History UsefulNotes / WashingtonMetro

* If you intend to be in the city for more than a day, get a [=SmarTrip=] card. This wave-and-pay stored-value card makes everything easier and cheaper for you and everyone. This is not shilling; it's actually true. Ask anyone who's been there.[[note]]To put it in numbers, single-use cards cost $1 extra per trip, while a [=SmarTrip=] card costs $2 (plus $8, which is your initial fare balance). The only way you could possibly save money with the paper cards is if you only ever plan to ride the metro twice.[[/note]]

* The '''Silver Line''' runs from Ashburn, VA in the west to the aforementioned Largo Town Center in the east, running by Washington Dulles International Airport on the way. It is mostly concurrent with the Orange Line, diverging at East Falls Church, and shares the Blue Line up to Largo Town Center. The first completed part, running from Falls Church to Reston, opened in July 2014, while the rest of the line to Dulles and Ashburn opened in November 2022. Most of the new track was built inside the median of the Dulles Access Road, although the line briefly detours away from the highway twice; first to serve a cluster of four stations in the edge city of Tysons Corner, and the second time is to service Dulles.

* ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'''s first three levels are set in and around the semi-fictional Georgia St. Metro Station(likely a stand-in for the Georgia Ave.-Petworth station), and the third game revisits the Metro for its final mission.

Six lines, 97 stations, 129 miles of track, 800,000 trips daily. UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC's Metrorail might have only been established in 1976 and serve a metropolitan area half the size of the UsefulNotes/NewYorkSubway, but it is already the second-busiest subway in the United States and the second most-extensive on the East Coast, and today the Metro is as much a part of the identity of the District as the Subway is in New York.

* The '''Blue Line''' runs in an L-shape from Franconia-Springfield in Virginia to the southwest of the District to Largo Town Center to the east in Maryland. It runs concurrently with the Yellow Line for part of its journey in Virginia, then with the Orange and Silver Lines from Rosslyn east.

* The '''Yellow Line''' runs in a generally straight line from Huntington, VA in the south to Fort Totten Station in the northern part of the District. It runs concurrently with the Blue Line for most of its route in Virginia; concurrence runs from King Street in Old Town Alexandria to UsefulNotes/ThePentagon. In the District, it mostly runs concurrently with...

* ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'''s first three levels are set in and around the semi-fictional Georgia St. Metro Station(likely a stand-in for the Georgia Ave.-Pentworth station), and the third game revisits the Metro for its final mission.

* The Metro appears several times in the American version of ''Series/{{House of Cards|US}}''; this includes the opening credits, as well as one of Zoe Barnes' meetings with Frank Underwood, excluding [[spoiler:the one in which Underwood kills her]]. The season 1 example was filmed at Archives–Navy Memorial–Penn Quarter on the Yellow and Green Lines; Zoe's death scene was filmed on the Baltimore Metro, as can be evidenced by its low ceiling, high dinginess, and generally out-of-place design.

Six lines, 91 stations, 117 miles of track, 800,000 trips daily. UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC's Metrorail might have only been established in 1976 and serve a metropolitan area half the size of the UsefulNotes/NewYorkSubway, but it is already the second-busiest subway in the United States and the second most-extensive on the East Coast, and today the Metro is as much a part of the identity of the District as the Subway is in New York.

* The '''Silver Line''', when fully completed, will run from suburban Loudoun County, VA in the west to the aforementioned Largo Town Center in the east, running by Washington Dulles International Airport on the way. It is mostly concurrent with the Orange Line, diverging at East Falls Church, and shares the Blue Line up to Largo Town Center. The first completed part, running from Falls Church to Reston, opened in July 2014. Most of the new track was built inside the median of the Dulles Access Road, although the line briefly detours away from the highway twice; first to serve a cluster of four stations in the edge city of Tysons Corner, and the second time is to service Dulles.

