Yellow Line (Washington Metro)
Template:Good article Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Stack The Yellow Line is a rapid transit line of the Washington Metro system that runs between Template:Wmata in Virginia and Template:Wmata in Washington, D.C. It consists of 13 stations in Fairfax County, the city of Alexandria, and Arlington County in Virginia, and Washington, D.C.<ref group="note">Peak hours are 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.<ref name="wmata.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref></ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="greatergreaterwashington.org">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is the shortest line in the system, and since its truncation to Mount Vernon Square, it is the only line that does not enter Maryland.
The Yellow Line shares track with the Blue Line between Template:Wmata and Template:Wmata and the Green Line between Template:Wmata and Mount Vernon Square. It has only two stations that are not shared by any other lines (Huntington and Template:Wmata) and only two sections of track that are not shared by any other lines – the section south of King Street–Old Town and the section between Template:Wmata and Template:Wmata, crossing the Potomac River.
On weekdays, trains run every 6 minutes until 9:30PM and every 7.5 minutes afterward. On weekends, trains run every 8 minutes.<ref name="timetables">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HistoryEdit
Planning for Metro began with the Mass Transportation Survey in 1955, which attempted to forecast freeway and mass transit systems sufficient to meet the region's needs projected for 1980.<ref>Schrag at p. 33-38.</ref> In 1959, the study's final report included two rapid transit lines that anticipated downtown Washington subways.<ref>Schrag at p. 39.</ref> Because the plan called for extensive freeway construction within the District of Columbia, alarmed residents lobbied for federal legislation creating a regional transportation agency with a moratorium on freeway construction through July 1, 1962.<ref>Schrag at p. 42.</ref> The new agency, the National Capital Transportation Administration, issued a 1962 Transportation in the National Capital Region report, which did not include the route that became the Yellow Line.<ref>Schrag at p. 55.</ref> A central route under 7th Street in downtown was only added in 1967 primarily to serve the "inner city".<ref>Schrag at p. 112.</ref> In March 1968, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) board approved its Template:Convert Adopted Regional System (ARS), which included the Yellow Line from Franconia and Backlick Road (in Springfield) to Greenbelt.<ref>Schrag at p. 117.</ref>
While a cut-and-fill tunnel for Yellow Line was built under 7th Street and U Street, street traffic and pedestrian access were difficult.<ref name="Schragat">Schrag at p. 217.</ref> The result was the loss of the traditional retail businesses along the route. The downtown segment of the line was originally projected to open in September 1977.<ref name=s214>Schrag at p. 214.</ref> Obtaining approval of the District of Columbia and Prince Georges' County of the exact alignment of the Yellow Line north of U Street delayed construction. Originally, the ARS called for the line to be placed in the median strip of the planned North Central Freeway,.<ref name=s214/> Still, after that road was canceled, the route of the replacement subway tunnel became controversial, resulting in years of expensive delays.<ref>Schrag at p. 214-16.</ref>
Service on the Yellow Line began on April 30, 1983, adding Template:Wmata to the system and linking the two already-built stations of Template:Wmata and Template:Wmata with a bridge across the Potomac River. It was extended beyond Template:Wmata by four stations to Template:Wmata on December 17, 1983, the first station outside the Capital Beltway.<ref name=railhist>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> When the Green Line link to Template:Wmata opened on May 11, 1991, it acted as an extension of the Yellow Line until the southern Green Line branch was completed.<ref name=railhist/><ref name="Schragat" /> When Green Line service began, the Yellow Line was truncated at Template:Wmata, where a pocket track exists to relay trains.<ref name=railhist/>
The Yellow Line was initially planned to follow a slightly different route in Virginia. The plan would have sent Yellow Line trains to Template:Wmata, with Blue Line trains serving Huntington. This was changed due to a shortage of rail cars at the time of the completion of the line to Huntington. Because fewer rail cars were required to operate Yellow Line service than would be required to run Blue Line service out to Huntington, the line designations were switched due to the Yellow Line's shorter route.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> From 1999 to 2008, the Yellow Line operated to Franconia–Springfield on July 4, as part of Metro's special service pattern on that day.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On November 16, 1995, WMATA and the developer of the Potomac Yard area of Alexandria, Virginia, signed an agreement to construct Potomac Yard station between Braddock Road and National Airport.<ref name=History1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
21st centuryEdit
In 2006, Metro board member Jim Graham and Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams proposed re-extending Yellow Line service to Template:Wmata or even to Template:Wmata. Suburban members of the board initially resisted the proposal. Through a compromise that also increased service on the Red Line, on April 20, 2006, the WMATA board approved a Yellow Line extension to the Fort Totten station during off-peak hours. An 18-month pilot program began on December 31, 2006, at a cost of $5.75 million to the District of Columbia.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On June 26, 2008, due to the success of the 18-month trial, the Yellow Line was permanently extended to Fort Totten at all times except peak hours.<ref name="wmata.com"/>
