Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority

Todd DeFeo/Railfanning.org

A Metro subway train pulls into the Arlington Cemetery rail station on Memorial Day 2003. The transit system serves Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Railfanning.org

WASHINGTON – The Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) was created by an interstate compact in 1967 to plan, develop, build, finance and operate a balanced regional transportation system in the national capital area.

The Authority began building its rail system in 1969, acquired four regional bus systems in 1973, and began operating the first phase of Metrorail in 1976.

Metro service operates on a single line from Owings Mills to Johns Hopkins Hospital. Metro opened for service in November 1983, serving nine stations from Charles Center to Reisterstown Plaza. It extended to Owings Mills, adding three stations in July 1987. The extension from Charles Center to Johns Hopkins Hospital opened in May 1995. The line is now 15.5 miles long and serves 14 stations.

Today, Metrorail serves 83 stations and has 103 miles of track. A fleet of 762 rail cars provides service throughout the capital area. Metro cars must be connected in pairs to function, and pairs are then coupled to form trains. The cars have standard railroad “trucks” and are powered by a collector shoe, which draws power from the “third” rail.

Future expansion includes the construction of three new stations.

Construction of the New York Avenue Station along the Red Line between Rhode Island Avenue and Union Station represents the first-ever new rail station beyond the original 103-mile system and is referred to as an “in-fill” station, a station located between two existing and operating Metrorail stations.

Metro broke ground for the New York Avenue Station on Dec. 16, 2000, and projects that the station will open in late 2004. The project – at a construction cost of about $84 million – is funded through a unique partnership that includes the District of Columbia ($34 million), the federal government ($25 million), and a special assessment district of area private land owners ($25 million).

Two new stations along the Prince George’s County, Md., end of the Blue Line which would extend out from the Addison Road-Seat Pleasant Station are also in process. Metro broke ground for the Largo segment on the Blue Line on May 8, 2001, the first segment extension beyond the current rail system. The 3.1 mile, two-station, $434 million extension of the Blue Line to Largo Town Center with an intermediate station will bring the number of rail miles to 106.1. It marks the first of four segments of the Metrorail system in Prince George’s County, Md., extending beyond the Capital Beltway. The Largo and the intermediate station are expected to open in December 2004.

The intermediate station, to be located at Summerfield Boulevard, is less than a mile away to the south from FedEx Field and will have the capacity to provide 500 all-day parking spaces. The Largo Town Center Station will be located outside the Capital Beltway along the south parking area of the US Airways Arena and will have a parking garage with the capacity for 2,200 spaces.

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) and WMATA are studying ways to implement public transportation improvements in the Dulles Corridor in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties. The 23.5-mile transit system would serve as a link between WMATA’s existing 103-mile Metrorail system and provide service through Tysons Corner to Washington Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) would serve the Dulles corridor first.

Metroaccess, WMATA’s paratransit service, began in 1994. Sunday Metro service began on September 2, 2001.

Revenue from passenger fares and other sources cover 55 percent of transit operating costs, with the remainder coming from local governments. Periodic fare increases are needed to offset higher costs for labor, electricity, and fuel, with the most recent increases in 1995. At that time, Metro then pledged to keep fares from increasing for at least five years.

Even more, today’s fares, accounting for inflation, are lower than the fares charged in 1976, when the system opened.