Metro Center Station

Metro Center
Washington Metro rapid transit station
Location 607 13th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
Coordinates 38°53′54″N 77°01′41″W / 38.898303°N 77.028099°WCoordinates: 38°53′54″N 77°01′41″W / 38.898303°N 77.028099°W
Owned by WMATA
Line(s)

Blue Line Blue Line
Orange Line Orange Line
Red Line Red Line

Silver Line Silver Line
Platforms 2 side platforms (upper level)
1 island platform (lower level)
Tracks 4 (2 upper level, 2 lower level)
Connections Metrobus: 42, 52, 54, 63, 64, 80, D1, D3, D6, G8, P6, P17, P19, S2, S4, W13, X2, X9
MTA Maryland Bus:901, 902, 904, 905
Loudoun County Transit
PRTC OmniRide
Construction
Structure type Underground
Platform levels 2
Bicycle facilities 8 racks
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Station code A01 (upper level)
C01 (lower level)
History
Opened March 27, 1976
Traffic
Passengers (2014) 27,883 daily [1] Decrease 0.56%
Services
Preceding station   Washington Metro   Following station
toward Shady Grove
Red Line
toward Glenmont
Blue Line
toward Vienna
Orange Line
toward Wiehle – Reston East
Silver Line
Location
Entrance

Metro Center is the central hub station of the Washington Metro rapid transit system in Washington, D.C. Metro Center was one of the original Metro stations, and has been in service since March 27, 1976.

Metro Center is on the Blue, Orange, Red, and Silver Lines, and is a transfer station between the Red Line and the already-joined Blue, Orange and Silver Lines.

Location

Metro Center is located in downtown Washington, under an area roughly extending east–west from 11th to 13th Streets Northwest, and north–south from F to H Streets Northwest. Its entrances are on G Street at 11th, 12th, and 13th Streets, and at the corner of 12th and F Streets. The station's only street elevator is on the east side of 12th Street north of G Street. It is the second busiest station in the Metrorail system after Union Station, averaging 30,500 passengers per weekday as of May 2006.[2]

A mural, "Scenes of Washington" by G. Byron Peck, is displayed at the 12th and G Street mezzanine.

The mezzanine (upper) level of the station contains side platforms for Red Line trains traveling towards Glenmont and towards Shady Grove. Orange Line and Blue Line trains traveling in both directions share a center platform on the station's lower level.

A Metro sales office is located on the mezzanine level of the station on the platform for Glenmont-bound Red Line trains, near the 12th and F Street entrance. The Grand Hyatt Washington is connected to Metro Center, as is downtown's only remaining department store, Macy's. During the mid-20th century, the area was the commercial heart of Washington, housing many department stores, theaters, offices, restaurants, and entertainment venues. Due to a combination of the racial disturbances associated with the 1968 riots, the opening of new suburban malls, and concentration of new commercial building near K Street–Farragut Square, the Metro Center area declined. It later successfully revived. The Shops at National Place is an adjacent two-level dining/shopping complex. It has been said that starting around Columbus Day 2014, the G and 12th Street entrance will be closed for approximately 29 weeks for an escalator replacement.

Improvements

The station is located so close to the Gallery Place station (which connects to the Yellow and Green Lines) that the lights of each station are visible to the other through the tunnel. Plans have long been in the works to add a pedestrian tunnel to connect Gallery Place–Chinatown with Metro Center and provide pedestrian access to six different Metro lines. The most recent major development was the completion of a "Gallery Place/Chinatown - Metro Center Pedestrian Passageway Tunnel Study" in July 2005.[3]

Station layout

G Street Level Exit/ Entrance
M Mezzanine One-way faregates, ticket machines, station agent
UP
Upper platform level		 Side platform, doors will open on the right
Westbound ← Red Line Red Line toward Shady Grove (Farragut North)
Eastbound → Red Line Red Line toward Glenmont (Gallery Place) →
Side platform, doors will open on the right
LP
Lower platform level		 Westbound ← Blue Line Blue Line toward Franconia–Springfield (McPherson Square)
← Orange Line Orange Line toward Vienna (McPherson Square)
← Silver Line Silver Line toward Wiehle–Reston East (McPherson Square)
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Eastbound → Blue Line Blue Line toward Largo Town Center (Federal Triangle) →
→ Orange Line Orange Line toward New Carrollton (Federal Triangle) →
→ Silver Line Silver Line toward Largo Town Center (Federal Triangle) →

Notable places nearby

References

  1. ↑ "Metrorail Average Weekday Passenger Boardings" (PDF). WMATA. Retrieved 2014-11-04.
  2. ↑ "Request for Expressions of Interest for Operation of Retail Services in Metrorail Stations" (PDF). WMATA. February 16, 2007.
  3. ↑ Parsons; KPG Design Studio; Basile Baumann Prost & Associates (July 2005). "Gallery Place/Chinatown - Metro Center Pedestrian Passageway Tunnel Study" (PDF). WMATA Office of Planning and Project Development. Retrieved 2009-03-06.

External links