Stadium–Armory station

Stadium–Armory is an island-platformed Washington Metro station in the Hill East and Kingman Park neighborhoods of Southeast Washington, D.C., United States. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Stadium–Armory serves the Blue, Orange and Silver Lines. It is a transfer station for the Blue/Silver and Orange lines, as this is the last station shared by the three lines before the lines diverge going east and the last underground station for New Carrollton-bound Orange Line trains. East of the station, the trains rise above ground to elevated track above RFK Stadium Lots, cross over the Anacostia River, then onto pocket tracks where the three lines divide with the Orange Line curving onto to northbound Minnesota Avenue and the Blue/Silver Lines continuing along eastbound Benning Road descending underground back into subway mode. Stadium-Armory has entrances on 19th Street at C Street and Independence Avenue.

Stadium–Armory
rapid transit station
Location	192 19th Street, SE, Washington, D.C.
Owned by	Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Metrobus: 96, 97, B2, D6
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Bicycle facilities	20 racks
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	D08
History
Opened	July 1, 1977 (July 1, 1977)
Traffic
Passengers (2018)	2,423 daily [1]  16.4%
Services
Preceding station Washington Metro Following station Potomac Avenue toward Vienna Orange Line Minnesota Avenue toward New Carrollton Potomac Avenue toward Franconia–Springfield Blue Line Benning Road toward Largo Town Center Potomac Avenue toward Wiehle–Reston East Silver Line

Location

North head house of the station, adjacent to the D.C. Armory

The Stadium–Armory station serves RFK Stadium, which is the former home of the D.C. United soccer team, the Washington Football Team, and the Washington Nationals, as well as of the second Washington Senators franchise before their relocation to Texas in 1972. The station also serves the D.C. Jail and the D.C. Armory, which is both a popular venue for shows and entertainment and the headquarters of the District of Columbia National Guard. Together with the Potomac Avenue station, Stadium-Armory is one of two Metro stations within walking distance of Congressional Cemetery. Before its closure in 2001, D.C. General Hospital was served by the Stadium–Armory station.

History

The station opened on July 1, 1977.[2] Its opening coincided with the completion of 11.8 miles (19.0 km)[3] of rail between National Airport and RFK Stadium.[4] Orange Line service to the station began upon the line's opening on November 20, 1978.[5] In 1979, the D.C. Armory requested that the station name be changed to "Starplex", For Stadium Armory Complex, but that request was ignored by the Metro Board.[6] Stadium–Armory would also serve as the eastern terminus of the Blue line from its opening through the opening of its extension to Addison Road on November 22, 1980.[7]

The station was supposed to be the Silver Line's eastern terminus, but in December 2012, due to safety concerns regarding a pocket track between this station and Minnesota Avenue (the first station to the east on the Orange Line), Metro officials decided to extend the line into nearby Prince George's County, Maryland to Largo Town Center, which is the eastern terminus of the Blue Line.[8] Silver Line service at Stadium-Armory began on July 26, 2014.[9]

With the redevelopment of the former D.C. General Hospital campus into a mixed-use neighborhood called "Hill East", the area around the Stadium–Armory station will be in transition for the first few decades of the twenty-first century. Addtitionally, with the move of D.C. United to a new soccer-specific stadium, Audi Field, in the Buzzard Point area of Washington in July 2018, the future of RFK Stadium is uncertain, with the possibility of demolition lingering over the 1960s-era facility. On September 5, 2019, EventsDC announced the demolition of RFK Stadium will take place in 2021.

Transformer fire

On September 21, 2015, a transformer caught fire near the station, causing severe delays. The reduced power as a result of the loss of the transformer caused WMATA to implement strategies to combat congestion in the system.[10] This included having Orange and Silver line trains skip the Stadium–Armory station during rush hours, but service had been restored as of November.[11]

Station layout

G	Street level	Exit/entrance, buses
M	Mezzanine	Fare gates, ticket machines, station agent
P Platform level	Westbound	← toward Franconia–Springfield (Potomac Avenue) ← toward Wiehle–Reston East (Potomac Avenue) ← toward Vienna/Fairfax–GMU (Potomac Avenue)
	Island platform
	Eastbound	→   toward Largo Town Center (Benning Road) → → toward New Carrollton (Minnesota Avenue) →

References

1. "Metrorail Average Weekday Passenger Boardings" (PDF).
2. Feaver, Douglas B. (July 1, 1977), "Today, Metro could be U.S. model", The Washington Post, p. A1
3. "Sequence of Metrorail openings" (PDF). WMATA. 2017. p. 3. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
4. Staff Reporters (June 24, 1977), "Metro's newest stations: Where they are, what's nearby", The Washington Post
5. Eisen, Jack; Feinstein, John (November 18, 1978), "City–County fanfare opens Orange Line; Ceremonies open new Orange Line", The Washington Post, p. D1
6. Eisen, Jack (August 7, 1979). "Zoological Park Subway Stop Name, 9 Others Changed by Metro Board". The Washington Post.
7. Cooke, Janet (November 23, 1980), "Three new Metro stations have a festive first day", The Washington Post, p. D1
8. Aratani, Lori (December 5, 2012). "Metro details Silver Line service changes". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
9. Halsey, Ashley (July 26, 2014). "All aboard! Metro's new Silver Line rolls down the tracks for the first time". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
10. "Metro: Changes to Orange, Silver lines to ease delays". WUSA9.com. September 25, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
11. "Metro plans additional service change at Stadium-Armory Station to further ease rush-hour congestion, delays on Orange, Blue & Silver lines" (Press release). Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. September 27, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2016.

External links

• WMATA Stadium–Armory station page
• StationMasters page for Stadium–Armory station
• The Schumin Web Transit Center: Stadium–Armory Station
• C Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Independence Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View