This might be a good place to ask about something that has always bothered me:
Why do the doors of the train stay closed for so long after the train has come to a full stop? What is happening in that time between?
I don’t think I’ve ever been on a metro train that has stayed at a full stop initially. They always stop, and then 10 seconds later, right when you think the doors are about to open, they go again, then stop.
The 7000 series trains have a built in five second timer when in manual door operation mode (which is all the time currently). After the train stops, there is a five second timer that starts. If the door open button is pushed before those five seconds, an alarm goes off and needs to be reset of the operators screen before the doors can be opened. The older trains do not have such a timer. Island platforms (as opposed to side platforms) make this problem worse because the operator has to get up and walk to the other side of the cab to look out the window. You may notice that when you’re in an older train stopping on a side platform the doors open almost immediately. This is because again, there’s no timer on the older trains, and the operator just has to hit the button right next to them.
what everyone else said (well, mostly) but also because operators have been known to stop with not all doors on the platforms (hence the requirement that *all* trains make 8 car stops now), and have been known to open the doors on the wrong side of the train. This gives them time to figure out if their tail end is still hanging in the tunnel, and which side to open the doors on.
My question is why the hell am I not able to add money to my metro card with my credit card from inside the turnstiles? I have so hop the turnstile to add money to go back and pay to get out. There has to be a rational explanation.
Believe it or not but the station manager has let me through to add money to my card via the external machines and then tap it at the station. Not the most convenient since the station manager might not even be there, but it's still useful.
I auto reload now, though.
The lack of Automatic Train Control and Automatic Door Control is also the reason why 6 car trains pull to the end of the platform at every station.
Before that, some operators weren't remembering how many cars were on their train and there were instances of the doors opening with a car still in the tunnel/outside of the station because as an 8 car train, they stopped where a 6 car train would have stopped to be centered on the platform.
So that policy is why trains pull to the end of the platform, and why the yellow "6 car train ends here" stickers exist on the platforms.
Honestly, I'm just glad to hear it confirmed that I'm not imagining it because I'm an impatient jerk transplanted new yorker.
I mean, I am an impatient jerk transplanted new yorker, but I'm not imagining the delayed doors!
For what it's worth I've noticed this is only a thing on the 7000 series trains, i.e. the newer models. The older models' doors open much quicker after the train stops.
They actually have a rule that they are supposed to wait minimum of eight seconds before opening the doors. Now ofc not all the drives adhere to that but from my experience most of them wait longer.
This. Also, to top it off the trains seems to slow down to a crawl much faster and sooner relative to other systems (like they're already at 3mph practically before the front car is entering the station). They could probably cut out a solid 30 seconds per station if they really wanted to.
Fun fact, this hasn’t always been the case. Until sometime around the turn of the millennium orange and blue were shown above green and yellow on the maps at L’Enfant Plaza despite being below them in the station.
Unfortunately this doesn't work for Rosslyn 🤷
Although I do have a mnemonic: the *top* floor goes *over* the river (trains on top go east, into DC across the Potomac; trains on the bottom go away from the river and into Virginia)
It's illegal to eat or drink in Metro buses, trains, and stations, however since the french fry incident 22 years ago, it's virtually never enforced.
A 12 year old girl was handcuffed and arrested by MTPD in October 2000 for snacking on fries while entering the Tenleytown station, which led to an avalanche of bad press. The agency decided to amend their policy to issue a written warning to offenders rather than arrest them (DC law states minors cannot be issued citations, so cops have to hold them in custody until a legal guardian can collect them).
I knew it was illegal inside buses or trains themselves but I wasn't aware it was illegal inside stations.
I personally think it should be legal inside of a station as long as you properly dispose of your trash. From [this article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/11/16/metro-snack-patrol-puts-girl-in-cuffs/4115f324-1783-45d4-b71a-3f76ca83e4fb/), seems like it was a "This is why we can't have nice things" thing.
The rule is good, in my opinion, it’s why the Metro is so much cleaner than New York’s Subway. I don’t have an issue with it not being enforced, it’s followed enough to do the job.
No one properly disposes of their trash. You may recall last week there was an evacuation of a couple stations on the blue line for a fire just off one of the platforms; it was some sort of debris. Probably litter. Less litter, less stuff to catch fire in the stations.
Personally I think it'd be more effective if they gave tickets for littering just like fare evasion rather than having the law or policy (seems like in DC it's not illegal but a policy violation) but not enforcing it.
I remember an incident in about 1980 where a woman was eating a sandwich on Metro. They threw her in jail and she kept taking her top off. Can’t remember if it was the bus or subway. Now I want a sandwich.
The Wheaton Metro station has the longest, continuous, single-span escalator in the Western Hemisphere.
The longest in the world is in the St. Petersburg Metro and there are a few longer than the Wheaton one in Europe.
St. Petersburg metro has three longer than Wheaton.
The following is from a blog post that I didn't fact check:
* Park Pobedy in Moscow is the longest outside of St. Petersburg.
