L'Enfant Plaza station ( ) is an intermodal transit station complex located at L'Enfant Plaza in the Southwest Federal Center neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It consists of an underground Washington Metro rapid transit station and an elevated Virginia Railway Express commuter rail station.

The Metro station, which opened on July 1, 1977, is one of four major interchange stations on the Metro system. It is the only station to serve five of the six Metro lines: the Green and Yellow lines with two side platforms on the upper level, and the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines with one island platform on the lower level. It was the seventh-busiest Metro stop in 2023, with an average of 7,506 daily passenger entries.

The VRE station, which has a single side platform serving the northernmost of the three tracks of the RF&P Subdivision, is served by the Manassas Line and Fredericksburg Line.

Station layout

thumb|left|The 7th Street [[Head house#Railroads|head house of the Metro station visually echoes the arched roof of the underground station]]

The station complex is located in the Southwest Federal Center area of Southwest, Washington, DC, centered around the intersection of 7th Street SW and D Street SW. The Metro station has three levels: a fare mezzanine, the Yellow/Green Line upper level with two side platforms, and the Orange/Blue/Silver Line lower level with one island platform. The north-south upper level stretches from C Street to E Street; the east-west lower level stretches from 9th Street to 6th Street. Metro entrances are located at the L'Enfant Plaza shopping mall concourse at 9th and D Streets, on D Street between 6th and 7th Streets, and at Maryland Avenue and 7th Street. Additional head houses may be eventually added.

History

Metro station

thumb|left|Armed National Guardsmen stand outside L'Enfant Plaza station during the [[Declaring a Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia|2025 deployment of federal forces to D.C.]]

The lower level of the Metro station opened on July 1, 1977, as part of the opening of of the Blue Line between and . Orange Line service began on November 20, 1978 when the extension to opened.

L'Enfant Plaza was the setting of a 2007 Pulitzer Prize–winning article by Washington Post reporter Gene Weingarten where world-famous classical violinist Joshua Bell performed outside the station at rush hour disguised as a street musician. On January 12, 2015, smoke appeared in the station during the afternoon rush hour, causing one death. A scene from the 2020 film Wonder Woman 1984 was filmed in the station in June 2018.

VRE station

thumb|left|The VRE platform, which opened in 1992

Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad local service used a station at 7th Street until at least the mid-1950s. Virginia Railway Express (VRE) built a new station in the early 1990s. Manassas Line service began on June 22, 1992, followed by Fredericksburg Line service on July 20.

References

  • VRE - Stations
  • Metro entrances on Google Maps Street View: D Street between 6th and 7th, Maryland Avenue and 7th Street, D Street and 9th Street
  • VRE entrances on Google Maps Street View: 6th Street, 7th Street, C Street