Metro Center (Washington Metro)

Infobox Station
name = Metro Center

logo_size = 50px

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image_size =
image_caption =
address = 607 13th Street, Northwest
Washington, D.C. 20005
line =
other =
platform = 2 side platforms (upper level)
1 island platform (lower level)
tracks = 2 upper level, 2 lower level
parking =
bicycle = 8 racks
passengers = 10.790 million
pass_year = 2006
pass_percent = 2
opened = March 27, 1976
rebuilt =
ADA = Yes
code = A01 (upper level)
C01 (lower level)
owned = Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
zone =
services =
mpassengers =

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

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.cite web |title=Request for Expressions of Interest for Operation of Retail Services in Metrorail Stations |publisher=WMATA |date=February 16, 2007 |url=http://www.wmata.com/bus2bus/reoi/reoi.pdf]

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.

Improvements

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. Plans have long been in the works to add a pedestrian tunnel to connect Gallery Place–Chinatown with Metro Center. The most recent major development was the completion of a "Gallery Place/Chinatown - Metro Center Pedestrian Passageway Tunnel Study" in July 2005. [cite web |publisher=WMATA Office of Planning and Project Development |author=Parsons; KPG Design Studio; Basile Baumann Prost & Associates |date=2005-07 |title=Gallery Place/Chinatown - Metro Center Pedestrian Passageway Tunnel Study |url=http://www.wmata.com/about/expansion/Station%20Access/Gallery_Metro_Center_Final%20R_6.pdf |accessdate=2008-02-14]

Notable places nearby

* Ford's Theater
* Inter-American Development Bank
* National Museum of Women in the Arts
* National Press Club Building
* Warner Theatre
* Macy's

Bus routes

Metrobus
* 11Y
* 42
* 52, 53, 54
* 66, 68
* 80
* D1, D3, D6
* G8
* P17, P19
* P6
* S2, S4
* W13
* X2

References

External links

* WMATA: [http://www.wmata.com/metrorail/Stations/station.cfm?station=1 Metro Center Station]
* StationMasters Online: [http://www.stationmasters.com/System_Map/METROCEN/metrocen.html Metro Center Station]
* The Schumin Web Transit Center: [http://transit.schuminweb.com/rail/washington/red-line.asp?station=A01 Metro Center Station (Upper Level)]
* The Schumin Web Transit Center: [http://transit.schuminweb.com/rail/washington/blue-line.asp?station=C01 Metro Center Station (Lower Level)]