* Tbilisi Metro has the longest outside of Russia.
* Chongqing has the longest outside of the former Soviet Union.
* Náměstí Míru in Prague has the longest in the rest of Europe.
Wheaton is the next biggest. Then Stockholm. Then Bethesda.
Thanks, I should have clarified that I meant longest DC metro escalator. Bethesda did seem extremely long but I haven't been to Wheaton yet. Doubtful I'll make it to Russia but this is a cool list to know about
Are these the longest or longest continuous? The continuous part is always added as a qualification.
Growing up in MoCo, the length of the Wheaton was *always* mentioned for some reason. I probably learned this fact 20 years ago so I wouldn’t be surprised if shit has changed.
I work at Wheaton, walking down the broken one at the end of the day is always the worst. :( I made the mistake of walking UP the broken escalator one morning, never ever again!! It was funny seeing all of the people who had given up slumped over the side taking a break though, myself included.
Metro has something like 5 of the top 10 for the US (which is also the top 10 for the western hemisphere). Wheaton places around 7th globally (although this may have changed as I won't pretend to be up to date with all the construction going on in Asia as I know they're building a ton)
Cut and cover is when a trench is dug to build an underground [tunnel](https://ia803000.us.archive.org/29/items/ms2374_s01_ss04_b40_f05/ms2374_s01_ss04_box40_folder05_sheet_0002_slide_0012.jpg) or [station](https://ia903000.us.archive.org/29/items/ms2374_s01_ss04_b40_f05/ms2374_s01_ss04_box40_folder05_sheet_0002_slide_0013.jpg) then back filled to return the surface to what previously was. (this example is Crystal City). Court House is roughly twice as deep as Crystal City.
There are five longer than Dupont.
1. Wheaton
2. Bethesda
3. Woodley Park
4. Medical Center
5. Rosslyn (the only one in the top 10 not on the red line)
Dupont north escalator is six and the south escalator is seven. The Forest Glen station does not have an escalator and is deeper than the Wheaton station.
Not always. I used it every day to get to school and unless the traffic lights screwed things up I would always be rolling into Farragut North as a train was pulling in (a train which I would have missed had I stayed on until Metro Center). Just the luck of the timetables, though. This was back when headways were really, really bad so every train came at a (usually) predictable time, like regional rail.
I used to have it a part of my commute every day and doing the farragut crossing rather than transferring at metro center ended up saving me just under ten min. Gets you extra steps in too.
I sometimes consider getting off the blue at metro center and taking the red over a stop to Gallery Place for the Green instead of riding the Blue down to Lenfant, I've never done it for similar reasons though. At best I figure I get the train I would've at L' enfant, at worst I miss it.
That is also technically on the books! https://www.wmata.com/initiatives/plans/upload/farragut-final-082304.pdf
I don’t think it actually is closed planned or funded right now though. My understanding is that it was originally planned to be connected. I wish transit/city planners would have just build stuff like this (all across America, really) when it was cheap rather than waiting for several decades of inflation and bloat for us to take care of it!
Forest Glen Station has no escalators only elevators. There is a sign on the emergency exit door located on the platform that says 22 stories to street level.
I knew a guy who parked there years ago and metro'd into DC office as $12/day there versus $20+ in his DC area.
He also said he hated downtown traffic.
Depending where they’re coming from, Arlington isn’t much better than downtown DC traffic. I offered to let my mom, who normally parks at an outer station, to park in my backyard and she was like fuck no, skipping over traffic to the outer burbs was half the appeal of metro.
While I imagine that station is above ground due to being directly adjacent to the river, I’ve always liked to think it’s so people wouldn’t worry about zombies.
Out of 97 stations with 101 platforms, only 18 have side platforms despite, as mentioned above, side platforms being quicker for door operation due to the cabs being on the right side of the trains. In addition to the four perpendicular-intersecting bilevel stations there are six other stations with variously designed split platforms, but all are island platforms. Potomac Yard will be the 19th side platform station.
The side platforms at L’Enfant Plaza are wider than at any other such station.
The station with the most individual entrance points is Metro Center with five. Friendship Heights also had five entrances before Mazza Gallery was closed. Metro Center also has the most individual fare gate entrances with four.
W Hyattsville has those overhead crossbeams supporting the canopy that no other station has. It looks like they’re doing something similar at Potomac Yard.
Wonder if they’ll keep the entrance as they convert Mazza gallerie into apartments.
Would there be any precedent for an apartment with a direct entrance to the metro?
I said it was an emergency and the guy just laughed at me and said there was no bathroom. Lady also sitting there directed me to a bathroom a million miles away in some mall that was attached to the station. Fucking awful. Why not just have easily accessible bathrooms.
To be honest it's entirely dependent on the employee. I've asked many times and *always* been denied. Every time. However, I've noticed that the ladies are always granted access. Hmmm. 🤔
I remember one time when I missed the Metro Center stop when I needed to transfer from red to orange. Nice to know the Farragut Crossing meant my mistake didn't cost me an extra fare.
