🏪 👨🏽‍🏫 👩🏽‍🤝‍👨🏾 Washington Metro

When traveling through the US capital, you must definitely go down to the subway to take a photo of the metro in Washington. The stations are not designed in any way, the lighting is very dim, there is no bright advertising. But here are the deepest stations, there are high-speed elevators, and part of the tracks are on the surface and overpasses.

At rush hour, the metro is always crowded, but it is still more convenient and cheaper to ride it than by car, because in the city it is sometimes very difficult to find a free parking space.

Subway lines

There are six underground lines:

The Red Line (Glenmont - Shadi Grove) - connects two counties: Montgomery and Columbia with the state of Maryland. There are land and underground sections on the Red Line. On the route, consisting of 27 stations, 44 trains run with a daily interval of 6 minutes, an evening interval of 12 minutes.
Orange Line (New Carrollton - Vienna) - Located in Fairfax, Arlington, and Prince George Counties. There are 30 trains on the route from 26 stations.
Blue line (Franconia-Springfield - the center of Largo) - this line contains common areas, as well as common stations with the Orange, Yellow and Silver lines.
Green Line (Branch Avenue - Greenbelt) - A 21-station route connects Prince George County, DC and Maryland. On the Green Line, there are 8 common stations with the Yellow Line and interchange stations for all other lines.
Yellow Line (Vienna-New Carolton) - consists of 17 stations that serve 30 trains. Located in Fairfax, Arlington, Washington, and Prince George County.
Silver Line (East Falls - International Airport) - was opened in 2014, a significant part of the route is combined with the Orange and Blue lines.
The Purple Line is a line under construction in Maryland.

Metro lines often intersect with each other, so that passengers have the opportunity to change trains and get to the right place.

Subway

Metro opening hours: opens at 5.00 on weekdays and at 7.00 on weekends. The subway closes at midnight.

To travel on the metro, you need a SmartTrip card, it can have an amount from 2 to 45 dollars. Rates range from $ 2 to $ 6 per trip, depending on the destination and time of day. The fare is always higher during peak hours from 5.30 to 9.30 and from 15.00 to 19.00. The fare for the day is $ 14.

The fare is automatically read from the card when exiting the subway. One and the same card can be reused by adding money to it in a ticket machine.

A SmartTrip card costs $ 5, it must be registered, after which the card can be replaced in case of theft or loss. Replacing a card costs $ 5, the entire amount on the card will be saved.

Children under the age of 4 can use the metro services absolutely free if an adult travels with them for full payment. Children over 5 years old pay at the full rate.

Columbia students have special student discount tickets.

Elderly people over 65 and people with disabilities enjoy a reduced rate of half the usual fare.

Rules and Tips

Keep in mind:

It is forbidden to drink and eat in the subway.
Disabled people must move in special chairs.
The busiest days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
The call button (in emergency situations) is located at the end of each carriage and at each station. To talk with the dispatcher, you need to dial the number "0".

How to use the Washington metro?

The following information will also be helpful:

During peak hours, trains are always very crowded, so if possible, it is better to reschedule the trip to a calmer time.
Between rush hours there are discounts on fares.
Since there are always a lot of people in the subway, a trip with large luggage will not be very convenient.
Metro stations are indicated by brown squares with the letter "M", just as stations are indicated on tourist maps.
In the vending machine, you must select the final destination in order to calculate the cost of the trip.
Entrance to the metro is through turnstiles with a white or green arrow. The ticket must be inserted into the turnstile with the up arrow, then get it. A ticket cannot be lost because it is necessary to exit the subway. A travel card tends to be demagnetized when held near a mobile phone.
On the escalator you need to stand on the right side so that people on the left side can move freely.
Some metro stations have two platforms for different directions. Stations with one platform serve trains that travel in different directions. In order to avoid confusion, it is necessary to accurately study the guide signs and monitor the scoreboard.

How to understand the subway?

In order not to get lost in the Washington subway, you need to know a few simple rules:

On the main carriage of the train, the color of its line and the final arrival station are on. To understand where the train is going, you just need to know the starting and ending stations of the line. Compositions of different colors come to the same platform.
The names of all stations are written on information boards, and there is always an information board where there is all the information about the arrival of the train.