Branch Avenue is an

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station in

Suitland, Maryland Suitland is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, approximately one mile (1.6 km) southeast of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 census, its population was 25,839. Prio ...

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. The station was opened on January 13, 2001, and is operated by the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Con ...

(WMATA). The station presently serves as the southeastern terminus for the Green Line, with the Branch Avenue rail yard lying just beyond this station. The station is located near the intersection of Auth Road and Old Soper Road. The station has received a lot of criticism for its confusing layout, difficult to find parking and overall poor design. The station is also known for its expensive parking, often discouraging riders from using the station. This is also the station closest to

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History

Plans for a station as the southeastern terminus of the Green Line initially appeared in the original 1968 route map. However, by 1978 the Prince George's County Council, after initially supporting the Branch Avenue alignment, changed their support to moving the terminus to a location adjacent to the

Rosecroft Raceway Rosecroft Raceway, nicknamed the "Raceway by the Beltway" for being close to Interstate 495, is a harness racing track in Fort Washington, Maryland. It first opened in 1949 and was owned by William E. Miller, a horse trainer and breeder. Rosec ...

. Metro followed suit and pursued the Rosecroft alignment instead of Branch Avenue in 1980. By May a group of citizens filed suit against Metro stating that the route was improperly changed and failed to conform to the plan adopted by county voters in 1968. In February 1981, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in stating the routing to Rosecroft could not be undertaken until it went through public review. After further appeal, in March 1982 the judge ruled that none of the proposed Green Line along the Rosecroft alignment could start construction until it went through the entire planning process again. After deciding to not file an appeal, in December 1984 Metro voted to change the southeastern terminus back to Branch Avenue thus allowing for construction to commence on the Green Line towards Prince George's County. Groundbreaking for the final segment of the Green Line occurred on September 23, 1995. The station opened on January 13, 2001. Its opening coincided with the completion of approximately of rail southeast of the

Anacostia station Anacostia is a Washington Metro station in Washington, D.C. on the Green Line. The station is located in the Anacostia neighborhood of Southeast Washington, with entrances at Shannon Place and Howard Road near Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue ...

and the opening of the

Congress Heights Congress Heights is a residential neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C., in the United States. The irregularly shaped neighborhood is bounded by the St. Elizabeths Hospital campus, Lebaum Street SE, 4th Street SE, and Newcomb Street SE on ...

, Naylor Road, Southern Avenue and Suitland stations. This represented the completion of the system as originally planned.

Station layout

Branch Avenue station has an

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

in an

open cut Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

between Auth Way and Capital Gateway Drive. Parking lots are located both east and west of the station platform. Constructed adjacent to the station is a rail yard with the capacity to store 116 cars.

References

External links

* * The Schumin Web Transit Center
Branch Ave Station

Station from Auth Way from Google Maps Street View
{{Washington Metro stations navbox Stations on the Green Line (Washington Metro) Washington Metro stations in Maryland Railway stations in the United States opened in 2001 2001 establishments in Maryland Railway stations in Prince George's County, Maryland