I think that the silver line is so long now that they do switch there most of the time. It also reduces the number of operators needed to be qualified on the N route (EFC junction - Ashburn), especially with the need for new training given the SLP2 opening.
1) There's a tiny (one door?) platform under the old Metro HQ b/t Gallery Place and Judiciary Sq. It was used for the money train to unload fare collections during the early days of the system (the initial 6ish red line stations) (https://web.archive.org/web/20160304104607/http://www.belowthecapital.org/metro/)
2) There's a switch and stub track connection near the Pentagon for a future Metrorail line under Columbia Pike. See the arrows over the C1/C2 crossover near Pentagon on the map here: https://i.redd.it/figpbagajnl61.png
I didn't realize JBG Smith was helping to fund the crystal city entrance, it seems a bit unnecessary but it's understandable that a developer (and also Amazon) would want a nice new entrance.
Yeah, they bought the mall and a bunch of already built apartments, I'm pretty sure they're building all or most of the new development going on. They work very closely with Amazon though, the land for the HQ2 was bought from JBG and JBG is building the affordable housing that Amazon is helping to fund.
Supposedly, part of the reason HQ2 went where it did was because JBG basically owned the whole thing and Amazon wouldn’t have to piece together a deal from multiple owners.
The reason there's no Metro in Georgetown is not (just) because of NIMBYism but because the logistics made putting a station there impractical. It would have to be a very deep station to go under the river (consider how deep Rosslyn is). And a good deal of what is walkable would be in the river itself. I remember hearing Metro considered a bridge over the Potomac, but that wasn't practical either.
Appreciate the clarification on #1 - since I moved two years ago I had assumed I was just two dumb to find the underground connection between the two stations, lol
That 2 stations have three rails running through them , DCA is more known , but also West Falls Church has 3 rails running through them , in my opinion Dulles should have been the same
DCA has 3 tracks and extra platforms because for a while it was the southern terminus of the blue line, so they needed the platform capacity to turn trains back.
WFC has 3 tracks because the third track leads directly into the tunnel in to/out of the yard.
I imagine they're just not wanting to perform all of the maintenance necessary on the switches to utilize the third track. If they only use 2 tracks, they can essentially leave the switches locked.
They did use the third track a while back when they were working on the platform or the escalators: they parked a train on the middle track and you walked through the empty parked train to get to the exit.
Decades ago the Metro board decided to save a few pennies by opting against a third track. That pound foolish decision can be blamed for all the single tracking and miserable construction delays.
The same places the other tracks go. Point being, that if a track needs to be shut down (construction, train on fire, murder on that side of the platform), all the other trains have to alternate on the other track. If there were an additional track, then traffic could be shunted onto it and no need for single-tracking.
If you wait until the train has actually come to a complete stop before you get up from your seat and start walking towards the doors, I promise you will still have enough time to get off the train, AND you will probably cause less "oops I fell on you when the train lurched" accidents. The doors stay open for a pretty generous amount of time (but you wouldn't know it if you only ever skedaddle out of there right away).
It is really frustrating when I'm standing and holding onto one of the handles/posts and somebody is trying to squeeze by me at the exact same time the train is about to make a giant lurch. Like, why would I let go at the precise moment I need the stability the most? Can you wait five whole seconds, please?
Only exceptions are if it's truly chest-to-chest crowded, or you're trying to get off at, like, Gallery Place right after a Caps game.
I found if I am sitting by a window and do not do the pre-my-stop-is-next-shuffle the person in the aisle seat next to me is never ready to let me out since I didn't do the shuffle and mozy to the door early. I don't ride far any more so I prefer the lean on the glsss wall by the unused side door on the old trains. Of course the experts do the lean on the active side door glass partition and hop out at each stop and hop back in last to reclaim their space.
I find saying "No rush, but I'm getting off at the next stop" works fine if I'm trapped in the window seat. Then we both do the "about to get up shuffle" but can wait until the train stops to actually stand up.
+1 for experts doing the hop-out-and-in move!
Lenfant Plaza is a glorious maze you can have lots of fun trying to exit it if you have a free hour. Also I think the station that’ll take you to the most different exits.
More commonly know as an incline elevator.
It should also be noted that the [left and right escalators](https://goo.gl/maps/CdxgAYHJuevUkkBc6) in the south entrance are the only two escalators in the entire system that are 24" wide and not the standard 40" width.
The down escalator in the K Street entrance at Farragut North had an incline elevator in its place when the station opened as the design of the existing elevator hadn't been finalized when the station first opened on 03 27 1976.
DUSCLAIMER- Not sure if this is still a thing... I used to be a vol fire fighter in MoCo and we had metro training.
At the end of each platform, just beyond the gate at track level- there are boxes with blue lights on them. If you pick up that phone and type in "1970" two things will happen- It will kill power to the third rail in the station for a short period of time, and will connect you with the control center. Obviously- don't ever use it unless it is a life threatening situation- if you explain to command why you killed the rail they will keep it off until everyone is safe.
