'Metro Center' is the central hub station of the
Metrorail in
Washington, D.C..
Metro Center is on the
Blue,
Orange, and
Red Lines, and is a
transfer station between the Red Line and the already-joined Blue and Orange Lines. It is also scheduled to be on the
Silver Line route, which is scheduled to start operations in 2011.
Metro Center is located in downtown Washington, under an area roughly extending east-west from 11th to 13th Streets Northwest, and north-south from G 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 west 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 3, 2006.
[1]
The
mezzanine (upper) level of the station contain side platforms for Red Line trains traveling towards
Glenmont and towards
Shady Grove. Orange Line and Blue Lines 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 amusements. Due to a combination of the 1968 racial disturbances, the opening of new suburban malls, and concentration of new commercial building near
K Street -
Farragut Square, the Metro Center area declined, then later successfully revived. The Shops at National Place is an adjacent two-level dining/shopping complex.
The station is located so close to the
Gallery Place-Chinatown station that the lights of each station are visible to the other through the tunnel. Metro's Capital Improvement Plan dated
September 12,
2002 includes a pedestrian tunnel to be built between the two stations, connected at the mezzanine levels. Metro Center was one of the original Metro stations, and service began on
March 27,
1976.
Notable places nearby
★
Ford's Theater
★
Inter-American Development Bank
★
National Museum of Women in the Arts
★
National Press Club Building
★
Warner Theatre
External links
★ WMATA:
Metro Center Station
★ StationMasters Online:
Metro Center Station
★ The Schumin Web Transit Center:
Metro Center Station (Upper Level)
★ The Schumin Web Transit Center:
Metro Center Station (Lower Level)
References
1. Request for Expressions of Interest for Operation of Retail Services in Metrorail Stations