* Large sections of ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' involve you trekking through broken-down Metro stations. Some parts (the map, the turnstiles, the trains themselves) are clearly not based on reality, while others (the vaulted concrete ceilings, the orange hexagonal floor tiles, the shape of the platforms) are almost creepily accurate. [[note]]When you consider that the major differences can be chalked up to the AlternateUniverse's timeline branching off in the 1950's and some {{Necessary Weasel}}s due to SpaceCompression, it makes it even ''more'' disturbingly accurate.[[/note]]

* Metro policy prohibits allowing filming in a station or on a train if any violence occurs. Therefore, any scene where someone gets shot in a Washington Metro station or train has to be filmed somewhere else (probably Baltimore).

* Metro policy prohibits allowing filming in a station or on a train if any violence occurs. Therefore, any scene where someone gets shot in a Washington Metro station or train has to be filmed somewhere else (probably Baltimore.)

* The Metro appears several times in the American version of ''[[Series/HouseOfCardsUS House of Cards]]''; this includes the opening credits, as well as one of Zoe Barnes' meetings with Frank Underwood, excluding [[spoiler:the one in which Underwood kills her]]. The season 1 example was filmed at Archives–Navy Memorial–Penn Quarter on the Yellow and Green Lines; Zoe's death scene was filmed on the Baltimore Metro, as can be evidenced by its low ceiling, high dinginess, and generally out-of-place design.

* ''Film/NoWayOut'' notoriously has a chase scene through the nonexistent Georgetown Metro.

Unlike many of the older subway and mass-transit networks in the U.S., the Washington Metro was centrally planned and government-run from the very beginning, rather than developing out of a number of private lines (as did what became the [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCitySubway NYC subway]], the [[UsefulNotes/ChicagoL Chicago 'L']], Boston [[UsefulNotes/TheT MBTA]], Philadelphia [[UsefulNotes/PhiladelphiaSubways SEPTA]], San Francisco Muni, and others). In TheSixties, the federal Department of Transportation was working on a plan for transportation in the nation's capital, and, in keeping with the concrete-slapping times, planned to build two rings of freeway, one mostly outside the district limits in Maryland and Virginia, and an "Inner Loop" running inside it. Although the Outer Loop was built without incident (as the notorious [[UsefulNotes/AmericanPoliticalSystem reality-distorting]] Capitol Beltway), the Inner Loop faced serious opposition from locals, and in the face of freeway revolt, the DOT and regional authorities opted for [[TimeForPlanB Plan B]]: a mass-transit system to draw people out of their cars in the city.

The result is that the Metro is supremely modern, efficient, and consistent. (Yes, you just read those words used to describe a project funded and managed by the federal bureaucracy[[note]]Although really the bureaucratic nightmares you have probably were because of state bureaucracies[[/note]].) This even shows up in the architecture, with sober, simple, and hauntingly beautiful Brutalist/Mid-century Modern coffered concrete arches defining all the stations (almost as a direct challenge to the palatial stations of the UsefulNotes/MoscowMetro). The trains were designed from the start for driver-assisted automatic operation (albeit this has been nixed since the Fort Totten disaster on the Red Line in 2009). Although schedules are somewhat unreliable, thanks to the very modern signaling technology in use the times posted for trains on the electronic boards in each station are almost always exactly right; this makes riding the rails in DC a remarkably low-stress experience.

However, the Metro has, for some time now, been in a state of [[NetworkDecay disrepair]], with signals malfunctioning, trains breaking down, and other equipment failures leading to various and frequent delays. None of this is out of the ordinary; the system was almost entirely built 40 years ago and while regular maintenance was done, it was not done to a sufficient extent and some things can only be repaired so many times, so ''a lot'' of the network is currently at or near the end of its useful life. In an attempt to remedy this, Metro has announced a complete overhaul of the system, which began on June 4, 2016 and completed June 25, 2017. They dubbed the effort [[https://wmata.com/rail/safetrack.cfm "SafeTrack"]]. Following [=SafeTrack=], Metro's next set of updates was named [[https://www.wmata.com/about/back2good/index.cfm Back2Good]]. Time will tell if these will improve Metro service.

* The '''Red Line''' covers northern DC and the city's northern suburbs in Maryland, running in a U-shape from Glenmont, MD, to Shady Grove, MD, looping through Downtown at Union Station (where you can connect to UsefulNotes/{{Amtrak}}, MARC and VRE commuter rail, and intercity bus services) and Metro Center. It is the busiest line on the Metro and one of only two lines not to cross into Virginia.
* The '''Blue Line''' runs in an L-shape from Franconia-Springfield in Virginia to the south of the District to Largo Town Center to the east in Maryland. It runs concurrently with the Orange and Silver Lines for most of its run.

