggs II. “The team always looks forward to sharing progress during CAT meetings and showing the public ongoing milestones, leading up to the start of service.”
Purple Line CAT meetings will feature leaders and experts from the system and maintenance operator Purple Line Transit Operators along with the Maryland Transit Administration, concessionaire Purple Line Transit Partners and design builder Maryland Transit Solutions. These meetings include a preview of upcoming milestones, information about the expansion of testing in 2027 and provide time for attendees to ask questions and offer feedback. All meetings are hosted on Microsoft Teams and offer captioning in multiple languages.
All CAT meetings are scheduled from 6 p.m.- 7:30 p.m. and instructions on enabling live captioning are posted at https://www.purplelinemd.com/public-meetings-events. Past CAT meeting presentations and recordings are also available at www.purplelinemd.com.
The schedule is as follows:
| Tuesday, October 13 | Lyttonsville/Woodside |
| Thursday, October 15 | College Park |
| Tuesday, October 20 | University Boulevard |
|
Wednesday, October 21 |
Long Branch |
| Thursday, October 22 | Silver Spring |
| Tuesday, October 27 |
Riverdale Park/New Carrollton |
| Wednesday, October 28 | Bethesda/Chevy Chase |
Questions on the upcoming CAT meetings can be directed to the Purple Line Outreach Team via email at outreach@purplelinemd.com or by phone to the outreach line at 443-451-3706 (in English) or 443-451-3705 (in Spanish).
The Maryland Transit Administration is one of the largest multi-modal transit systems in the United States. The Purple Line is a 16-mile, 21-station light rail line extending from Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George’s County. It provides direct connection to WMATA's Metrorail Red, Green, Yellow, Orange and Silver Lines at Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park and New Carrollton. Purple Line rides can also connect to MARC, Amtrak, and local bus services. To learn more, visit purplelinemd.com and follow Purple Line on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, X/Twitter and YouTube.
