Yellow Line (Washington Metro)

Planning for Metro began with the Mass Transportation Survey in 1955 which attempted to forecast both freeway and mass transit systems sufficient to meet the needs of the region projected for 1980.[7] In 1959, the study's final report included two rapid transit lines which anticipated subways in downtown Washington.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10] A central route under 7th Street in downtown was only added in 1967 primarily to serve the "inner city".[11] In March 1968, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) board approved its 98-mile (158 km) Adopted Regional System (ARS) which included the Yellow Line from Franconia and Backlick Road (in Springfield) to Greenbelt.[12]

While a cut-and-fill tunnel for Yellow Line was built under 7th Street and U Street, both street traffic and pedestrian access on those streets were difficult.[13] 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.[14] 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,[14] but after that road was cancelled, the route of the replacement subway tunnel became controversial, resulting in years of expensive delays.[15]

Service on the Yellow Line began on April 30, 1983, adding Archives to the system and linking the two already-built stations of Gallery Place and Pentagon with a bridge across the Potomac River. It was extended beyond National Airport by four stations to Huntington on December 17, 1983, the first station outside the Capital Beltway.[1] When the Green Line link to U Street opened on May 11, 1991, it acted as an extension of the Yellow Line until the southern Green Line branch was completed.[1][13] When Green Line service began, the Yellow Line was truncated at Mount Vernon Square, where a pocket track exists to relay trains.[1]

The Yellow Line was originally planned to follow a slightly different route in Virginia. The plan would have sent Yellow Line trains to Franconia–Springfield, 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 – due to the Yellow Line's shorter route – the line designations were switched. 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.[16]

One of hundreds of signs that were reworded from just "National Airport"

In 1998, Congress changed the name of the Washington National Airport to the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport with the law specifying that no money be spent to implement the name change. As a result, WMATA did not change the name of the National Airport station (which never included the full name of the airport). In response to repeated inquiries from Republican congressmen that the station be renamed, WMATA stated that stations are renamed only at the request of the local jurisdiction. Because both Arlington County and the District of Columbia were controlled by Democrats, the name change was blocked. Finally, in 2001, Congress made changing the station's name a condition of further federal funding.[17][18][19][20]

In May 2018, Metro announced an extensive renovation of platforms at twenty stations across the system. To accommodate these platform reconstructions, the Blue and Yellow Lines south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport would be closed from May 25, to September 8, 2019, in what would be the longest line closure in Metro's history.[21][22] As a result, all Yellow and Blue line services terminated at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport during the closure.[23]

From March 26, 2020 until June 28, 2020, trains were bypassing Eisenhower Avenue, Archives, Mount Vernon Square, and College Park–University of Maryland stations due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.[24][25] All stations were reopened beginning on June 28, 2020.[26]

Crossing the Potomac River from Virginia on the Yellow Line, with the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial in the background

The southern terminus of the Yellow Line is adjacent to Kings Highway (Virginia Route 241) in Fairfax County, Virginia.[31] The line heads northeast on a bridge over Hunting Creek and the Washington Beltway (Interstate 95) to a station just south of Eisenhower Avenue, which serves a number of government office buildings including the United States Patent 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.[31] 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.[32] At the north end of the airport, the Yellow Line enters a tunnel under 18th Street South and South Hayes Street in Crystal City.[31] The tunnel continues along the southwest face of the Pentagon which is a two 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.[31] At the end of the bridge, the Yellow Line re-enters a tunnel near the Jefferson Memorial and crosses under the Washington Channel.[31] The tunnel merges with the Green Line tunnel under 7th Street Southwest just south of the L'Enfant Plaza.[31] The joint Yellow Line — 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.[31] The tunnel then turns toward the northeast under Park Road and New Hampshire Avenue.[31] 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 northernmost terminal for Yellow Line service, with the track continuing northeast as just the Green Line to the Greenbelt terminus.[31] Since then, the Yellow Line continues along these tracks to Greenbelt with the Green Line.

The Yellow Line needs 10 six-car trains (60 rail cars) to run at peak capacity.[33] Internally, the Yellow Line in Virginia was called the "Huntington Route" (C) and the route through the District of Columbia and beyond to Greenbelt as the "Greenbelt Route" (E).[34] As of March 2018, all Yellow Line trains are required to only run 8 car trains.[35][36]

The following stations are along the line, from south to north.

Station	Code	Opened	Image	Other Metro Line(s)	Notes
Huntington	C15	1983			Southern terminus
Eisenhower Avenue	C14	1983
King Street – Old Town	C13	1983			at Alexandria Union Station Transfer station for the Blue Line (southern)
Braddock Road	C12	1983
Potomac Yard	C11	2022 (projected)
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport	C10	1977
Crystal City	C09	1977			Manassas Line, Fredericksburg Line
Pentagon City	C08	1977
Pentagon	C07	1977			Transfer station for the Blue Line (northern); crosses Potomac River via Fenwick Bridge. Built as a multi-level station due to geographic constraints, with trains heading south towards Huntington (Yellow Line) and Franconia-Springfield (Blue Line) on the lower level, and trains heading north towards Greenbelt (Yellow Line) and Largo Town Center (Blue Line) on the upper level.
L'Enfant Plaza	F03	1977			Manassas Line, Fredericksburg Line at L'Enfant Transfer station for the Blue, Orange, Green, and Silver Lines.
Archives	F02	1983
Gallery Place	F01	1976			Transfer station for the Red Line
Mount Vernon Square	E01	1991
Shaw – Howard University	E02	1991
U Street	E03	1991
Columbia Heights	E04	1999
Georgia Avenue – Petworth	E05	1999
Fort Totten	E06	1993			Transfer station for the Red Line. The only station on the metrorail network to have a platform that is both underground and at ground level.
West Hyattsville	E07	1993
Prince George's Plaza	E08	1993			To be renamed "Hyattsville Crossing" in 2021.
College Park–University of Maryland	E09	1993			Purple Line (planned) Camden Line
Greenbelt	E10	1993			Camden Line Northern terminus

On November 16, 1995, WMATA and the developer of the Potomac Yard area of Alexandria, Virginia, signed an agreement to construct a new station between Braddock Road and National Airport that will be financed by the developer.[37] The Federal Transit Administration, in cooperation with WMATA, the National Park Service and The City of Alexandria government, completed an environmental impact statement for the project in June 2016.[38] The station will be completed by Spring 2022.[39]

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.[40]

• List of Washington Metro stations

• Schrag, Zachary (2006). The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-8246-X.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yellow Line (Washington Metro).

• world.nycsubway.org: Yellow Line