right|thumb|upright=1.1|Washington Metro system map
The Red Line is a rapid transit line of the Washington Metro system, consisting of 27 stations in Montgomery County, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is a primary line through downtown Washington and the oldest and busiest line in the system. It forms a long, narrow "U," capped by its terminal stations at Shady Grove and Glenmont.
Trains run every 4–5 minutes during weekday rush hours, every 6 minutes during weekday off-peak hours and weekends, and every 10 minutes daily after 9:30pm.
The Red Line is the only line in the system that does not share its tracks with another Metrorail line. However, it operates parallel to CSX Transportation freight trains along the railroad's Metropolitan Subdivision from the D.C. neighborhood of Brentwood north past Silver Spring, Maryland, and from Twinbrook to its terminus at Shady Grove.
History
Planning and construction
Planning for Metro began with the Mass Transportation Survey in 1955, which attempted to forecast freeway and mass transit systems sufficient to meet the needs of 1980. In 1959, the study's final report recommended two rapid transit lines which anticipated subways in downtown Washington. Because the plan called for extensive freeway construction within the District of Columbia, alarmed residents lobbied for federal legislation creating a moratorium on freeway construction through July 1, 1962. The National Capital Transportation Agency's 1962 report, Transportation in the National Capital Region, anticipated much of the present Red Line route, with the Red Line following the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) right-of-way between Silver Spring and Rockville instead of a direct route between Bethesda and Rockville.
With the formation of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) in October 1966, planning of the system shifted from federal hands to a regional body with representatives of the District, Maryland, and Virginia. Congressional route approval was no longer a key consideration. Instead, routes had to serve each suburban jurisdiction to assure that they would approve bond referendums to finance the system. Because the least expensive way to build into the suburbs was to use existing railroad right-of-ways, the Red Line took much of its present form, except that it continued to feature a further link between its two stems along the B&O right-of-way. An early proposal from 1967 was more extensive then what was ultimately approved, with the Red Line's western terminus being in Germantown instead of Shady Grove.
By 1969, WMATA had decided on the current routing and stations, except for the extension beyond Rockville to Shady Grove. Montgomery County officials opposed ending the Red Line in downtown Rockville, saying it would cause congestion in the area and use scarce vacant land for a storage yard. Metro proposed extending the Red Line with one more station at Shady Grove. The U.S. Department of Transportation conditionally approved funding for the extension on July 26, 1975. Construction proved difficult because the National Park Service (NPS) prohibited the construction of a bridge across Rock Creek. NPS required WMATA to build a Red Line tunnel under the creek valley. The tunnel, in turn, caused both the Dupont Circle and Woodley Park stations to be built further underground. WMATA proposed tunneling under Yuma Street from Connecticut Avenue to Wisconsin Avenue, but local residents sued. The litigation delayed construction of the tunnel for two years, and WMATA finally won the right to build the tunnel as proposed.
Operation and extension
Service on the Red Line (and the Metro as a whole) began on March 27, 1976, with operation between Farragut North and Rhode Island Avenue. Gallery Place's opening was delayed due to a court order regarding lack of accessibility for all, but it opened in the middle of the line on December 15, 1976.
The NoMa–Gallaudet University station (formerly New York Ave–Florida Ave–Gallaudet University), located between Union Station and Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood, opened on November 20, 2004. It was the system's first infill station (i.e., a new station built between existing stations).
In November 2010, the WMATA authorized $37 million in capital improvements on the Red Line, a part of $212 million of work on the Red Line scheduled for 2010 to 2014.
In April 2012, a 1,200-car parking garage opened at the Glenmont station, joining the existing 1,700-car garage. Construction on the project, funded by the state of Maryland, began in December 2009.
From March 26, 2020, until June 28, 2020, trains were bypassing , , and stations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All stations were reopened beginning on June 28, 2020.
From September 11, 2021, to January 16, 2022, the Rockville and Shady Grove Metro stations were closed due to the Rockville Canopy Replacement Project. On February 25, 2022, WMATA opened a new entrance on the east side of Rockville Pike and a new elevator and staircase to the platforms at the Medical Center station, eliminating the need for thousands of daily riders who emerge from the station on the west side of the Pike to cross the busy six-lane road to reach the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. In September 2009, Montgomery County applied for a $20 million federal grant, seeking to begin construction in 2011, but the project was not approved until 2013. Construction began in December 2017. The $68 million project, mostly funded by the Department of Defense, also includes new deep elevators, better surface bicycle, and pedestrian facilities, a pedestrian tunnel under Rockville Pike, and an extension of the left-turn lane on southbound MD 355 that opened in late 2021.
On June 1, 2024, stations north of Fort Totten were closed due to repairs and the construction of the new mezzanine at Silver Spring station that will connect to the Purple Line. Takoma was reopened on June 28, while the others reopened on September 1. Automatic train operation, which had ceased systemwide following the 2009 train collision, was allowed to resume on the Red Line in December 2024. In the months that followed, the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission prevented the implementation of ATO on other lines because a small number of automated Red Line trains reportedly overshot the station platforms.
On April 23, 2026, Metro's Board of Directors unanimously approved a $913 million "Red Line Modernization Plan". The plan called for full Red Line automation without human operators, the installation of platform screen doors at 20 of the 27 Red Line stations, and a new signaling system for the line. While similar upgrades were considered for other lines, Metro General Manager Randy Clarke stated that the Red Line was chosen first because of the age of its signaling equipment and its lack of interlining. Metro tentatively projected that the plan may be complete by 2032 or 2033.