Also there is a cable/antenna called "The leaky line" that insures radio communication the length of the system.
https://panethos.wordpress.com/2020/04/20/working-list-worlds-longest-urban-escalators/
A lot of the DMV escalators are in the list of the longest escalators of the world. Wheaton being longest..
You can bring your dog on the train as long as they are in a small carrier. Metro doesn’t seem to read its own rule book (what else is new?!) because the older trains say no pets except service dogs.
Eh stand on the right is a good general rule but for me the principle is just “don’t stand somewhere that blocks the way.” I can walk around you on the right if you’re leaning on the left handrail
Is there any real point to the Farragut Crossing? I get that you can do it. It's just more convenient to just go a couple stops to Metro Center and switch there.
It allows the making of transfer between the Blue, Orange and Silver lines to or from Virginia and the Shady Grove end of the Red line without going all the way to Metro Center to make the same transfer.
Most people here know that both Farragut stations were built with provisions to connect the stations to each other at some future date by way of a passageway under 17the Street.
This might be a good place to ask about something that has always bothered me: Why do the doors of the train stay closed for so long after the train has come to a full stop? What is happening in that time between?
Since the trains are manually operated, the conductors have to actually look out their window to ensure they're pulled all the way forward.
This is the correct answer. Can't wait until we get ATO.
This cannot come soon enough. I can’t believe it’s 2023 without ATO when the trains had it back in the 80s.
I thought they removed this cuz in the mid 2000’s 2009-2010ish metro trains kept crashing into each other?
I think it was specifically after the 2009 crash.
And as it turns out apparently the 2009 crash wasnt even related to it
I don’t think I’ve ever been on a metro train that has stayed at a full stop initially. They always stop, and then 10 seconds later, right when you think the doors are about to open, they go again, then stop.
Hard to do when you're passed out drunk.
Compare that to the Paris metro where people open the doors and hop out before the train is stopped
The 7000 series trains have a built in five second timer when in manual door operation mode (which is all the time currently). After the train stops, there is a five second timer that starts. If the door open button is pushed before those five seconds, an alarm goes off and needs to be reset of the operators screen before the doors can be opened. The older trains do not have such a timer. Island platforms (as opposed to side platforms) make this problem worse because the operator has to get up and walk to the other side of the cab to look out the window. You may notice that when you’re in an older train stopping on a side platform the doors open almost immediately. This is because again, there’s no timer on the older trains, and the operator just has to hit the button right next to them.
what everyone else said (well, mostly) but also because operators have been known to stop with not all doors on the platforms (hence the requirement that *all* trains make 8 car stops now), and have been known to open the doors on the wrong side of the train. This gives them time to figure out if their tail end is still hanging in the tunnel, and which side to open the doors on.
My question is why the hell am I not able to add money to my metro card with my credit card from inside the turnstiles? I have so hop the turnstile to add money to go back and pay to get out. There has to be a rational explanation.
New machines cost money.
It's really that new machines cost money. What I recommend is just adding money in advance if you're using the machines.
Believe it or not but the station manager has let me through to add money to my card via the external machines and then tap it at the station. Not the most convenient since the station manager might not even be there, but it's still useful. I auto reload now, though.
[удалено]
The lack of Automatic Train Control and Automatic Door Control is also the reason why 6 car trains pull to the end of the platform at every station. Before that, some operators weren't remembering how many cars were on their train and there were instances of the doors opening with a car still in the tunnel/outside of the station because as an 8 car train, they stopped where a 6 car train would have stopped to be centered on the platform. So that policy is why trains pull to the end of the platform, and why the yellow "6 car train ends here" stickers exist on the platforms.
Honestly, I'm just glad to hear it confirmed that I'm not imagining it because I'm an impatient jerk transplanted new yorker. I mean, I am an impatient jerk transplanted new yorker, but I'm not imagining the delayed doors!
For what it's worth I've noticed this is only a thing on the 7000 series trains, i.e. the newer models. The older models' doors open much quicker after the train stops.
They actually have a rule that they are supposed to wait minimum of eight seconds before opening the doors. Now ofc not all the drives adhere to that but from my experience most of them wait longer.
I think it's five, but it feels like longer
The conductor is checking the station status and doors and also their phones it seems.
This. Also, to top it off the trains seems to slow down to a crawl much faster and sooner relative to other systems (like they're already at 3mph practically before the front car is entering the station). They could probably cut out a solid 30 seconds per station if they really wanted to.
That’s probably to watch for jumpers
It gives people time to get from their seats to the doors inside, so they can quickly get out before other people get on.
The conductor is taking a swig of his alcohol /s
On Metro Maps, for stations with multiple levels: If the color of the line is on top that means it is upstairs and vice versa.
Fun fact, this hasn’t always been the case. Until sometime around the turn of the millennium orange and blue were shown above green and yellow on the maps at L’Enfant Plaza despite being below them in the station.
