The Washington Metro (commonly called Metro and branded Metrorail) is a rapid transit system serving Washington, D.C. and neighboring communities in Maryland and Virginia, both inside and outside the Capital Beltway.
Like most rapid transit systems in the United States, ridership has not recovered from COVID-19 era collapses, falling from an average weekday ridership of 764,300 in the first quarter of 2015 to 519,700 in the fourth quarter of 2024. Nevertheless, the Washington Metro remains the second-busiest rapid transit system in the United States behind the New York City Subway. , the system has 98 active stations on six lines with of tracks.
The Washington Metro system was conceived as an alternative to constructing a large freeway system throughout the Washington, D.C. area. It was partially financed with funds originally dedicated to highway construction. Construction began in 1969, and in 1976 the first section of the Metro system opened along the Red Line between the and stations in Washington, D.C. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, more stations were opened in the city and the suburban communities of Arlington County, the City of Alexandria, and Fairfax County in Virginia as well as Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland. By 1991, five rail lines were open: the Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Blue Lines. The system, as originally planned, was completed in 2001 with the extension of the Green Line to . In 2004, three stations were opened: an extension of the Blue Line to the and stations and the first infill station, . The Silver Line opened in two phases, adding five stations in 2014 and six in 2022. On the Yellow and Blue Lines, an additional infill station at opened on May 19, 2023.
Nine Metrorail stations are officially designated transfer stations, although other intermediate stations also allow passengers to transfer between lines. Four of these stations have separate, perpendicular upper and lower levels, which opened at different times. Two other transfer stations, and , have parallel stacked platforms. Ten stations are termini (stations at the end of lines); several other non-terminus stations are used to short turn trains in regular service.
The busiest station in the system in 2023 was Metro Center, with more than 3.9 million passenger entries over the course of the year. Rosslyn was the busiest station in Virginia, while Silver Spring was the busiest in Maryland. The system's 10 busiest stations are all located in Washington.
Lines
There are six Washington Metro lines, each named for a different color. All lines except the Red Line share tracks.
Line Stations Termini 27 22 , 21 26 34 , 28
Stations
* Official transfer stations Terminals*† Transfer station and terminal
StationLinesConnectionsJurisdictionAvg. Weekday DailyRail Entries (2025)Opened Prince George's County, Maryland1,667District of Columbia4,429 District of Columbia4,891Arlington County, Virginia948Loudoun County, Virginia1,443 Arlington County, Virginia5,975 District of Columbia2,092 Purple Line (under construction)Montgomery County, Maryland5,072 A1X BRTAlexandria, Virginia2,398Prince George's County, Maryland2,772District of Columbia4,495 Prince George's County, Maryland1,484 District of Columbia5,246 Prince George's County, Maryland599 Arlington County, Virginia2,941District of Columbia2,443 MARC: Purple Line (under construction)Prince George's County, Maryland2,187 District of Columbia8,403District of Columbia1,948 Arlington County, Virginia3,842 VRE: (at ) A1X BRTArlington County, Virginia5,380 District of Columbia1,172 Prince George's County, Maryland2,480Fairfax County, Virginia1,755District of Columbia10,424* Arlington County, Virginia2,619 District of Columbia3,859Alexandria, Virginia1,386District of Columbia11,111 District of Columbia10,137 District of Columbia2,669 District of Columbia4,325 District of Columbia13,724Montgomery County, Maryland1,193* (upper level)rowspan=2 District of Columbia7,186* (lower level) * VRE: Fairfax County, Virginia3,320District of Columbia4,044* (upper level)rowspan=2 District of Columbia13,006* (lower level) District of Columbia4,641Montgomery County, Maryland3,020* MARC: Prince George's County, Maryland3,191Fairfax County, Virginia1,009Montgomery County, Maryland2,515Fairfax County, Virginia959Fairfax County, Virginia3,618 Prince George's County, Maryland3,092Fairfax County, Virginia871District of Columbia3,999* VRE: (at Alexandria Union Station)Alexandria, Virginia4,006* (upper level) VRE: (at L'Enfant)District of Columbia11,023* (lower level) Prince George's County, Maryland1,069Loudoun County, Virginia325Fairfax County, Virginia1,968 District of Columbia7,434Montgomery County, Maryland3,132* (upper level)rowspan=2 District of Columbia14,051* (lower level) District of Columbia1,859 Prince George's County, Maryland1,094* District of Columbia3,717District of Columbia8,750Prince George's County, Maryland1,411* Amtrak: , , MARC: Purple Line (under construction)Prince George's County, Maryland3,491District of Columbia10,155Montgomery County, Maryland2,136* Arlington County, Virginia8,073 A1X BRTArlington County, Virginia7,769 District of Columbia2,647 A1X BRTAlexandria, Virginia1,342Fairfax County, Virginia928District of Columbia4,648 Amtrak: MARC: Montgomery County, Maryland2,466Ronald Reagan WashingtonNational Airport Reagan National AirportArlington County, Virginia5,622* Arlington County, Virginia7,663Montgomery County, Maryland6,043 District of Columbia3,638 MARC: Flash BRT: Blue, Orange Purple Line (under construction)Montgomery County, Maryland5,843 District of Columbia5,522Prince George's County, Maryland2,989Fairfax County, Virginia712* District of Columbia2,036Prince George's County, Maryland2,730District of Columbia3,673District of Columbia4,125Montgomery County, Maryland2,439Fairfax County, Virginia2,192 District of Columbia4,900 MARC: VRE: (at Union Station)District of Columbia14,831Alexandria, Virginia1,474District of Columbia3,364Fairfax County, Virginia3,859 Arlington County, Virginia2,260 Dulles International AirportLoudoun County, Virginia2,189District of Columbia3,710Fairfax County, Virginia1,340 Prince George's County, Maryland2,497Montgomery County, Maryland1,986Fairfax County, Virginia1,714District of Columbia3,904
Notes Stations noted in this list twice with upper and lower levels are considered by WMATA as a single station. The levels are noted separately here because they opened on different dates.
References