* The '''Silver Line''', when fully completed, will run from Loudoun County, VA in the west to the aforementioned Largo Town Center in the east, running by Washington Dulles International Airport on the way. It is mostly concurrent with the Orange Line, diverging at East Falls Church, and shares the Blue Line up to Largo Town Center. The first completed part opened in 2014.

** Metro has phased out the paper farecards entirely, meaning [=SmarTrip=] cards are now mandatory to ride the system.

* The station listed as "Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan" is [[NonindicativeName a ten-minute walk from the main center of Adams Morgan and from the National Zoo]]. You have been warned.
** If you go one more stop to Cleveland Park, the walk to the zoo is shorter and downhill.
* Despite the previous two grouses, you really can take the Metro pretty much everywhere in DC. You're well-advised not to drive; the Metro is generally faster, easier, and less stressful, and driving in Washington is a pain in the ass. Street parking is basically nonexistent - it's damn near impossible to find a parking meter that is available for more than 30 seconds - and off-street parking is very expensive.

** The escalators also frequently break down, so be prepared to walk up even some of those very long ones.

** During the Safe Track repairs the Metro closes at midnight every night.
* Like the NYC Subway, they do trackwork on the weekends during the daytime. If you have to be somewhere at a particular time during the day on Saturday or Sunday, take into account the possibility it could take over half an hour longer than you expect.

* Metro policy prohibits allowing filming in a station or on a train if any violence occurs. Any scene where someone gets shot in a Washington Metro station or train was filmed somewhere else (probably Baltimore.)

* The Metro appears several times in the American version of ''[[Series/HouseOfCardsUS House of Cards]]''; this includes the opening credits, as well as one of Zoe Barnes' meetings with Frank Underwood, excluding [[spoiler:the one in which Underwood kills her]].[[note]]The former scene was very clearly shot at Archives–Navy Memorial–Penn Quarter on the Yellow and Green Lines; the latter was just as clearly ''not'', what with its low ceiling, high dinginess, and generally out-of-place design. It was shot instead at a Baltimore Metro Subway station; WMATA forbids scenes of violence from being shot at real Metro stations, but Baltimore has no such qualms.[[/note]]

There have been several proposed extensions; the only one that has actually gone anywhere (despite [[DevelopmentHell thirty years of delays]]) is the currently under construction [[http://www.purplelinemd.com/en/ "Purple Line"]], which will run north of the District entirely within Maryland to connect the outer portions of the Green, Red, and Orange Lines; it will be the first line not to be a radial going to Downtown and also the first not to enter the District. It is planned as a light rail line, instead of a true part of the metro, in order to keep costs down, as the ridership demand wouldn't be as great. Furthermore, it is funded my the Maryland Department of Transportation, and not WMATA itself. DC has also begun (re)introducing streetcars to supplement the Metro in some neighborhoods; however, these likewise have little to do with the Metro system and are run by the District directly.

* The '''Red Line''' covers northern DC and the city's northern suburbs in Maryland, running in a U-shape from Glenmont, MD, to Shady Grove, MD, looping through Downtown at Union Station (where you can connect to UsefulNotes/{{Amtrak}}, MARC and VRE commuter rail, and intercity bus services) and Metro Center. It is one of only two lines not to cross into Virginia.

Unlike many of the older subway and mass-transit networks in the U.S., the Washington Metro was centrally planned and government-run from the very beginning, rather than developing out of a number of private lines (as did what became the NYC subway, the Chicago 'L', Boston MBTA, Philadelphia SEPTA, San Francisco Muni, and others). In TheSixties, the federal Department of Transportation was working on a plan for transportation in the nation's capital, and, in keeping with the concrete-slapping times, planned to build two rings of freeway, one mostly outside the district limits in Maryland and Virginia, and an "Inner Loop" running inside it. Although the Outer Loop was built without incident (as the notorious [[UsefulNotes/AmericanPoliticalSystem reality-distorting]] Capitol Beltway), the Inner Loop faced serious opposition from locals, and in the face of freeway revolt, the DOT and regional authorities opted for [[TimeForPlanB Plan B]]: a mass-transit system to draw people out of their cars in the city.

