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In General


Coverage of the DC Metro system is split up into individual pages for each line:
-- the Blue Line
-- the Green Line
-- the Orange Line
-- the Red Line
-- the Silver Line
-- the Yellow Line

The Washington Metro, also known just as the Metro and Metrorail, is the rapid transit / subway system for Washington, D.C., and its surrounding suburbs.  It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name in Maryland.

Metro provides service to Montgomery and Prince George's County in Maryland; and in Virginia: to Fairfax County, Arlington County, and the City of Alexandria.

The Metro opened March 27th, 1976.  Since then, the network has grown to include five lines, 86 stations, and 106.3 miles of track.  It started in 1968, when WMATA approved the construction of a 98 mile rapid transit system.  Construction started on December 9th, 1969.  There were originally 5 stations on the 4.6 mile Red Line, Rhode Island to Farragut North.  The system now comprises of:
-- The Red Line, has 27 stations.
-- The Blue Line, 27 stations, opened in 1977.
-- The Orange Line, 26 stations, opened in 1978.
-- The Yellow Line, 17 stations, opened in 1983.
-- The Green Line, has 21 stations, opened in 1991.
-- The Silver Line, added 5 stations that opened on 7/26/2014, another 6 stations to be completed in 2016 (MISSED that date!).

About 50 miles of the system is underground, as are 47 of the 86 stations.

There are 50 stations in DC, 15 in Prince Georges Co MD, 11 in Montgomery Co MD, 11 in Arlington Co VA, 6 in Fairfax Co VA, and 3 in Alexandria VA.

The Forest Glen station on the Red Line is the deepest on the system at 196 feet, but doesn't use escalators, they use high speed elevators instead.

Washington's Metro system is the second-busiest rapid transit system in the United States in number of passenger trips, after the New York City Subway System.

Fares vary based on the distance traveled and the time of day, which really makes commuting more complicated than it has to be, and sucks for those of us who don't ride the system every day.  Riders enter and exit the system using a stored-value card in the form of a paper magnetic stripe fare card or a proximity card known as SmarTrip.  So, IMHO, the DC Metro is one of the worst systems to ride, because of their fare structure.  Fares are based on the time of day, AND, the distance you are traveling.   Add to this, for instance, the transfers between the two Farragut stations (from Wikipedia): While it is only a block away (across the square) from Farragut North on the Red Line, there is no direct connection between the two stations. WMATA originally planned to have a single Farragut station that would serve as an alternate transfer station to ease congestion that would develop in Metro Center. However, it would have been constructed using the cut and cover method, disrupting the square above. Therefore, this proposal was not favored and the two separate stations were built instead. As part of its long-term capital improvement plan dated September 12, 2002, Metro has proposed building an underground pedestrian tunnel connecting this station with Farragut North. On October 28, 2011, Metro announced its Farragut Crossing program, allowing riders using a SmarTrip card up to 30 minutes to transfer for free by foot between Farragut West and Farragut North stations.  Gee, how nice and considerate of them to "give you" 30 minutes FOR FREE :-)

Parking is pretty convenient at most above ground stations, BUT BEWARE of the posted signs, for they DO ticket almost immediately (speaking from personal experience).  Most lots have general parking until the rush hours, then certain spaces need to be vacated.

Acknowledgements:
WMATA Website
Wikipedia
Google Maps

Websites and other additional information sources of interest for the area:
https://www.wmata.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Metropolitan_Area_Transit_Authority
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Metro
http://chnm.gmu.edu/metro/
http://www.urbanrail.net/am/wash/washington.htm
http://www.clouse.org/metro.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Line_(Washington_Metro)

Map


Click here for the above map in PDF format.





The following map comes from the DC Metro's website, and stitched together from many screenshots.


Pictures

Pictures from the Shady Grove station at the end of the Red Line on train show day at Gaithersburg, 11-04-2007.
Pictures such as these can be had anywhere on the system.





















CSX runs alongside the Metro, this one is on it's way west to Hagerstown and Cumberland.




Floobydust


Operational Changes in June 2012

  From 6/12/2012

WMATA announced changes back in 2012 to the operating schedule for the Yellow, Orange, and Blue lines in preparation for the opening of the Silver line.

The changes to Metrorail are being promoted as Rush Plus, and are effective only during and around the rush hours.

There are no changes to the Green or Red line schedules, other than having to adjust your timing if you connect with one of the aforementioned lines.  These changes were in the Sunday, June 10th edition of the Washington Post in their Metro section, and took effect on June 18th, 2012.

Trains will be added to the Orange and Yellow lines, but trains will be deleted from the Blue line schedule.

   

  Other changes made on June 12th, 2012

 Check out their website for work going on around the system!  http://www.wmata.com/.


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