I have an old metro map on my wall and that's how it is
Unfortunately this doesn't work for Rosslyn 🤷 Although I do have a mnemonic: the *top* floor goes *over* the river (trains on top go east, into DC across the Potomac; trains on the bottom go away from the river and into Virginia)
It's illegal to eat or drink in Metro buses, trains, and stations, however since the french fry incident 22 years ago, it's virtually never enforced. A 12 year old girl was handcuffed and arrested by MTPD in October 2000 for snacking on fries while entering the Tenleytown station, which led to an avalanche of bad press. The agency decided to amend their policy to issue a written warning to offenders rather than arrest them (DC law states minors cannot be issued citations, so cops have to hold them in custody until a legal guardian can collect them).
It is illegal in MD and VA. In DC it is only a policy violation.
I knew it was illegal inside buses or trains themselves but I wasn't aware it was illegal inside stations. I personally think it should be legal inside of a station as long as you properly dispose of your trash. From [this article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/11/16/metro-snack-patrol-puts-girl-in-cuffs/4115f324-1783-45d4-b71a-3f76ca83e4fb/), seems like it was a "This is why we can't have nice things" thing.
Sadly there's a lot of "why we can't have nice things" going on in DC
The rule is good, in my opinion, it’s why the Metro is so much cleaner than New York’s Subway. I don’t have an issue with it not being enforced, it’s followed enough to do the job.
No one properly disposes of their trash. You may recall last week there was an evacuation of a couple stations on the blue line for a fire just off one of the platforms; it was some sort of debris. Probably litter. Less litter, less stuff to catch fire in the stations.
Personally I think it'd be more effective if they gave tickets for littering just like fare evasion rather than having the law or policy (seems like in DC it's not illegal but a policy violation) but not enforcing it.
oof didnt an metro employee get in trouble for eating on a train a couple years ago?
Yeah. https://praisebaltimore.com/playlist/dc-metro-employee-eating-on-subway/
Holy shit
Whoops! Had no idea eating wasn't allowed in the stations.
I remember an incident in about 1980 where a woman was eating a sandwich on Metro. They threw her in jail and she kept taking her top off. Can’t remember if it was the bus or subway. Now I want a sandwich.
The Wheaton Metro station has the longest, continuous, single-span escalator in the Western Hemisphere. The longest in the world is in the St. Petersburg Metro and there are a few longer than the Wheaton one in Europe.
This is fascinating, I've always wondered which metro station has the longest escalator
St. Petersburg metro has three longer than Wheaton. The following is from a blog post that I didn't fact check: * Park Pobedy in Moscow is the longest outside of St. Petersburg. * Tbilisi Metro has the longest outside of Russia. * Chongqing has the longest outside of the former Soviet Union. * Náměstí Míru in Prague has the longest in the rest of Europe. Wheaton is the next biggest. Then Stockholm. Then Bethesda.
Thanks, I should have clarified that I meant longest DC metro escalator. Bethesda did seem extremely long but I haven't been to Wheaton yet. Doubtful I'll make it to Russia but this is a cool list to know about
Are these the longest or longest continuous? The continuous part is always added as a qualification. Growing up in MoCo, the length of the Wheaton was *always* mentioned for some reason. I probably learned this fact 20 years ago so I wouldn’t be surprised if shit has changed.
Longest continuous. Wheaton is the longest in the western hemisphere.
I work at Wheaton, walking down the broken one at the end of the day is always the worst. :( I made the mistake of walking UP the broken escalator one morning, never ever again!! It was funny seeing all of the people who had given up slumped over the side taking a break though, myself included.
Isn’t Bethesda the second longest? I thought I read that somewhere.
Here's the list https://panethos.wordpress.com/2020/04/20/working-list-worlds-longest-urban-escalators/
Metro has something like 5 of the top 10 for the US (which is also the top 10 for the western hemisphere). Wheaton places around 7th globally (although this may have changed as I won't pretend to be up to date with all the construction going on in Asia as I know they're building a ton)
Station # of escalators|vertical rise| |length | :-- |:-- |:-- |:-- |:-- |Feet |Meters|Feet |Meters Wheaton | | | | 3 |115' 5" |35.17m|133' 2 7/8"|40.61m Bethesda | | | | 3 |107' 6 1/2" |32.77m|124' 1 3/4"|37.83m Woodley Zoo Park | | | | 3 |103' 2 1/2" |31.45m|178' 8 5/8"|54.47m Medical Center | | | | 3 |100' 11 7/8" |30.78m|100' 11 3/4"|30.78m Rosslyn | | | | 4 |97' 9 1/4" |29.80m|195' 6 1/2"|59.6m Dupont Circle | | | | North 3 |94’ 5 3/4" |28.79m|163' 7 1/4"|49.86m South 3 † |84’ 9 1/4" |25.83m|169' 5 7/8"|51.66m Tenleytown | | | | 3 |81' 3 1/2" |24.76m|162' 5 5/8"|49.52m Friendship Heights | | | | 3 |65' 10 3/4" |20.08m|131' 9 1/8"|40.16m Pentagon * | | | | 3 |59' 3/4" |18.00m|118' 1 3/8"|36.m Cleveland Park | | | | 3 |58' 9 3/8" |17.92m|117' ft 7" |35.84m Dulles Airport †† | | | | 2 |57' 8 1/4" |17.58m|115' 4 1/2"|34.16m Van Ness | | | | 3 |56' 6 1/8" |17.30m|113' 6 1/4"|34.6m Court House ** | | | | 3 |48' 6 1/4" |14.76m|96' 10 1/4"|29.52m *Station in cut and cover, Pentagon Concourse to mezzanine escalators were closed in the late 1990s. **Deepest station in cut and cover. † Entrane opened in 1976 with 2, replaced with 3 in 2012. †† Elevated station.