The result is that the Metro is supremely modern, efficient, and consistent. (Yes, you just read those words used to describe a project funded and managed by the federal bureaucracy[[note]]Although really the bureaucratic nightmares you have probably were because of state bureaucracies[[/note]].) This even shows up in the architecture, with sober, simple, and hauntingly beautiful Brutalist/Mid-century Modern coffered concrete arches defining all the stations (almost as a direct challenge to the palatial stations of the UsefulNotes/MoscowMetro). The trains were designed from the start for driver-assisted automatic operation (albeit this has been nixed since the Fort Totten disaster on the Red Line in 2009). Although schedules are somewhat unreliable, thanks to the very modern signalling technology in use the times posted for trains on the electronic boards in each station are almost always exactly right; this makes riding the rails in DC a remarkably low-stress experience.

There have been several proposed extensions; the only one that has actually gone anywhere (despite [[DevelopmentHell thirty years of delays]]) is the currently under construction [[http://www.purplelinemd.com/en/ "Purple Line"]], which will run north of the District entirely within Maryland to connect the outer portions of the Green, Red, and Orange Lines; it will be the first line not to be a radial going to Downtown and also the first not to enter the District. It is planned as a light rail line, instead of a true part of the metro, in order to keep costs down, as the ridership demand wouldn't be as great. Furthermore, it is funded my the MAryland Department of Transportation, and not WMATA itself. DC has also begun (re)introducing streetcars to supplement the Metro in some neighborhoods; however, these likewise have little to do with the Metro system and are run by the District directly.

There have been several proposed extensions; the one that seems to be most likely (despite [[DevelopmentHell thirty years of delays]]) is the proposed [[http://www.purplelinemd.com/en/ "Purple Line"]] that would run north of the District entirely within Maryland to connect the outer portions of the Green, Red, and Orange Lines; it would be the first line not to be a radial going to Downtown and also the first not to enter the District. It is planned as a light rail line, instead of a true part of the metro, in order to keep costs down, as the ridership demand wouldn't be as great. Construction is to begin shortly. DC is also (re)introducing streetcars to supplement the Metro in some neighborhoods; however, these have little to do with the Metro system and are run by the District directly.

However, the Metro has, for some time now, been in a state of [[NetworkDecay disrepair]], with signals malfunctioning, trains breaking down, and other equipment failures leading to various and frequent delays. None of this is out of the ordinary; the system was almost entirely built 40 years ago and while regular maintenance was done, it was not done to a sufficient extent and some things can only be repaired so many times, so ''a lot'' of the network is currently at or near the end of its useful life. In an attempt to remedy this, Metro has announced a complete overhaul of the system, which began on June 4, 2016 and completed June 25, 2017. They dubbed the effort [[https://wmata.com/rail/safetrack.cfm "SafeTrack"]]. Following SafeTrack, Metro's next set of updates was named [[https://www.wmata.com/about/back2good/index.cfm Back2Good]]. Time will tell if these will improve Metro service.

However, the Metro has, for some time now, been in a state of [[NetworkDecay disrepair]], with signals malfunctioning, trains breaking down, and other equipment failures leading to various and frequent delays. None of this is out of the ordinary; the system was almost entirely built 40 years ago and while regular maintenance was done, it was not done to a sufficient extent and some things can only be repaired so many times, so ''a lot'' of the network is currently at or near the end of its useful life. In an attempt to remedy this, Metro has announced a complete overhaul of the system, which began on June 4, 2016. They are dubbing the effort [[https://wmata.com/rail/safetrack.cfm "SafeTrack"]]. Time will tell if this will improve Metro service.

* The '''Orange Line''' runs in a generally straight line from Vienna, VA in the west to New Carrolton, MD in the east. It runs concurrently with the Blue Line for most of its route in the District from Rosslyn to Armory Stadium, and with the Silver Line from east of West Falls Church to Armory Stadium.