Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport station is a
Washington Metro station 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 ...
on 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 ...
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 ...
Lines. The station platform is elevated and covered and is the last above-ground station on the Yellow Line in Virginia, heading into
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
It is one of only two stations in the system to have three tracks (the other being ). The station is located across Smith Boulevard from Terminal 2 at
Ronald Reagan Washington 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 ...
; the mezzanine is directly connected to Level 2 of the terminal (security checkpoints/gates level) by two pedestrian bridges. Airport shuttle buses or a walkway connect the station and Terminal 1. The airport's
Abingdon Plantation historical site is near the station.
History
The station opened on July 1, 1977.
Its opening coincided 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 and the opening of the , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and stations.
When service began on July 1, 1977, it was the southern terminus of the Blue Line. After the Yellow Line extension to opened on December 17, 1983, the station remained the southern terminus for the Blue Line
until the station opened in 1991.
During construction of a second canopy at the station, Metro began running trains through the center track even though it had not been constructed for standard operations, and on January 20, 2003, a Blue Line train derailed at the switch. No injuries resulted, but the accident delayed construction by a number of weeks.
The center track was originally intended for relaying trains.
In 2014, a train was temporarily parked in the middle track while one of the elevators in the station was repaired, creating a "train bridge" to allow passengers to walk through the train to transfer between directions.
In May 2018, Metro announced an extensive renovation of platforms at twenty stations across the system. The Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport station served as a temporary southern terminal for the Blue and Yellow Lines from May to September 2019, while the stations south of the National Airport station were closed. The platforms at the National Airport station itself were rebuilt from August to December 2020.
Between May 25 and September 8, 2019, all trains terminated at this station due to the Platform improvement project which closed stations south of Ronald Reagan Airport. Between September 10 until November 5, 2022, all trains also terminated at Ronald Reagan airport due to the
Potomac Yard station
Potomac Yard station is a Washington Metro station under construction in Alexandria, Virginia, United States. The station will be operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), serving both the Blue and Yellow Lines, a ...
tie-in, closing all stations South of the station.
Renaming controversy
The station retained its original name after the airport was renamed in 1998 from "Washington National Airport" to "Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport". In early 2001, a letter signed by 24 members of
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
requested WMATA rename the station to conform. However, according to a Metro policy adopted in 1987, groups seeking to rename a station were required to pay the cost of replacing signs and maps. The Arlington County government, which could have made the change, demurred—the price was estimated at $400,000—and WMATA subsequently declined to rename the station on April 19, 2001.
In response,
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Congressman Bob Barr
Robert Laurence Barr Jr. (born November 5, 1948) is an American attorney and politician. He served as a federal prosecutor and as a Congressman. He represented Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Republican from 1995 to 2003. Barr attai ...
of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
threatened to withhold federal funding from the agency unless the station was renamed.
Congress ultimately voted to require the renaming on November 30, 2001. According to then-General Manager
Richard A. White, Metro paid to complete the renaming.
During the 2003–2004 renovation of the station, new signage was installed. Similar signage can be found at the , , , , and stations.
Station layout
The station has two
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 ...
s across three tracks, with the center track not used for regular service.
References
External links
*
* The Schumin Web Transit Center
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport StationStation from Google Maps Street ViewMap of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport showing location of Metro station
{{Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, state=autocollapse
Airport railway stations in the United States
Transportation in Arlington County, Virginia
Stations on the Blue Line (Washington Metro)
Stations on the Yellow Line (Washington Metro)
Washington Metro stations in Virginia
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1977
1977 establishments in Virginia
Station