Here’s some background about Washington, DC’s subway system, generally called the “Metro.” The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority operates Metrorail, the second busiest rail system in the United States, and also oversees the country’s sixth largest bus system.
Facts:
There are currently 91 Metro stations.
The rail and bus system serves a population of five million passengers.
The routes include trips from DC to Maryland (Montgomery and Prince George’s counties) and Virginia (Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties, and the towns of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church).
Ridership on the rail system in 2013 totaled approximately 209,000,000 trips; for the bus system, the total was approximately 136,000,000 trips.
The Metrorail includes six train lines and covers 118 miles.
Metrobus has 11,269 bus stops, and 328 routes on 187 lines.
Timeline:
February 20, 1967 – The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is created.
December 9, 1969 – Construction on the Metrorail begins.
1973 – Four bus systems are acquired.
March 27, 1976 – The first portion of the Metrorail system opens to the public.
January 13, 1982 – Subway train derails during afternoon rush hour near the Federal Triangle on the Orange line, three dead, 25 injured.
January 13, 2001 – The final portion of Metrorail is completed.
2004 – Three new subway stations open, two on the Blue line, one on the Red line.
June 22, 2009 – Two subway cars collide on the Red Line in DC during afternoon rush hour, seven dead, more than 70 injured.
July 26, 2014 – The Silver Line officially opens, adding an additional 11.7-miles to DC’s Metro.
January 12, 2015 – One person is killed and more than 80 others are hospitalized after a train station at L’Enfant Plaza fills with smoke. The smoke condition was caused by an “electrical arcing accident” on the third rail, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The incident prompts the Federal Transit Administration to begin work on a report identifying Metrorail safety issues.
June 17, 2015 – The FTA releases its report, which identifies numerous hazards throughout the Metrorail system. The problems include an understaffed control center, employees using personal cellphones while on duty and a poor radio communications network.