The Washington Metro, often abbreviated as the Metro and formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), which also operates the Metrobus service under the Metro name. Opened in 1976, the network now includes six lines, 98 stations, and of route."Track and Structures Rehabilitation Investments", WMATA, accessed August 31, 2025.
The Metro serves Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. In Maryland, the Metro provides service to Montgomery and Prince George's counties; in Virginia, to Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun counties, and to the independent city of Alexandria. The system's most recent expansion, an infill station serving Potomac Yard, opened on May 19, 2023. It operates mostly as a deep-level subway in more densely populated parts of the D.C. metropolitan area (including most of the District itself), while most of the suburban tracks are at surface level or elevated. The longest single-tier escalator in the Western Hemisphere, spanning 230 feet (70 m), is located at Metro's deep-level Wheaton station.
In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of , making it the second-busiest heavy rail rapid transit system in the United States, in number of passenger trips, after the New York City Subway, and the fifth-busiest in North America. In June 2008, Metro set a monthly ridership record with 19,729,641 trips, or 798,456 per weekday. In 2025, Metro also led the nation in ridership growth, with 54 consecutive months of year-on-year growth.Northern Virginia Transit Commission. novatransit.org factsheet 2025 WMATA AR.pdf
Fares vary based on the distance traveled, the time of day, and the type of card used by the passenger. Riders can enter and exit the system by using either contactless payment or a proximity card called SmarTrip.
History
During the 1950s, plans were laid for a massive freeway system in Washington, D.C. Harland Bartholomew, who chaired the National Capital Planning Commission, thought that a rail transit system would never be self-sufficient because of low-density land uses and a general transit ridership decline. The freeway plan subsequently met the fierce opposition, and was altered to include a Capital Beltway system plus rail line radials. The Beltway received a full funding along with an additional one from the Inner Loop Freeway system project that was partially reallocated toward the construction of the Metro system.
In 1960, the federal government created the National Capital Transportation Agency to develop a rapid rail system. In 1966, a bill creating WMATA was passed by the federal government and the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland, with a planning power for the system being transferred to it from the NCTA. An early proposal map from 1967 was more extensive than what was ultimately approved, with the Red Line's western terminus being in Germantown instead of Shady Grove.
WMATA approved plans for a regional system on March 1, 1968. The plan consisted of a core regional system, which included the original five Metro lines, as well as several future extensions, many of which were not constructed. The first experimental Metro station was built above ground in May 1968 for a cost of $69,000. It was and meant to test construction techniques, lighting, and acoustics before full-scale construction efforts.
Construction began after a groundbreaking ceremony on December 9, 1969, when WMATA Chairman Frederick Babson, District Mayor Walter Washington, U.S. Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe, and Maryland Governor Marvin Mandel tossed the first spades of dirt at Judiciary Square.
The first portion of the system opened on March 27, 1976, with available on the Red Line with five stations from to , all in Washington, D.C. All rides were free that day, with the first train departing the Rhode Island Avenue stop with Metro officials and special guests, and the second with members of the general public. Arlington County, Virginia was linked to the system on July 1, 1977; Montgomery County, Maryland, on February 6, 1978; Prince George's County, Maryland, on November 17, 1978; and Fairfax County, Virginia, and Alexandria, Virginia, on December 17, 1983. Metro reached Loudoun County with the opening of the Silver Line expansion on November 15, 2022. Underground stations were built with cathedral-like arches of concrete, highlighted by soft, indirect lighting. The name Metro was suggested by Massimo Vignelli, who designed the signage for the system as well as for the New York City Subway.
The , 83-station system was completed with the opening of the Green Line segment to on January 13, 2001. However, this did not mean the end of the system's growth. A extension of the Blue Line to and Largo opened on December 18, 2004. The first infill station, New York Ave–Florida Ave–Gallaudet University (now ) on the Red Line between and , opened on November 20, 2004. Construction began in March 2009 for an extension to Dulles Airport to be built in two phases. The first phase, five stations connecting East Falls Church to Tysons Corner and Wiehle Avenue in Reston, opened on July 26, 2014. The second phase to Ashburn opened on November 15, 2022, after many delays. The second infill station, on the Blue and Yellow Lines between and , opened on May 19, 2023.
Metro construction required billions of federal dollars, originally provided by Congress under the authority of the National Capital Transportation Act of 1969. The cost was paid with 67% federal money and 33% local money. This act was amended on January 3, 1980, by the National Capital Transportation Amendment of 1979 (also known as the Stark-Harris Act), which authorized additional funding of $1.7 billion to permit the completion of of the system as provided under the terms of a full funding grant agreement executed with WMATA in July 1986, which required 20% to be paid from local funds. On November 15, 1990, the National Capital Transportation Amendments of 1990 authorized an additional $1.3 billion in federal funds for construction of the remaining of the system, completed via the execution of full funding grant agreements, with a 63% federal/37% local matching ratio.
