# Washnington DC Metro



## Steve4031 (Jul 6, 2008)

I was in Washington to see the parade and fireworks for the 4th of July. We stayed at a courtyard that was one block from the Navy Yard stop.

The management who planned for the 4th did a great job. They changed operating patters on the yellow line so that the yellow line trains ran from Franconia Springfield to Ft Totten rather than originating in Huntington. They increased the frequencies on the Orange line between Vienna and the mall area by having orange line trains run on both branches at the east end (new Carrolton and Largo town center). The blue line operated only from Huntington to Rosalyn.

These alterations allowed more people to easily get into DC for the festivities.

Getting to and from the fireworks was a piece of cake. We left the hotel, took a short metro ride from Navy Yard to Gallery place/China town. Had dinner at Legal sea foods which is less than a block from the 7th street exit of that station. AFter dinner we rode to federal center south, which left us only a two block walk to a security entrance on the mall. These trips were made with minimum wait time. It was obvious that metro had ramped up its operations. There were always seats available on these trains.

After the fireworks, the metro provided a clinic as to how to move masses of people efficiently. We made our way back to Federal Center south, and easily entered the paid fare area. The platforms were crowded, but additional staff made sure that people spread out. This worked well. We waited 2 minutes for a train going towards Vienna. I saw an empty train pass going the other way. It was probably going to switch over and come back on the way to Vienna.

We boarded our train and rode to L'Enfant plaza, and easily made our way up to the green line/yellow line platform. A yellow line train entered the mobbed station. and people crowded aboard. That train pulled out, and as the last car cleared the station I could see the green train entering the station. The lights on the edge of the platform never stopped blinking. There were seats available. Signs on the platform indicated that a yellow train was 1 minute behind the green train. We pulled out and two stops later we were back a Navy Yard.

The fireworks ended at 9:30, and we were back in our hotel by 10:05. We did not have to wait for a second train at either station. In fact we got back faster than normal because of the increased service. I was impressed.


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## HP_Lovecraft (Jul 7, 2008)

My experience with the DC subway is its extremely well run, and effecient.

Though, the first time I tried to make a connection at the L'Enfant Plaza was overwhelming- 8 Trains go through that station!! I ended up going to the upper level, then back down to the wrong side. I was totally confused until I realized that the train I was connecting to was using the same track as the train I just got off.

Fortunetly, the big display shows exactly when they will arrive

If I was going to complain, the stations are a bit hard to find topside. They are very well integrated into the city, so I suspect they are that way on purpose.


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## Steve4031 (Jul 9, 2008)

HP_Lovecraft said:


> My experience with the DC subway is its extremely well run, and effecient.
> Though, the first time I tried to make a connection at the L'Enfant Plaza was overwhelming- 8 Trains go through that station!! I ended up going to the upper level, then back down to the wrong side. I was totally confused until I realized that the train I was connecting to was using the same track as the train I just got off.
> 
> Fortunetly, the big display shows exactly when they will arrive
> ...



They are hard to find topside. Also, the metro does not cover the areas near the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials very well. I walked that with my dad, from the Smithsonion station, and we were tired.


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## jackal (Jul 9, 2008)

Steve4031 said:


> HP_Lovecraft said:
> 
> 
> > My experience with the DC subway is its extremely well run, and effecient.
> ...


Good point. It's not far enough and not heavily-trafficked enough to reroute an existing line or create a new tourist-oriented line (it wouldn't generate enough revenue), but maybe a topside free looping shuttlebus that goes around the Mall would be nice...


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## jis (Jul 11, 2008)

Steve4031 said:


> They are hard to find topside. Also, the metro does not cover the areas near the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials very well. I walked that with my dad, from the Smithsonion station, and we were tired.


For Lincoln Memorial you are much better off going to the Arlington Cemetery station and walking back across the Arlington Memorial Bridge. It is about a 1km walk that way as opposed to over 2km from Smithsonian. Jefferson Memorial is abit over 1 km from Smithsonian and much much further from Arlington Cemetery.


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## HP_Lovecraft (Jul 12, 2008)

The walk from the Smithsonian to the Lincoln Memorial is not bad though.

Its far, but you also pass the Washington Monument, the new WW2 memorial, both the Korean and Vietnam memorial, the Constitution memorial, and near the White House.

To me, the 2km walk has much more to see then the 1km walk over the bridge, which is just a bridge with fast traffic. Plus, if you are measuring from the Tomb of the Unknown to the Memorial, its probobly well over 2km as well. That cemetary is a pretty huge place!

There is a fairly cheap, city-sponsored shuttle service that circles all the major destinations, though I skipped it, and forced my wife to do lots and lots of walking!

She did, however, appreciate the wonderful trainride from Boston though.


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## jis (Jul 13, 2008)

HP_Lovecraft said:


> The walk from the Smithsonian to the Lincoln Memorial is not bad though.Its far, but you also pass the Washington Monument, the new WW2 memorial, both the Korean and Vietnam memorial, the Constitution memorial, and near the White House.
> 
> To me, the 2km walk has much more to see then the 1km walk over the bridge, which is just a bridge with fast traffic. Plus, if you are measuring from the Tomb of the Unknown to the Memorial, its probobly well over 2km as well. That cemetary is a pretty huge place!


I donlt disagree with you. One of my favorites is to start at the Smithsonian station and from there walk to Jefferson memorial and then to Lincoln Memorial and then across the bridge to Arlington Cemetery picking up the Metro there, and time permitting visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers before getting on the Metro. Long but very satisfying walk.


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