Rosslyn is the westernmost station on the shared segment of 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 ...

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

, and

Silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

lines of the Washington Metro. It is located in the Rosslyn neighborhood of 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 ...

, United States. Rosslyn is the first station in Virginia heading westward from the District on the Orange and Silver Lines and southward on the Blue Lines. It is one of four interchange points on the Metrorail system west of 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 Augu ...

and located in a growing business district. Depending on the year, Rosslyn is the busiest, or one of the busiest stations outside 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, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, along with and , which are also in Arlington, and Silver Spring and Shady Grove in Montgomery County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Rosslyn is the biggest choke point of the Metro system. Due to this, planners are considering adding another station in the Rosslyn neighborhood, possibly as part of an inner loop through Washington and Arlington.

Location

The station has entrances on the west side of North Moore Street between Wilson Boulevard and 19th Street North and on the east side of Fort Myer Drive between Wilson Boulevard and 19th Street North. A bank of three high-speed street elevators to the mezzanine (upper) level of the station is on the east side of North Moore Street, across the street from the station entrance. The station is a stop for several express Metrobus lines, including the 5A to

Washington Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and Fa ...

and

L'Enfant Plaza L'Enfant Plaza is a complex of four commercial buildings grouped around a large plaza in the Southwest section of Washington, D.C., United States. Immediately below the plaza and the buildings is the "La Promenade" shopping mall."The L'Enfant c ...

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 , , , , , , , , ,

McPherson Square McPherson Square is a square in downtown Washington, D.C. It is bound by K Street Northwest to the north, Vermont Avenue NW on the East, I Street NW on the south, and 15th Street NW on the West; it is one block northeast of Lafayette Park. I ...

, , , , , and stations. Orange Line service to the station began upon the line's opening on November 20, 1978.

Station layout

Rosslyn is one of two stations (the other being the

Pentagon station Pentagon Transit Center is a split platform station on the Washington Metro located adjacent to The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...

) 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. This is because the Orange/Silver and Blue lines split apart an extremely short distance from the station. This ensures that no trains traveling in opposite directions share a track. An indicator sign at the south end of the station flashes to inform passengers of the arriving train's destination, showing Orange for

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Blue for Franconia-Springfield, and Silver for Ashburn. This feature is only used at final transfer stations; another example is Stadium-Armory station. Rosslyn is the deepest station on the three lines servicing it. The mezzanine and upper platform are below the Fort Myer Drive street-level entrance; the lower platform is below the entrance. This because its neighborhood is on a bluff over the

, while its shared rail line into Washington passes through a rock-bored tunnel up to beneath the river surface. The station's depth also takes advantage of the strength and watertightness of the bedrock below the surface. An escalator ride between the street and mezzanine levels takes about three minutes. It is one of six stations on the Metro with platform-level fare gates and elevators (the other five being the , , , (eastbound only), and stations). A new bank of three high-speed elevators and an expanded mezzanine opened officially on October 7, 2013. It replaces the original single street elevator, cutting elevator transit time from about a minute to about 17 seconds. The underground hallway to the new elevator bank contains a four-coffered arch like most underground stops on the Red Line that were opened after 1980. This is the only stop on the Blue, Orange, and Silver Lines with this arch. It is also the only stop in the system that contains both the waffle and four-coffer arch design.

Notable places nearby

Artisphere Artisphere was an arts center located in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, Virginia. The center encompassed four performance venues, three visual art galleries, an artist in residence studio, a 4,000 square foot ballroom, studio space, social g ...

* Freedom Park * Marine Corps War Memorial * Netherlands Carillon

Gallery

File:Rosslyn Escalators (full).jpg, The

escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizo ...

to street level at the Rosslyn Metro station is the fifth longest continuous span escalator in the D.C. metro system.Johnson, Matt. "What are the Ten Longest Metro Escalators?". Greater Greater Washington, July 8, 2014. http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/23038/what-are-the-10-longest-metro-escalators File:Rosslyn with Rohr train.jpg File:Rosslyn Inbound Platform.jpg, The upper level platform which provides service inbound to Washington D.C. File:RosslynNewMezzanine02.jpg, New expanded mezzanine at Rosslyn station. Note the use of the newer four-coffered arch design.

References

External links

* The Schumin Web Transit Center
Rosslyn Station

Fort Myer Drive entrance from Google Maps Street View

Moore Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{Washington Metro stations navbox Stations on the Blue Line (Washington Metro) Stations on the Orange Line (Washington Metro) Stations on the Silver Line (Washington Metro) Transportation in Arlington County, Virginia Washington Metro stations in Virginia Railway stations in the United States opened in 1977 1977 establishments in Virginia Washington Metro stations located underground Rosslyn, Virginia