Foggy Bottom–GWU station is a

Washington Metro The Washington Metro, often abbreviated as the Metro and formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...

station in the

Foggy Bottom Foggy Bottom is a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States, located in the city's northwest quadrant. It stretches west of the White House towards the Potomac River, north of the National Mall, east of Georgetown, south of the West ...

neighborhood of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, United States. The island-platformed 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 public transit agency that operates transit services in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA provides rapid transit servic ...

(WMATA). Providing service for the

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

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

, and

Silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

Lines, the station is located on I Street on the

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

(GWU) campus. It is the last westbound station in the District of Columbia on these lines before they dive under the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

History

The station opened on July 1, 1977. Its opening coincided with the completion of of rail between National Airport 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. located on East Capitol Street near the Anacostia River. Opened in 1 ...

and the opening of the Arlington Cemetery, Capitol South, Crystal City, Eastern Market, Federal Center SW,

Federal Triangle Federal Triangle is a Triangle, triangular area in Washington, D.C., formed by 15th Street NW, Constitution Avenue, Constitution Avenue NW, Pennsylvania Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and E Street NW. Federal Triangle is occupied by 10 large c ...

L'Enfant Plaza L'Enfant Plaza is a complex of four commercial buildings grouped around a large plaza in the Southwest (Washington, D.C.), Southwest section of Washington, D.C., United States. Immediately below the plaza and the buildings is La Promenade shoppi ...

McPherson Square McPherson Square is a city square, public square in downtown Washington, D.C. It is bound by K Street (Washington, D.C.), 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 ...

, National Airport,

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

, Pentagon City, Potomac Avenue, Rosslyn, Smithsonian and Stadium–Armory stations. Orange Line service to the station began upon the line's opening on November 20, 1978.

Station layout

Foggy Bottom–GWU uses a simple

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

layout: one platform with a track on each side. Track C1 carries eastbound trains to and Largo whilst track C2 is used by westbound trains to , , and . As with all stations on the Metro, there are platform edge lights to warn passengers of incoming trains. In 2008, WMATA installed red-colored

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

lights at Foggy Bottom–GWU and other busy stations after a successful pilot at Gallery Place. There is a 22 coffer "waffle vault" ceiling at Foggy Bottom–GWU as it was one of the first stations to be built in the system; later underground stations abandoned this design for a simpler concrete arch. There is a single mezzanine located at the center of the platform. Escalators from here allow passengers to descend to platform level or to the sole entrance and exit of the station at the northwestern corner of I and 23rd Streets. A total of two elevators and six escalators (three between the street and mezzanine and three between the mezzanine and platform) are currently in use at the station. In 2007, WMATA released a report detailing the potential to add a second entrance to the east side of the platform, serving the intersection of 22nd and I streets. No further action has been taken to construct this entrance, through the land proposed to host the surface aspect remains unbuilt upon.

Location

Foggy Bottom–GWU serves the

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

and the campus of

. It is also the nearest station to the Georgetown neighborhood. The station is located at 23rd and I streets in

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

, just south of Washington Circle, and at the front entrance to the

George Washington University Hospital The George Washington University Hospital (GWUH) is a short-stay hospital in Washington, D.C. affiliated with the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Since 2022, the hospital has been wholly owned and operated ...

. Service began on July 1, 1977. The

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

is located one block south and eight blocks east at

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a primarily diagonal street in Washington, D.C. that connects the United States Capitol with the White House and then crosses northwest Washington, D.C. to Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown. Traveling through So ...

and 18th Street and the

Watergate complex The Watergate complex is a group of six buildings in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. The complex includes a development of Housing cooperative, cooperative apartment residences. It also includes a hotel and an o ...

is slightly more than .75 miles (1.2 km) southwest of the station. Slightly south of The Watergate is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Notable places nearby

* Golden Triangle * School Without Walls *

Harry S Truman Building The Harry S Truman Building is the headquarters of the United States Department of State. It is located in Washington, D.C., and houses the office of the United States secretary of state. The Truman Building is located in the Foggy Bottom neighbo ...

(

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

)

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...

* Georgetown *

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

* Washington Circle * West End *

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

References

External links

* The Schumin Web Transit Center
Foggy Bottom–GWU Station

23rd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foggy Bottom-GWU Station Stations on the Blue Line (Washington Metro) Stations on the Orange Line (Washington Metro) Stations on the Silver Line (Washington Metro) Washington Metro stations in Washington, D.C. Foggy Bottom Railway stations in the United States opened in 1977 Railway stations in Washington, D.C., at university and college campuses 1977 establishments in Washington, D.C. George Washington University buildings and structures Railway stations located underground in Washington, D.C.