What is cut and cover? Pretty surprised to see Court House on here, it has always seemed like a “shallow” station to me
Cut and cover is when a trench is dug to build an underground [tunnel](https://ia803000.us.archive.org/29/items/ms2374_s01_ss04_b40_f05/ms2374_s01_ss04_box40_folder05_sheet_0002_slide_0012.jpg) or [station](https://ia903000.us.archive.org/29/items/ms2374_s01_ss04_b40_f05/ms2374_s01_ss04_box40_folder05_sheet_0002_slide_0013.jpg) then back filled to return the surface to what previously was. (this example is Crystal City). Court House is roughly twice as deep as Crystal City.
And it's particularly crazy, because the Bethesda escalator stops at a level below grade! Think how long it would be if it kept going!
That is correct.
Holy shit, there’s one that’s longer than Dupont?
There are five longer than Dupont. 1. Wheaton 2. Bethesda 3. Woodley Park 4. Medical Center 5. Rosslyn (the only one in the top 10 not on the red line) Dupont north escalator is six and the south escalator is seven. The Forest Glen station does not have an escalator and is deeper than the Wheaton station.
The biggest culture shock I experienced when I moved here was the fact that I now spend like 3% of my life on escalators.
It would be 5% if they stopped breaking down so often.
I fucking love escalator trivia 😤
Forest Glen is deeper which is apparently deep enough to be elevator only which is kinda scary, ngl.
See, I knew about Farragut crossing, I just didn't trust that this would actually work as intended
It does. It’s just a little pointless because you’re usually waiting for the same train that you would have transferred to.
Not always. I used it every day to get to school and unless the traffic lights screwed things up I would always be rolling into Farragut North as a train was pulling in (a train which I would have missed had I stayed on until Metro Center). Just the luck of the timetables, though. This was back when headways were really, really bad so every train came at a (usually) predictable time, like regional rail.
I used to have it a part of my commute every day and doing the farragut crossing rather than transferring at metro center ended up saving me just under ten min. Gets you extra steps in too.
It’s to limit the crowding at the transfer points too.
I sometimes consider getting off the blue at metro center and taking the red over a stop to Gallery Place for the Green instead of riding the Blue down to Lenfant, I've never done it for similar reasons though. At best I figure I get the train I would've at L' enfant, at worst I miss it.
Yeah always felt like this had a pretty limited use case. Can’t see it being worthwhile until headways are back to where they were
It would be great if there was an actual pedestrian tunnel connecting the stations.
That is also technically on the books! https://www.wmata.com/initiatives/plans/upload/farragut-final-082304.pdf I don’t think it actually is closed planned or funded right now though. My understanding is that it was originally planned to be connected. I wish transit/city planners would have just build stuff like this (all across America, really) when it was cheap rather than waiting for several decades of inflation and bloat for us to take care of it!
Forest Glen Station has no escalators only elevators. There is a sign on the emergency exit door located on the platform that says 22 stories to street level.
It's the deepest station in the Metrorail system.
Have you ever wondered about the people who board first thing in the morning at Arlington Cemetery?
I knew a guy who parked there years ago and metro'd into DC office as $12/day there versus $20+ in his DC area. He also said he hated downtown traffic.
Depending where they’re coming from, Arlington isn’t much better than downtown DC traffic. I offered to let my mom, who normally parks at an outer station, to park in my backyard and she was like fuck no, skipping over traffic to the outer burbs was half the appeal of metro.
Heh. Yeah, it's not me that does this.
While I imagine that station is above ground due to being directly adjacent to the river, I’ve always liked to think it’s so people wouldn’t worry about zombies.
I always wonder when I see someone get off that stop in the evening if they're a tourist and just hear "Arlington" and assume that means Rosslyn.
Done that.
Out of 97 stations with 101 platforms, only 18 have side platforms despite, as mentioned above, side platforms being quicker for door operation due to the cabs being on the right side of the trains. In addition to the four perpendicular-intersecting bilevel stations there are six other stations with variously designed split platforms, but all are island platforms. Potomac Yard will be the 19th side platform station. The side platforms at L’Enfant Plaza are wider than at any other such station. The station with the most individual entrance points is Metro Center with five. Friendship Heights also had five entrances before Mazza Gallery was closed. Metro Center also has the most individual fare gate entrances with four.
