Pentagon Transit Center is a

split platform A split platform is a station that has a platform for each track, split onto two or more levels. This configuration allows a narrower station plan (or footprint) horizontally, at the expense of a deeper (or higher) vertical elevation, because ...

station on the

Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview

located adjacent to

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

in Arlington,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, 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 ...

. Providing service for both the

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

and

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...

Lines, the station is where the two lines diverge and thus acts as a transfer point. Northbound, the Blue Line continues through Virginia and the Yellow Line crosses the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

into

the District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...

. The station opened on July 1, 1977 with the completion of of rail between

National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , sometimes referred to colloquially as National Airport, Washington National, Reagan National Airport, DCA, Reagan, or simply National, is an international airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across ...

and

RFK Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the w ...

Bus service

Pentagon station is also a major bus hub in northern Virginia. The current bus facility opened in 2001 as part of the

Pentagon Renovation Program The Pentagon Renovation Program (PENREN) was a long-term project by the United States Department of Defense to perform a complete slab-to-slab renovation of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The program began in the 1990s, and was completed in ...

. *

Arlington Transit Arlington Transit (ART) is a bus transit system that operates in Arlington County, Virginia, and is managed by the county government. The bus system provides service within Arlington County, and connects to Metrobus, nearby Metrorail stations, V ...

: 42, 87, 87A, 87P, 87X *

DASH The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

: 35, 103, 104 *

Fairfax Connector Fairfax Connector is a public bus service provided by Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, and is managed by the county government. The bus system provides service within Fairfax County, and connects to Metrobus, Metrorail stations, Virgini ...

: 306, 393, 394, 395, 599, 698, 834, 835 * Metrobus: 7A, 7C, 7M, 7P, 8S, 8W, 10A, 10E, 10N, 16A, 16C, 16E, 16L, 17B, 17G, 17K, 17L, 17M, 18G, 18J, 18P, 21C, 21D, 22A, 22C, 22F, 28F, 29G *

Loudoun County Transit Loudoun County Transit is a public-transportation service provided by the Loudoun County, Virginia government. The buses operate from Dulles, Leesburg, and Purcellville to Washington Metro stations as well as directly to Rosslyn, Virginia, Th ...

: 282, 482, 682, 882 *

PRTC OmniRide Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC) is an American public transportation system in Prince William County, Virginia, Stafford County, Virginia, and Spotsylvania County, Virginia, plus two adjacent independent cities, Manass ...

: 543, 602, 612, 942, D-100, D-200, D-300, L-100, L-200, MC-100, MC-200, RS * Ride Smart Northern Shenandoah Valley: DC Motorcoach (From Front Royal to D.C.)

Station layout

The station is located underground, adjacent to

, and formerly had a direct (but secure) entrance to the Pentagon and its underground shopping center. This entrance was closed in 2001 as part of the

. Access to the Pentagon is now gained via a new secured entrance facility above ground near the bus depot and the entrances to the subway station. The new exit features signage displayed at

Gallery Place-Chinatown Gallery Place is a Washington Metro station in Washington, D.C., United States, on the Green, Red and Yellow Lines. It is a transfer station between the Red Line on the upper level and the Green/Yellow Lines on the lower level. Gallery Plac ...

and newer stations. Pentagon is one of two stations (the other being the

Rosslyn station Rosslyn is the westernmost station on the shared segment of the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines of the Washington Metro. It is located in the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, United States. Rosslyn is the first station in Virginia ...

) at which trains going one direction are boarded on a different station level than trains going the other direction, as a way to prevent an

at-grade crossing An intersection or an at-grade junction is a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet or cross at the same height, as opposed to an interchange, which uses bridges or tunnels to separate different roads. Major intersections a ...

. This is because the Blue and Yellow lines split apart an extremely short distance from the station.

Incidents

2010

On March 4, 2010, a gunman, identified as John Patrick Bedell, who espoused anti-government views, shot and wounded two Pentagon police officers at a security checkpoint in the Pentagon station. The officers returned fire, striking him in the head. Bedell died the next day, on March 5, 2010.

2021

At 10:40 a.m. EST, on August 3, 2021, a stabbing occurred, killing officer George Gonzalez and leading to a lockdown of the Pentagon that was later lifted. The perpetrator, 27-year-old Austin William Lanz shot and killed himself using Gonzalez's service weapon. In an apology issued by Lanz's family, they stated that in his final few months, he suffered from "many mental health challenges". There was a warrant out for Lanz's arrest due to an incident months earlier, in which Lanz broke into a Georgia home with a crowbar.

Notable places nearby

Pentagon Memorial The Pentagon Memorial, formally the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, located just southwest of The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is a permanent outdoor memorial to the 184 people who di ...

United States Air Force Memorial The United States Air Force Memorial honors the service of the personnel of the United States Air Force and its heritage organizations. The Memorial is located in Arlington County, Virginia, on the former grounds of the Navy Annex near The Penta ...

References

External links

* * Archived The Schumin Web Transit Center
Pentagon Station
{{Washington Metro stations navbox Stations on the Blue Line (Washington Metro) The Pentagon Transportation in Arlington County, Virginia Washington Metro stations in Virginia Stations on the Yellow Line (Washington Metro) Railway stations in the United States opened in 1977 1977 establishments in Virginia Railway stations located underground in Virginia Washington Metro stations located underground