DC Metrorail celebrates its anniversary

[CHamilton]

Malcolm Kenton posts on Facebook that today is the anniversary of the date in 1976 when the first segment of the DC Metro subway opened. I replied:

It was a hit from day one, even though there were only half a dozen stations, and Gallery Place wasn't open yet because its elevators weren't ready. I used it to go from Union Station to Metro Center, as part of my commute on MARC from Baltimore to the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. It was a highlight of 1976, even though it couldn't carry many of the tourists who flocked to DC for the Bicentennial and the King Tut exhibit at the National Gallery.

I know that many of the DC-area residents who post here tend to grouse about the system's problems today, and there were certainly problems at the beginning, too, but boy, it changed transportation in the region significantly.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Great Post Charlie! I too was in WAS in those days, and my Daily Commute on the Old Red Line was Definitely a Big Improvement over the Busses or Trying to Drive into to a City where Parking (Lack of!) made New York City seem like Wyoming! :lol: And it was CLEAN! SAFE! NEW! and UNCROWDED Compared to the Zoo that was NYCs Subways!

(My Biggest Complaint was the Loooooooong/Steep Escelators @ Farraguat that turned into Wind Tunnels in the Winter and made it even Colder than it already was!!! <_< )

 

[The Davy Crockett]

The scary part is that in ways it doesn't seem all that long ago when shortly after Metro opened, my Mom and I rode from the Farragut Square Station to the Rhode Island Ave. Station and back, just to experience riding the system. (Boy am I turning into an old person) Then I start remembering that folks use to NEVER eat or drink on the trains, and how new and clean everything was, and yeah, that seems like ages ago!

Thanks for posting!

 

[afigg]

For those not familiar with it, several years ago David Alpert of the Greater Greater Washington website put together a neat slide show of the start and expansion of the DC Metro system from 1976 to 2010 (Snowpocalypse):

DC Metro evolution slide show.