Washington, D.C. Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==== Rail ==== {{See also|List of railroads in Washington, D.C.}} [[File:Farragut West DC Metro td (2018-04-29) 052.jpg|thumb|[[Washington Metro]], the [[List of United States rapid transit systems by ridership|second-busiest]] rapid rail system in the U.S. based on average weekday ridership after the [[New York City Subway]]]] The [[Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority]] (WMATA) operates the [[Washington Metro]], the city's [[rapid transit]] rail system. The system serves Washington, D.C. and its [[Maryland]] and [[Northern Virginia]] suburbs. Metro opened on March 27, 1976, and consists of six lines (each one color coded), [[List of Washington Metro stations|98 stations]], and {{convert|129|mi}} of track.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=5749 |title=Metro launches Silver Line, largest expansion of region's rail system in more than two decades |date=July 25, 2014 |access-date= August 4, 2014 |publisher=Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140801205217/http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=5749 |archive-date= August 1, 2014 }}</ref> Metro is the [[List of United States rapid transit systems by ridership|second-busiest rapid transit system]] in the country and [[List of North American rapid transit systems by ridership|fifth-busiest in North America]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ggwash.org/view/90163/soaring-ridership-leads-transit-recovery-in-us|title=With soaring Metro, DC Streetcar, and VRE ridership, Washington region leads transit recovery in US |date=July 6, 2023 |access-date=July 6, 2023 |publisher=Greater Greater Washington }}</ref> It operates mostly as a deep-level [[passenger rail terminology#Subway|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 railway|elevated]]. Metro is known for its iconic [[Brutalism|brutalist-style]] vaulted ceilings in the interior stations. It is also known for having long escalators in some of its underground stations. The longest single-tier escalator in the Western Hemisphere, spanning {{convert|230|ft}}, is located at Metro's [[Wheaton station (Washington Metro)|Wheaton station]] in Maryland.<ref name="facts 2017">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wmata.com/about/upload/2019-Metro-Snapshot-Fact-Sheet.pdf|title=Metro Facts 2018|website=WMATA|access-date=November 14, 2019|archive-date=July 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711072813/https://www.wmata.com/about/upload/2019-Metro-Snapshot-Fact-Sheet.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Union Station (Washington, D.C.)|Union Station]] is the city's main train station and serves approximately 70,000 people each day. It is [[Amtrak]]'s second-busiest station with 4.6 million passengers annually and is the southern terminus for the [[Northeast Corridor]], which carries long-distance and regional services to [[Pennsylvania Station (New York City)|New York Penn Station]] and points in New England. As of 2023, Union Station is the [[List of busiest railway stations in North America|ninth-busiest rail station]] in the nation and tenth-busiest in [[North America]]. Maryland's [[MARC Train|MARC]] and Virginia's [[Virginia Railway Express|VRE]] commuter trains and the Metrorail [[Red Line (Washington Metro)|Red Line]] also provide service into Union Station.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/factsheets/DC10.pdf |title=District of Columbia Amtrak Fact Sheet FY 2010 |access-date=July 19, 2011 |date=November 2010 |publisher=Amtrak |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119183510/http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/factsheets/DC10.pdf |archive-date=January 19, 2012}}</ref> Following renovations in 2011, Union Station became Washington's primary [[intercity bus]] transit center.<ref>{{cite web |title=Union Station gets new bus depot |url=http://www.wjla.com/articles/2011/11/union-station-gets-new-bus-depot-69175.html |publisher=WJLA-TV |access-date=June 19, 2012 |date=November 15, 2011 |archive-date=October 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030065252/http://www.wjla.com/articles/2011/11/union-station-gets-new-bus-depot-69175.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Although Washington, D.C. was known throughout the 19th and early- to mid-20th centuries for [[Streetcars in Washington, D.C.|its streetcars]], these lines were dismantled in the 1960s. In 2016, however, the city brought back a streetcar line, [[DC Streetcar]], which is a single line system in Northeast Washington, D.C., along [[H Street (Washington, D.C.)|H Street]] and [[Benning Road]], known as the [[H Street/Benning Road Line]].<ref name="WAPO">{{cite news |first=Michael|last=Laris |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/dc-streetcar-makes-its-first-voyages-on-h-street-is-it-really-happening/2016/02/27/bd0c3234-dd5b-11e5-891a-4ed04f4213e8_story.html |title=D.C. streetcar makes its first voyages on H Street. 'Is it really happening?' |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=February 27, 2016 |access-date=September 17, 2022}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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