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The Washington Metro system was conceived as an alternative to the construction of a large freeway system throughout the Washington, D.C. area and was partially financed with funds originally dedicated to highway construction. Construction began in 1969, and in 1976 the first section of the Metro system opened along the Red Line between the Rhode Island Avenue and Farragut North stations in Washington, D.C. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, more stations were opened in the city and the suburban communities of Arlington County, the City of Alexandria, and Fairfax County in Virginia as well as Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland. By 1991, five rail lines were open: the Red, Blue, Green, Orange, and Yellow Lines. The system as originally planned was completed in 2001 with the extension of the Green Line to Branch Avenue. In 2004, three stations were opened: an extension of the Blue Line to the Downtown Largo and Morgan Boulevard stations and the first infill station, NoMa–Gallaudet U. In 2014, the Silver Line opened with five new stations: Greensboro, McLean, Spring Hill, Tysons, and Wiehle–Reston East.
Nine Metrorail stations are officially designated transfer stations, although other intermediate stations also allow passengers to transfer between lines. Four of those stations have separate, perpendicular upper and lower levels which opened at different times. Two other transfer stations, Rosslyn and Pentagon, have parallel stacked platforms. Ten stations are termini (stations at the end of lines); several other non-terminus stations are used to short turn trains in regular service.
As of May 2016, Union Station was the busiest station in the system, with an average of 28,864 passenger boardings per weekday. Nine of the top ten busiest stations are in the District of Columbia. Metro Center, a transfer point for the Blue, Orange, Silver, and Red Lines, is the busiest transfer station, with 24,160 boardings. Shady Grove in suburban Montgomery County, Maryland was the busiest terminus with 11,696 passenger boardings per weekday.
Pylon by the entrance to the Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter stationPassengers boarding a train at the Bethesda stationCrossvault of the L'Enfant Plaza stationUnion Station, the busiest station in the systemThe longest continuous escalator in the western hemisphere, at the Wheaton stationVaulted ceiling at Farragut WestLargo Town Center station, one of the newest stationsArlington Cemetery station on a snowy dayElevated platform at National AirportWiehle-Reston East station on the first day of Silver Line service in 2014
Stations noted in this list twice with upper and lower levels are considered by WMATA to be a single station. The levels are noted separately here because they opened on different dates.
Schrag, Zachary (2006). The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN0-8018-8246-X.
"WMATA History" (PDF). Washington Metropolitan area Transit Authority. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
^ "Metro Facts" (PDF). Washington Metropolitan area Transit Authority. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
^ "Stations". Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
^ "Metro Media Guide" (PDF). Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 28, 2012. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
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