Incidents and accidents
2004 Woodley Park accident
thumb|alt=A badly damaged subway car sticks up at an angle where it had partially ridden over another car in an underground station.|Accident at the [[Woodley Park (WMATA station)|Woodley Park station on November 3, 2004]]
On November 3, 2004, an out-of-service Red Line train rolled backward into the Woodley Park station and hit an in-service train stopped at the platform. Twenty people were injured. A 14-month investigation concluded that the train operator was most likely not alert. Safety officials estimated that at least 79 would have died had the train been full. The train operator was fired and Metro officials agreed to add rollback protection to more than 300 rail cars.
2009 train collision
thumb|June 2009 Metro collision scene
On June 22, 2009, at 5:03 p.m., a six-car train collided with and telescoped onto a stationary train between the Takoma and Fort Totten Metro stations. Eight passengers and a train operator were killed in the collision and at least 70 people were injured. It is the deadliest accident in the history of the Washington Metro. The National Transportation Safety Board's report of July 27, 2010, blamed the crash on a faulty track circuit, part of the automatic train control system. WMATA issued a list of planned changes.
Chronology
Dates on which portions of the Red Line opened for service.
From Gallery Place through Judiciary Square, the line runs southeast, turning east again at D Street to reach Union Station. There it turns north and surfaces next to Union Station's platforms, follows the Washington Terminal yard tracks north to Brentwood where the line turns northwestward and again joins CSX Transportation's Metropolitan Subdivision tracks, running in a unique gauntlet track arrangement, with the freight railroad tracks straddling the Metro tracks. The Red Line continues in this manner northwest across the DC-Maryland line, through Takoma and past Silver Spring. It reenters a tunnel at 16th Street and heads north under Georgia Avenue to the end at Glenmont.
Internally, WMATA calls the Red Line the Shady Grove Route (A) and the Glenmont Route (B), which meet at Metro Center.
The Red Line is one of two lines that do not enter Virginia, the other being the Green Line.
Stations
The line serves the following stations, from northwest to northeast:
{| class=wikitable
! Station
! Code
!Location
! Opened
|-
| || A03 || January 17, 1977 || frameless|100x100px || N/A
|Metrobus: C91, D74, D90, D94, D96|| N/A
|-
| || A02 || rowspan="2" | March 27, 1976 || frameless|100x100px || N/A
|Metrobus: A58, D10, D20, D70, D72, D80, D94, F19|| Out-of-station interchange at
|-
| || A01 || frameless|100x100px||
|Metrobus: A29, A49, D10, D20, D24, D30, D32, D34, D36, D44, D5X, D60, D6X, D94||N/A
|-
| || B01 || December 15, 1976 || frameless|100x100px||
|Metrobus: D20, D24, D2X, D30, D34, D40, D4X, D80, D94||N/A
|-
| || B02 || rowspan="2" | March 27, 1976 || frameless|100x100px || N/A
|Metrobus: D20, D24, D30|| N/A
|-
| || B03 || frameless|100x100px
|
- : , , , , , , , ,
- MARC: , ,
- VRE: ,
|Metrobus: C43, C51, C55, C71, D20, D24, D2X, D30, D80|| N/A
|-
| || B35 || November 20, 2004 || frameless|100x100px||N/A
|Metrobus: C53, C57||Infill station, built in 2004. The first infill station on the Metrorail network.
|-
| || B04 || March 27, 1976 || frameless|100x100px||N/A
|Metrobus: D32, D36, D74, P10, P1X, P40||N/A
|-
| || B05 || rowspan="4" | February 6, 1978 || frameless|100x100px || N/A
|Metrobus: C61, C63, D30, D34, D74, P33|| N/A
|-
| || B06 || frameless|100x100px||
|Metrobus: C71, C77, C81, D30, D44, M60, M6X, P16, P16, P32, P35||N/A
|-
| || B07 || frameless|100x100px || N/A
|
- Metrobus: C75, C77, D50, D5X, P42
- Ride On: 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 24, 25
| N/A
|-
| || B08
| rowspan="4" |Montgomery County, MD|| frameless|100x100px
|
- MTA: Purple Line (planned)
- MARC:
|
- Metrobus: C87, D40, D4X, D60, D6X, M20, M52, M54, M70, P30
- Ride On: 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 28, FLASH Blue, FLASH Orange
| N/A
|-
| || B09 || rowspan="2" | September 22, 1990 || frameless|100x100px ||N/A
|
- Metrobus: M20
- Ride On: 7, 8
|| Deepest station in the Metrorail network. The only station without escalators.
|-
| || B10 || frameless|100x100px ||N/A
|
- Metrobus: M12, M20, M22
- Ride On: 4, 7, 8, 9, 31, 34, 37, 38, 40, 41, 48
| This station has the longest escalators in the western hemisphere.
|-
| || B11 || July 25, 1998 || frameless|100x100px ||N/A
|
- Metrobus: M20, M22, M42, M44
- Ride On: 26, 31, 33, 39, 41, 49, 51, 53
| Northeastern terminus
|}
Additions, renovations and repairs
In May 2026 WMATA announced that the Bethesda, Medical Center and Grosvenor–Strathmore stations will be closed July 6 to September 6, 2026, to allow for completion of a new mezzanine in Bethesda, which will connect to the future Purple Line light rail station; and for completion of other Red Line construction projects.
Proposed improvements
In 2011, the WMATA examined the possibility of extending the Red Line past the Shady Grove station to the Metropolitan Grove station by 2040.
In 2021, an infill station between Takoma and Silver Spring called North Takoma station that used to be part of the Metropolitan Subdivision was proposed.
References
Further reading
External links
- Red Line at world.nycsubway.org