As part of the Rush Plus initiative trial, additional Yellow Line trains began running between Greenbelt and Franconia-Springfield starting June 18, 2012; these trains were discontinued on June 25, 2017, due to budget cuts.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> To accommodate platform reconstructions, the Blue and Yellow Lines south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport were closed from May 25 to September 8, 2019, in the longest line closure in Metro's history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Yellow Line was extended to Greenbelt at the beginning of the closure and retained after.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> On May 7, 2023, Yellow Line trains were shortened to Mount Vernon Square at all times being replaced by additional Green Line trains.<ref name="Metro announces Yellow Line reopeni"/>
From March 26, 2020, until June 28, 2020, trains bypassed Template:Wmata, Template:Wmata, Template:Wmata, and Template:Wmata stations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref name=covidmap>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=covidservice>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> All stations were reopened beginning on June 28, 2020.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> Between February 13 and May 13, 2021, additional Yellow Line trains began operating between Mount Vernon Square and Template:Wmata at all times, replacing the Blue Line due to it being suspended because of platform reconstruction at Template:Wmata and Template:Wmata.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Between May 29 and September 6, 2021, all Yellow Line trains terminated at Mount Vernon Square due to a platform improvement project which closed stations north of Template:Wmata.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Yellow Line trains were suspended beginning September 10, 2022, to tie in Potomac Yard station and to rehabilitate the 14th Street Bridge that the Yellow Line operates over. Service was replaced by additional Green Line trains, as well as Blue Line trains that operated between Template:Wmata and Template:Wmata stations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Yellow Line reopened on May 7, 2023, with its northeastern terminus cut back from Greenbelt to Mount Vernon Square.<ref name="yellowreopen">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Metro announces Yellow Line reopeni">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Potomac Yard station opened on May 19, 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Automatic train operation on the Yellow and Green lines, which had ceased following the 2009 Red Line train collision, was allowed to resume in May 2025.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In December 2025, half of Yellow Line trains will be re-extended to Greenbelt.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
RouteEdit
The southern terminus of the Yellow Line is adjacent to Kings Highway (Virginia State Route 241) in Fairfax County, Virginia.<ref name=aaa/> The line heads northeast on a bridge over Hunting Creek and the Capital Beltway to a station just south of Eisenhower Avenue, which serves several government office buildings, including the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The Yellow Line then merges with the Blue Line and follows the right-of-way of the RF&P Railroad through the City of Alexandria.<ref name=aaa/> The line enters a short tunnel under U.S. Route 1. After crossing a bridge over Four Mile Run, the line enters Arlington County on an elevated structure above the National Airport parking lots.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
At the north end of the airport, the Yellow Line enters a tunnel under 18th Street South and South Hayes Street in Crystal City.<ref name=aaa/> The tunnel continues along the southwest face of the Pentagon which is a 2-level station to facilitate a fork with the Blue Line. After the Pentagon station, the Yellow Line emerges from its tunnel east of the Pentagon and crosses the Charles R. Fenwick Bridge over the George Washington Memorial Parkway, the Potomac River, and Ohio Drive.<ref name=aaa/> At the end of the bridge, the Yellow Line re-enters a tunnel near the Jefferson Memorial and crosses under the Washington Channel.<ref name=aaa/> The tunnel merges with the Green Line tunnel under 7th Street Southwest just south of the L'Enfant Plaza.<ref name=aaa/> The joint Yellow—Green Line tunnel continues north through downtown Washington under 7th Street, turns west under Florida Avenue and U Street, and then north under 14th Street Northwest.<ref name=aaa/> The tunnel then turns toward the northeast under Park Road and New Hampshire Avenue.<ref name=aaa/> The tunnel then bends eastward under Rock Creek Cemetery and Fort Totten Park to emerge just before entering the lower level of the Fort Totten station. Until May 2019, this was the northern terminal for Yellow Line service, with the track continuing northeast as just the Green Line to the Greenbelt terminus.<ref name=aaa>Template:Cite map</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Between May 2019 and September 2022, and again beginning in December 2025, the Yellow Line continued along these tracks to Greenbelt.
Internally, the Yellow Line in Virginia is called the "Huntington Route" (C) and the route through the District of Columbia and beyond to Greenbelt as the "Greenbelt Route" (E). The line's bridge over the Potomac River is called the L Route.<ref>Schrag at p. 188.</ref> As of March 2018, all Yellow Line trains were required only to run 8-car trains.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However Yellow Line trains began operating 6-car trains again in summer 2019, and full time by September 2022.
StationsEdit
The following stations are along the line, from south to north.
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
FutureEdit
A second improvement project involves building a pedestrian tunnel to interconnect the Gallery Place station with Metro Center. A July 2005 study proposed connecting the eastern mezzanine of Metro Center with the western mezzanine of Gallery Place that are only one block apart. The proposed connection would reduce the number of passengers that use the Red Line to transfer between the Yellow Line and the Blue and Orange lines at Metro Center. As of 2011, the project remained unfunded.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Update needed
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Attached KML Template:Sister project
- world.nycsubway.org: Yellow Line
Template:Washington Metro Template:Transit In DC Template:Transit in NOVA