L'Enfant Plaza (WMATA station)

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L'Enfant Plaza
Washington Metro rapid transit station
L'Enfant Plaza upper level, facing outbound.jpg
Station statistics
Address 600 Maryland Avenue, Southwest
Washington, D.C. 20024
690 Virginia Avenue SW (VRE)
Lines

Metro:

Green Line Green Line
Yellow Line Yellow Line
Blue Line Blue Line
Orange Line Orange Line
Silver Line Silver Line (planned)
Connections

Virginia Railway Express:

  Fredericksburg Line
  Manassas Line
at L'Enfant
Metrobus
MTA Maryland Commuter Bus
Loudoun County Commuter Bus
OmniRide Commuter
Structure Underground
Levels 2
Platforms 2 side platforms (upper level)
1 island platform (lower level)
Tracks 4 (2 upper level, 2 lower level)
Other information
Opened July 1, 1977 (WMATA)
1992 (VRE)
Accessible Handicapped/disabled access
Code F03 (upper level)
D03 (lower level)
Owned by Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Fare zone Zone 1 (VRE)
Traffic
Passengers (2011) 6.524 million[1] Increase 2%
Services
Preceding station   WMATA Metro Logo.svg Washington Metro   Following station
Green Line
toward Greenbelt
toward Huntington
 Yellow Line
toward Fort Totten
Blue Line
toward Vienna
 Orange Line
toward Route 772
 Silver Line (planned)
Virginia Railway Express
Manassas Line
Terminus
Fredericksburg Line

L'Enfant Plaza is a Washington Metro station in the Southwest Federal Center neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). It is a transfer station, with two levels: the upper level has two side platforms and is used by the Green and Yellow Lines, while the lower level has an island platform used by the Blue and Orange Lines. The lower level station is also scheduled to be on the Silver Line route, which is expected to start operations in 2013.[2] It is also where the Yellow and Green lines converge going north. It is the only station in the system to be served by four lines; when the Silver Line begins service, it will be the only station in the system to be served by five lines. Only the Red Line does not serve the station.

Contents

Location [edit]

While ascending the escalator, street performers are often seen and heard outside the station's entrance.
Sign at the street-level entrance to the Metro station

The station is located in Southwest Washington, with entrances at the L'Enfant Plaza shopping mall concourse at 9th and D Streets, on D Street between 6th and 7th Streets, and at Maryland Avenue and 7th Street. It is in the center of an area crowded with federal buildings, and is a transfer point allowing passengers to easily cross the Potomac between Virginia and central Washington, making it a very busy station. L'Enfant Plaza is named for the French-American planner of Washington, D.C., Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant.[3]

History [edit]

Station entrance pylon

The station opened on July 1, 1977.[4] Its opening coincided with the completion of 11.8 miles (19.0 km)[5] of rail between National Airport and RFK Stadium and the opening of the Arlington Cemetery, Capitol South, Crystal City, Eastern Market, Farragut West, Federal Center SW, Federal Triangle, Foggy Bottom–GWU, McPherson Square, National Airport, Pentagon, Pentagon City, Potomac Avenue, Rosslyn, Smithsonian and Stadium–Armory stations.[6] Orange Line service to the station began upon the line's opening on November 20, 1978;[7] Yellow Line service to the station began upon the line's opening on April 30, 1983;[8] and Green Line service to the station began upon the line's opening on May 11, 1991.[9] This makes the station unique in that the lower level island platform opened before the upper level side platforms.

Notable nearby locations [edit]

VRE station [edit]

L'Enfant VRE station

Directly above the Metro station, on Virginia Avenue between 6th and 7th Streets, is the Virginia Railway Express L'Enfant station, which provides commuter rail service both to Fredericksburg and to Manassas Regional Airport in Bristow. Numerous Amtrak trains pass through this station on the express tracks without stopping. There is one side platform on the north side of the station with 3 tracks passing through.[10] There are walkways on each side of the station that lead to 6th and 7th street respectively.[10]


References [edit]

  1. ^ Neighborhood profiles WDCEP Retrieved 2011-10-19
  2. ^ Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (2010). "Dulles Metrorail Project Overview". Retrieved July 25, 2010. 
  3. ^ L'Enfant identified himself as "Peter Charles L'Enfant" during most of his life, while residing in the United States. He wrote this name on his "Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of the government of t(he) United States ...." (Washington, D.C.) and on other legal documents. However, during the early 1900s, a French ambassador to the U.S., Jean Jules Jusserand, popularized the use of L'Enfant's birth name, "Pierre Charles L'Enfant". (Reference: Bowling, Kenneth R (2002). Peter Charles L'Enfant: vision, honor, and male friendship in the early American Republic. George Washington University, Washington, D.C. ISBN 978-0-9727611-0-9). The United States Code states in 40 U.S.C. 3309: "(a) In General.—The purposes of this chapter shall be carried out in the District of Columbia as nearly as may be practicable in harmony with the plan of Peter Charles L'Enfant." The National Park Service identifies L'Enfant as Major Peter Charles L'Enfant and as Major Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant on its website.
  4. ^ Feaver, Douglas B. (July 1, 1977), "Today, Metro could be U.S. model", The Washington Post: A1 
  5. ^ Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (July 2009). "Sequence of Metrorail openings". Retrieved July 25, 2010. 
  6. ^ Staff Reporters (June 24, 1977), "Metro's newest stations: Where they are, what's nearby", The Washington Post 
  7. ^ Eisen, Jack; John Feinstein (November 18, 1978), "City-County fanfare opens Orange Line; Ceremonies open new Orange Line", The Washington Post: D1 
  8. ^ Lynton, Stephen J. (April 25, 1983), "Trans-Potomac subway segment to open Saturday", The Washington Post: B1 
  9. ^ Fehr, Stephen C. (May 5, 1991), "Going was tough, but Green gets going", The Washington Post: D1 
  10. ^ a b Google Inc. Google Maps – L'Enfant Plaza (WMATA station) (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=38.885546,-77.021029&spn=0.000994,0.003361&t=h&z=19. Retrieved December 19, 2010.

External links [edit]

Media related to L'Enfant Plaza (Washington Metro) at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 38°53′05″N 77°01′19″W / 38.884775°N 77.021964°W / 38.884775; -77.021964

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