In February 2006, Metro officials chose Randi Miller, a car dealership employee from Woodbridge, Virginia, to record new "doors opening", "doors closing", and "please stand clear of the doors, thank you" announcements after winning an open contest to replace the messages recorded by Sandy Carroll in 1996. The "Doors Closing" contest attracted 1,259 contestants from across the country.
Over the years, a lack of investment in Metro caused it to break down, and there have been several fatal incidents on the Washington Metro due to mismanagement and broken-down infrastructure. By 2016, according to The Washington Post, on-time rates had dropped to 84%, and Metro service was frequently disrupted during rush hours because of a combination of equipment, rolling stock, track, and signal malfunctions. WMATA did not receive dedicated funding from the three jurisdictions it served, Maryland, Virginia, and D.C., until 2018.
Seeking to address negative perceptions of its performance, in 2016, WMATA announced an initiative called "Back2Good," focusing on addressing a wide array of rider concerns, from improving safety to adding Internet access to stations and train tunnels.
In May 2018, Metro announced an extensive renovation of platforms at 20 stations across the system, spanning all lines except the Silver Line. The Blue and Yellow Lines south of were closed from May 25 to September 9, 2019, in what would be the longest line closure in Metro's history. Additional stations would be repaired between 2020 and 2022, but the corresponding lines would not be closed completely. The project would cost $300 to $400 million and would be Metro's first major project since its construction.
In March 2022, Metro announced that beginning on September 10, 2022, it would suspend all service on the Yellow Line for seven to eight months to complete repairs and rebuilding work on its bridge over the Potomac River and its tunnel leading into the station at . Metro stated that this was the first significant work that the tunnel and bridge had undergone since they were first constructed over forty years prior. Service on the Yellow Line resumed on May 7, 2023, but with its northeastern terminus truncated from to . The Potomac Yard station, an infill station on the Blue and Yellow lines, opened on May 19, 2023.
Opening dates The following is a list of opening dates for track segments and infill stations on the Washington Metro. The entries in the "from" and "to" columns correspond to the boundaries of the extension or station that opened on the specified date, not to the lines' terminals. The entries in the "stations" column exclude new platforms creating interchanges with existing stations on other lines.
Date Line at time of openingCurrent lines From To Stations Miles March 27, 1976 Red (service created)Red 5 4.6 December 15, 1976 Red Intermediate station () 1 - January 17, 1977 Farragut North 1 1.1 July 1, 1977 Blue (service created)Blue, parts of Yellow, Orange, and Silver 17 11.8 February 4, 1978 Red Rhode Island Avenue 4 5.7 November 17, 1978 Orange (service created)Orange and Silver Stadium–Armory 5 7.4 December 1, 1979 OrangeOrange and Silver 4 3.0 November 22, 1980 BlueBlue and Silver Stadium–Armory 3 3.6 December 5, 1981 Red Dupont Circle 3 2.1 April 30, 1983 Yellow (service created)Yellow, part of Green Gallery Place 1 3.3 December 17, 1983 YellowYellow, part of Blue National Airport 4 4.2 August 25, 1984 Red Van Ness–UDC 5 6.8 December 15, 1984 Grosvenor–Strathmore 4 7.0 June 7, 1986 Orange Ballston–MU 4 9.0 September 22, 1990 Red 2 3.2 May 11, 1991 YellowYellow and Green Gallery Place 3 1.7 June 15, 1991 Blue 1 3.9 December 28, 1991Green (service created)Green 3 2.9 December 11, 1993 Green (separate segment)Yellow and Green 4 7.0 June 29, 1997 Blue Van Dorn Street 1 3.3 July 25, 1998 Red 1 1.4 September 18, 1999 Green (connecting segments)Yellow and Green U Street Fort Totten 2 2.9 January 13, 2001 Green Anacostia 5 6.5 November 20, 2004 Red Infill station () 1 - December 18, 2004 BlueBlue and Silver Addison Road 2 3.2 July 26, 2014 Silver (service created) Silver 5 11.6 November 15, 2022 Silver Wiehle–Reston East 6 11.4 May 19, 2023 Blue and Yellow Infill station () 1 -
Rush+ and late-night service patterns
On December 31, 2006, an 18-month pilot program began to extend service on the Yellow Line to Fort Totten over existing Green Line trackage. This extension was later made permanent. Starting June 18, 2012, the Yellow Line was extended again along existing track as part of the Rush+ program, with an extension to Greenbelt on the northern end and with several trains diverted to Franconia–Springfield on the southern end. These Rush+ extensions were discontinued on June 25, 2017.