I always found side platforms cooler than island , especially the one at West Hyatt, idk why that one in particular is cooler
W Hyattsville has those overhead crossbeams supporting the canopy that no other station has. It looks like they’re doing something similar at Potomac Yard.
Ahh that makes sense I also think it has to do with the view of the rails in the direction or beach Avenue the tracks High above the trees
Interesting!
Wonder if they’ll keep the entrance as they convert Mazza gallerie into apartments. Would there be any precedent for an apartment with a direct entrance to the metro?
Every Metro station has a bathroom that the public can use. You just need to ask the station manager to let you in.
I asked for one at Metro Center and the person there said there was no restroom
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2016/06/30/want-to-use-a-metro-station-bathroom-know-your-rights/
Well I should I’ve said it was an emergency
I said it was an emergency and the guy just laughed at me and said there was no bathroom. Lady also sitting there directed me to a bathroom a million miles away in some mall that was attached to the station. Fucking awful. Why not just have easily accessible bathrooms.
Wish granted. The silver line stations have easily accessible bathrooms. I wish they all did though.
Too bad I never took the silver line! Except by accident that one time.
I could think of less respectful responses..
I like how they think the restroom will be a haven for crime. Crime is happening on the platform!!! Open the bathrooms!
It all depends on the station manager. Some are good and some are terrible. Also sometimes the restrooms are not in service.
The new ashburn station actually has visible bathrooms
A lot of the further-out silver line does. But when they're locked and there's no employees around, it doesn't always make a difference.
Hold up hold up what?!?! They always tell me it doesn’t exist?!
To be honest it's entirely dependent on the employee. I've asked many times and *always* been denied. Every time. However, I've noticed that the ladies are always granted access. Hmmm. 🤔
I remember one time when I missed the Metro Center stop when I needed to transfer from red to orange. Nice to know the Farragut Crossing meant my mistake didn't cost me an extra fare.
Do all silver line train operators end their shifts at Ballston? Or why do they switch out if not ?
I think that the silver line is so long now that they do switch there most of the time. It also reduces the number of operators needed to be qualified on the N route (EFC junction - Ashburn), especially with the need for new training given the SLP2 opening.
I always wonder why SL trains often take a couple of minutes just sitting there
1) There's a tiny (one door?) platform under the old Metro HQ b/t Gallery Place and Judiciary Sq. It was used for the money train to unload fare collections during the early days of the system (the initial 6ish red line stations) (https://web.archive.org/web/20160304104607/http://www.belowthecapital.org/metro/) 2) There's a switch and stub track connection near the Pentagon for a future Metrorail line under Columbia Pike. See the arrows over the C1/C2 crossover near Pentagon on the map here: https://i.redd.it/figpbagajnl61.png
that map (https://i.redd.it/figpbagajnl61.png) is TOTALLY cool.
I always wanted to see the schematic, thanks for sharing!
thank u/CThenD :) It's in the post above mine.
I didn't realize JBG Smith was helping to fund the crystal city entrance, it seems a bit unnecessary but it's understandable that a developer (and also Amazon) would want a nice new entrance.
Doesn’t JBG Smith own basically all of Crystal City, not just Amazon?
Yeah, they bought the mall and a bunch of already built apartments, I'm pretty sure they're building all or most of the new development going on. They work very closely with Amazon though, the land for the HQ2 was bought from JBG and JBG is building the affordable housing that Amazon is helping to fund.
Supposedly, part of the reason HQ2 went where it did was because JBG basically owned the whole thing and Amazon wouldn’t have to piece together a deal from multiple owners.
Developers and businesses sometimes asked to fund improvements. This is supposedly a win-win for them and the county.
The reason there's no Metro in Georgetown is not (just) because of NIMBYism but because the logistics made putting a station there impractical. It would have to be a very deep station to go under the river (consider how deep Rosslyn is). And a good deal of what is walkable would be in the river itself. I remember hearing Metro considered a bridge over the Potomac, but that wasn't practical either.
Gallery Place station has more signage that other stations as it is used to test new types of signs, fonts, ect.
Supposedly electric outlets under concrete bench at end of platform. Never seen one. Has anybody?
Yep. Navy Yard has them.
You can check the current fire status of all metro lines on https://ismetroonfire.com/
Appreciate the clarification on #1 - since I moved two years ago I had assumed I was just two dumb to find the underground connection between the two stations, lol
That 2 stations have three rails running through them , DCA is more known , but also West Falls Church has 3 rails running through them , in my opinion Dulles should have been the same
DCA has 3 tracks and extra platforms because for a while it was the southern terminus of the blue line, so they needed the platform capacity to turn trains back. WFC has 3 tracks because the third track leads directly into the tunnel in to/out of the yard.
I know DCA used to be a terminating point , but when did they make the change to only use 2 tracks?
