Editing Washington Metro (section)

==== Stations ====
{{Main|List of Washington Metro stations}}
[[File:Dulles Airport Station Platform 1115.jpg|thumb|The platform at [[Dulles International Airport station|Dulles International Airport]]]]
[[File:WMATA Alstom 6000 series on the Yellow Line arriving in King St Old Town Station.jpg|thumb|The platform of {{wmata|King Street–Old Town}}]]
[[File:Entrance to L'Enfant Plaza station -02- (50066962107).png|thumb|Station entrances are marked by distinctive vertical pylons, which feature the colors of each line serving the station]]
There are 40 stations in the District of Columbia, 15 in Prince George's County, 13 in Fairfax County, 11 in Montgomery County, 11 in Arlington County, 5 in the City of Alexandria, and 3 in Loudoun County.<ref name="wmatafacts" /> The most recent station was opened on May 19, 2023, an infill station at {{wmata|Potomac Yard}}.<ref name="pyopen"/> At {{convert|196|ft|m}} below the surface, the {{wmata|Forest Glen}} station on the Red Line is the deepest in the system. There are no escalators; high-speed elevators take 20 seconds to travel from the street to the station platform. The {{wmata|Wheaton}} station, one stop to the north of the Forest Glen station, has the longest continuous escalator in the US and in the [[Western Hemisphere]], at {{convert|230|ft|m}}.<ref name="wmatafacts" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/us/02escalators.html |title=For Washington, a Trek to Daylight |newspaper=New York Times |date=July 1, 2011 |access-date=July 26, 2012 |last=Walsk |first=Sean Collins}}</ref> The {{wmata|Rosslyn}} station is the deepest station on the Orange/Blue/Silver Line, at {{convert|117|ft|m}} below street level. The station features the second-longest continuous escalator in the Metro system at {{convert|194|ft|m}}; an escalator ride between the street and mezzanine levels takes nearly two minutes.<ref>{{cite journal |date=Summer 2006 |title=Discover A New Horizon |journal=Rosslyn Magazine |volume=1 |issue=2 |page=21}}</ref>

The system is not centered on any single station, but {{wmata|Metro Center}} is at the intersection of the Red, Orange, Blue, and Silver Lines.<ref name="2008guide">{{cite web|url=http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/docs/media_guide_2008.pdf |title=Media Guide 2008 |publisher=Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority |access-date=January 28, 2009 |archive-date=March 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325134630/http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/docs/media_guide_2008.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref> The station is also the location of WMATA's main sales office, which closed in 2022. Metro has designated five other "core stations" that have high passenger volume, including:<ref name="corestations">{{cite web|url=http://www.wmata.com/pdfs/planning/Demand_Passenger%20Facilities.pdf |title=Core Stations Capacity Enhancements |date=October 21, 2008 |publisher=Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority |access-date=January 28, 2009 |archive-date=March 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310092644/http://www.wmata.com/pdfs/planning/Demand_Passenger%20Facilities.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref> {{wmata|Gallery Place}}, transfer station for the Red, Green, and Yellow Lines; {{wmata|L'Enfant Plaza}}, transfer station for the Orange, Blue, Silver, Green, and Yellow Lines; {{wmata|Union Station}}, the busiest station by passenger boardings;<ref name=2008guide /> {{wmata|Farragut North}}; and {{wmata|Farragut West}}.

To deal with the high number of passengers in transfer stations, Metro is studying the possibility of building pedestrian connections between nearby core transfer stations. For example, a {{convert|750|ft|m|adj=on}} passage between Metro Center and Gallery Place stations would allow passengers to transfer between the Orange/Blue/Silver and Yellow/Green Lines without going to one stop on the Red Line or taking a slight detour via L’Enfant Plaza. Another tunnel between Farragut West and Farragut North stations would allow transfers between the Red and Orange/Blue/Silver lines, decreasing transfer demand at Metro Center by an estimated 11%.<ref name=corestations /> The Farragut pedestrian tunnel has yet to be physically implemented, but was added in virtual form effective October 28, 2011: the SmarTrip system now interprets an exit from one Farragut station and entrance to the other as part of a single trip, allowing cardholders to transfer on foot without having to pay a second full fare.<ref name="farragut crossing launch">{{Cite press release |title=Metro launches Farragut Crossing |date=October 28, 2011 |publisher=Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority |url=https://www.wmata.com/about/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=5074 |access-date=January 6, 2012 |archive-date=February 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202021647/https://www.wmata.com/about/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=5074 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Around 2003, the network designed newer stations with redundant or backup elevators, in case one elevator goes out of service. These designs were implemented with the three stations that opened in 2004, five in 2014, six in 2022, and one in 2023.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 0 auto; text-align:left;"
|+ '''Busiest stations by total annual passenger entries (2023)'''<ref>{{cite web |title=Metrorail Ridership Summary |url=https://www.wmata.com/initiatives/ridership-portal/Metrorail-Ridership-Summary.cfm |publisher=Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority |access-date=January 10, 2024}}</ref>
|-
! Rank
! Station
! Entries
! Line(s)
|-
| 1
| {{wmata|Metro Center}}
| 3,929,940
| {{WMATA icon|Red|showtext=yes}} {{WMATA icon|Blue|showtext=yes}} {{WMATA icon|Orange|showtext=yes}} {{WMATA icon|Silver|showtext=yes}}
|-
| 2
| {{wmata|Foggy Bottom–GWU}}
| 3,742,176
| {{WMATA icon|Blue|showtext=yes}} {{WMATA icon|Orange|showtext=yes}} {{WMATA icon|Silver|showtext=yes}}
|-
| 3
| {{wmata|Union Station}}
| 3,651,760
| {{WMATA icon|Red|showtext=yes}}
|-
| 4
| {{wmata|Gallery Place}}
| 3,536,641
| {{WMATA icon|Red|showtext=yes}} {{WMATA icon|Green|showtext=yes}} {{WMATA icon|Yellow|showtext=yes}}
|-
| 5
| {{wmata|Dupont Circle}}
| 2,985,099
| {{WMATA icon|Red|showtext=yes}}
|-
| 6
| {{wmata|Farragut North}}
| 2,779,479
| {{WMATA icon|Red|showtext=yes}}
|-
| 7
| {{wmata|L'Enfant Plaza}}
| 2,739,674
| {{WMATA icon|Blue|showtext=yes}} {{WMATA icon|Orange|showtext=yes}} {{WMATA icon|Silver|showtext=yes}} {{WMATA icon|Green|showtext=yes}} {{WMATA icon|Yellow|showtext=yes}}
|-
| 8
| {{wmata|Farragut West}}
| 2,616,830
| {{WMATA icon|Blue|showtext=yes}} {{WMATA icon|Orange|showtext=yes}} {{WMATA icon|Silver|showtext=yes}}
|-
| 9
| {{wmata|NoMa–Gallaudet U}}
| 2,406,409
| {{WMATA icon|Red|showtext=yes}}
|-
| 10
| {{wmata|Navy Yard–Ballpark}}
| 2,310,236
| {{WMATA icon|Green|showtext=yes}}
|- 
|}