| Silver Spring MARC commuter rail station Washington Metro rapid transit station |
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The red line platform of Silver Spring Station on a rainy day; September 8, 2004. |
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| Station statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Address | 8400 Colesville Road (Metro) 1170 Bonifant Street (MARC) Silver Spring, MD 20910 |
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| Lines | Metro MARC: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Connections | Metrobus MTA Maryland Commuter Bus Ride On |
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| Platforms | 1 island platform (Washington Metro) 2 side platforms (MARC) |
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| Tracks | 4 (2 for each service) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Parking | 715 spaces (leased) (for Metro and MARC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | 26 racks, 30 lockers | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | February 6, 1978 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Accessible | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Code | B08 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | WMATA | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Traffic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Passengers (2010) | 4.445 million[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Silver Spring is a Washington Metro station in Montgomery County, Maryland on the Red Line. It is the first station in Maryland on the eastern end of the line, and is the most-used Metro station in Maryland. It is co-located with a MARC commuter rail station.
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The station serves the suburb of Silver Spring, and is located at Colesville Road (U.S. Route 29) and East-West Highway; trains from Grosvenor-Strathmore terminate here during midday. Service began on February 6, 1978. Prior to the opening of Forest Glen on September 22, 1990, Silver Spring was the terminus for the eastern end of the Red Line.
Like Brookland-CUA station, the platform at Silver Spring is slightly curved, with convex mirrors located on the inbound side of the platform to aid train operators in making sure the area is clear before closing the doors.
This station is planned to be one of the Metro stations on the Purple Line system, formerly known as the Bi-County Transitway.
Several Metrobuses and Ride On buses serve this station.
A MARC station straddles the Metro station, serving trains on the Brunswick Line. The two halves of the MARC station are connected by a pedestrian bridge. The MARC station began service in this location in 2000, replacing the Silver Spring Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station, located about 1/4 mile to the south.
Montgomery County Government began construction of the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center, a multi-modal passenger transportation facility adjacent to the Metro station, in 2007. The facility will feature 34 bays for Metro, Ride-on Buses, Shuttle-UM, "Kiss and Ride" access, Metrorail and MARC train service. The increased capacity it provides will ease the possible implementation of the Purple Line. Completion is scheduled for early 2012. The transit center is named for former U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD).[2]
The Silver Spring station is also home to Penguin Rush Hour, a 100 x 8 foot mural painted by Sally Callmer, depicting penguins as Metro customers during rush hour.[3] Although originally intended to be a temporary exhibit, the mural placed at the station in the early 1990s has become a symbol of the downtown area of Silver Spring. In 2004, the Silver Spring Regional Center, a county government facility, commissioned the original artist to restore the mural, which was damaged by the elements and missing sections, for approximately $30,000. In 2004-2005, the mural was removed for the restoration, with the promise that it would be returned by the end of 2005.[4] Subsequently the county decided to postpone re-installation of the mural until completion of the new transit center.[5]