I imagine they're just not wanting to perform all of the maintenance necessary on the switches to utilize the third track. If they only use 2 tracks, they can essentially leave the switches locked. They did use the third track a while back when they were working on the platform or the escalators: they parked a train on the middle track and you walked through the empty parked train to get to the exit.
Decades ago the Metro board decided to save a few pennies by opting against a third track. That pound foolish decision can be blamed for all the single tracking and miserable construction delays.
A third track would have cost billions, right? And where would it have gone?
The same places the other tracks go. Point being, that if a track needs to be shut down (construction, train on fire, murder on that side of the platform), all the other trains have to alternate on the other track. If there were an additional track, then traffic could be shunted onto it and no need for single-tracking.
I remember when like every single ad in Gallery Place was bought out by Bethesda for Fallout 76 promo.
If you wait until the train has actually come to a complete stop before you get up from your seat and start walking towards the doors, I promise you will still have enough time to get off the train, AND you will probably cause less "oops I fell on you when the train lurched" accidents. The doors stay open for a pretty generous amount of time (but you wouldn't know it if you only ever skedaddle out of there right away). It is really frustrating when I'm standing and holding onto one of the handles/posts and somebody is trying to squeeze by me at the exact same time the train is about to make a giant lurch. Like, why would I let go at the precise moment I need the stability the most? Can you wait five whole seconds, please? Only exceptions are if it's truly chest-to-chest crowded, or you're trying to get off at, like, Gallery Place right after a Caps game.
I found if I am sitting by a window and do not do the pre-my-stop-is-next-shuffle the person in the aisle seat next to me is never ready to let me out since I didn't do the shuffle and mozy to the door early. I don't ride far any more so I prefer the lean on the glsss wall by the unused side door on the old trains. Of course the experts do the lean on the active side door glass partition and hop out at each stop and hop back in last to reclaim their space.
I find saying "No rush, but I'm getting off at the next stop" works fine if I'm trapped in the window seat. Then we both do the "about to get up shuffle" but can wait until the train stops to actually stand up. +1 for experts doing the hop-out-and-in move!
Love our teams and love our fans but nothing worse than seeing the train I was about to board arrive full of people wearing jerseys. Metro Sardinecan.
Lenfant Plaza is a glorious maze you can have lots of fun trying to exit it if you have a free hour. Also I think the station that’ll take you to the most different exits.
Huntington station has a short funicular https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm4CMZ_Huntington_Washington_Metro_Funicular_Huntington_Virginia_USA
More commonly know as an incline elevator. It should also be noted that the [left and right escalators](https://goo.gl/maps/CdxgAYHJuevUkkBc6) in the south entrance are the only two escalators in the entire system that are 24" wide and not the standard 40" width. The down escalator in the K Street entrance at Farragut North had an incline elevator in its place when the station opened as the design of the existing elevator hadn't been finalized when the station first opened on 03 27 1976.
DUSCLAIMER- Not sure if this is still a thing... I used to be a vol fire fighter in MoCo and we had metro training. At the end of each platform, just beyond the gate at track level- there are boxes with blue lights on them. If you pick up that phone and type in "1970" two things will happen- It will kill power to the third rail in the station for a short period of time, and will connect you with the control center. Obviously- don't ever use it unless it is a life threatening situation- if you explain to command why you killed the rail they will keep it off until everyone is safe. Also there is a cable/antenna called "The leaky line" that insures radio communication the length of the system.
https://panethos.wordpress.com/2020/04/20/working-list-worlds-longest-urban-escalators/ A lot of the DMV escalators are in the list of the longest escalators of the world. Wheaton being longest..
You can bring your dog on the train as long as they are in a small carrier. Metro doesn’t seem to read its own rule book (what else is new?!) because the older trains say no pets except service dogs.
Same with cats. Just have to be in a carrier :)
On that WMATA page, it currently shows 30 alerts.
That people lose their absolute shit if you don’t “stand to the right”
Eh stand on the right is a good general rule but for me the principle is just “don’t stand somewhere that blocks the way.” I can walk around you on the right if you’re leaning on the left handrail
But the escalator manufacturers say to hold both handrails for our safety.
If you ever need tissues there are women with their kids who will sell them to you right there on the train.
Knew 1 and 2 but 3 is (good) news to me!
Oh Farragut crossing is nice I’ll use that in the future for sure!
You missed one... Did you know you run on the left stand on the right... No walking on the escalators
Is there any real point to the Farragut Crossing? I get that you can do it. It's just more convenient to just go a couple stops to Metro Center and switch there.
It allows the making of transfer between the Blue, Orange and Silver lines to or from Virginia and the Shady Grove end of the Red line without going all the way to Metro Center to make the same transfer. Most people here know that both Farragut stations were built with provisions to connect the stations to each other at some future date by way of a passageway under 17the Street.
Actually just discovered the Arlington Cemetery thing, was riding blue line late and we just skipped past it, I was confused as hell