Bethesda station
Bethesda is a rapid transit station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro system in Bethesda, Maryland. It is one of the busiest suburban Metro stations, serving on average 9,142 passengers each weekday in 2017.[1] The Purple Line, currently under construction, will terminate at Bethesda, providing rail service to other inner Maryland suburbs such as Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton.
Location
Located at the center of the area's central business district, Bethesda station lies underneath Wisconsin Avenue at its intersection with Montgomery Avenue. In the direction of Shady Grove, it is the first station wholly within Montgomery County, as Friendship Heights straddles the border between Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Nearby landmarks
- Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School
- Capital Crescent Trail
- Chevy Chase Bank headquarters
- Consumer Product Safety Commission
- Bethesda's Madonna of the Trail monument
Station layout
| G | Street Level | Exit/ Entrance |
| M | Mezzanine | One-way faregates, ticket machines, station agent |
| P Platform level |
Westbound | ←  toward Grosvenor or Shady Grove (Medical Center)
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| Island platform, doors will open on the left | ||
| Eastbound | → toward Silver Spring or Glenmont (Friendship Heights) →
| |
History
The station opened on August 25, 1984.[2][3] Its opening coincided with the completion of 6.8 miles (10.9 km) of rail northwest of the Van Ness–UDC station and the opening of the Friendship Heights, Grosvenor, Medical Center and Tenleytown stations.[2][3][4] It is relatively deep; prior to the opening of the Wheaton station, the Bethesda station had the longest escalator in the Western Hemisphere, at 212 feet (65 m).[5] In October 2014, the replacement of the first of three 106-foot (32 m)-long entrance escalators at the station began. The escalator site preparation, demolition, construction, installation and testing was projected to take approximately 42 weeks to complete. The $8.4 million project was completed on March 22, 2017.[6][7]
The station's construction has been a major boon to the area, with several office buildings being built on (in the Bethesda Metro Center complex) and around it.
References
- ^ a b "Metrorail Average Weekday Passenger Boardings" (PDF). Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. May 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ a b Staff Reporters (August 25, 1984), "Red Line adds 6.8 miles; Opening ceremony for new segment set for today at Friendship Heights", The Washington Post, p. B1
- ^ a b Brisbane, Arthur S. (August 26, 1984), "All aboard; Metro festivities welcome latest Red Line extension", The Washington Post, p. A1
- ^ "Sequence of Metrorail openings" (PDF). Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 2017. p. 3. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Johnson, Matt (July 8, 2014). "What are the 10 longest Metro escalators?". Greater Greater Washington. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ Massimo, Rick (March 22, 2017). "Metro unveils new escalators in Bethesda". WTOP. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ "Metro completes major escalator replacement project at Bethesda station" (Press release). Washington, DC: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. March 22, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
External links
- WMATA: Bethesda Station
- StationMasters Online: Bethesda Station
- The Schumin Web Transit Center: Bethesda Station
- Old Georgetown Road entrance from Google Maps Street View
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