Washington DC's Metro Network Evolution

Full timeline of station openings, courtesy of Rodney Chan: bit.ly/WashingtonDCMetro CORRECTION: Grosvenor station was renamed to Grosvenor-Strathmore in March 2000, not 2005 as stated in the video.

Ah, the DC Metro. Seemingly both ahead of its time, and behind its time, all at the same time.

The blue and orange line in the early 80s must have been the most confusing thing ever.

They really had no idea how a line was supposed to work in the 80s lol

Washington Metro: Keeping sign makers gainfully employed since 1976.

Having grown up in the Washington DC, i really enjoyed seeing this all summarized. Thank you.

That's a very complex metro system for a city as small as Washington. I like how it also goes into Maryland and Virginia's suburbs.

The extension of the silver line to Ashburn is now complete and fully open. A few more renames have happened such as Largo Town Center to Downtown Largo, and White Flint to North Bethesda. A new Infill station is nearing completion at Potomac Yard on the Blue and Yellow south of National Airport.

50% of the video: Station renamings

This one of the reasons why I miss my hometown of Washington, DC

I was born in ‘89. Born and raised in Northern Virginia and this is so interesting to watch. I had no idea how far metro has come since 1976.

I am in New York, but the Washington Metrorail is my favorite attraction. I have been waiting to see your video about the Washington Metrorail. Thank you for this one.

I grew up in PG County, MD (DC Metro) and moved to Baltimore in my 30s. Access to a widespread and reliable public transit is one of the single most important factors in decreasing poverty and income inequality. Baltimore used to be a much bigger city in terms of its population than DC. But the cities have switched positions and unfortunately Baltimore continues to decline in population. Makes me wonder if this could have been avoided had Bmore built a transit system like that of WMATA.

I was lucky enough to ride part of the line before moving away in 1977. 10 years later I would return to visit my sister and in 2009 became a regular rider. I was on the first silver line train out of DC the day it opened and look forward to riding the new segment next year.

When I was a kid, we would ride the orange line from New Carrolton, and transfer to the blue line to go to Crystal City, to play video games in the underground arcade. Back then, round trips on the metro were $1 flat rate, no matter where you went. So- $1 for the metro ride, $1.50 for slice of pizza and a coke, with $2.50 left for the arcade.

I know that the Purple Line is being branded under the WMATA color scheme, but I believe the service is actually being designed, built and will be operated by the Maryland Transit Administration. This was originally planned in 2009, but a lot of legal hurdles delayed the project into the 2020s. They're just now resuming construction after the original contractor quit in 2020.

Yessss!!! 🛎 🛎 Doors opening! Step back to allow customers to exit. When boarding, please move to the center of the car!!

It's always amazed me that only one line serves Union Station, the 3rd busiest train station in the country!

I rode on the network during my visit to DC in 2010, even heading to Arlington for a couple hours to see the town and visit the military cemetery. I remember being confused by the paper-card fare system initially, but got the hang of it after a few rides. The jingle that played after each stop was announced was also notable. My first exposure to this system, however, was through playing Fallout 3, part of which took place in a post-apocalyptic DC. Dupont Circle and a couple other stations along the red line were even playable locations. Dupont Circle was also one of the first stations that helped get me around the city.

Keep in mind the Purple Line isn’t part of Wmata, plus the street card is also expected to expand sometime in 2024 which is also not part of Wmata. I’ll be in my 40s by the time anything has expanded sadly.