Stadium–Armory station

Stadium–Armory station is a Washington Metro station in the Hill East neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The station 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. The station was named for its proximity to the RFK Stadium campus and the D.C. Armory.

The station is a transfer station, as this is the last station shared by the three lines before the lines diverge going east.

Station layout

File:Stadium–Armory Metro headhouse 2017.jpg

Northern entrance near the D.C. Armory

Stadium–Armory station serves the Hill East and Kingman Park neighborhoods. It is named for the adjacent RFK Stadium and D.C. Armory. It has a single island platform with two tracks. Track D1 is for eastbound trains to New Carrollton or Largo and track D2 is for westbound trains to Vienna, Franconia–Springfield, or Ashburn. An indicator sign at the north end of the station flashes to inform passengers of the arriving train's destination, showing Orange for New Carrollton, and Blue and/or Silver for Largo. This feature is only used at final transfer stations; another example being Template:Wmata. The station has two entrances along 19th Street SE; the north entrance at Independence Avenue and the south entrance between C & Burke Streets SE. Elevator access is at the south entrance.

Stadium-Armory is the last underground station for eastbound Orange, Blue and Silver lines combined. North of the station, the tracks emerge onto an elevated structure continuing east across the Anacostia river. After an elevated pocket track, the D&G Junction splits the Orange Line with the Blue and Silver lines as they each continue east into Maryland.

History

20th century

The station opened on July 1, 1977.<ref name="July 1, 1977">Template:Citation</ref> Its opening coincided with the completion of Template:Convert<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> of rail between National Airport and RFK Stadium.<ref name="June 24, 1977">Template:Citation</ref> Orange Line service to the station began upon the line's opening on November 20, 1978.<ref name="November 18, 1978">Template:Citation</ref>

In 1979, the D.C. Armory requested that the station name be changed to "Starplex" for the Stadium Armory Complex, but that request was ignored by the Metro Board.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Stadium–Armory would also serve as the eastern terminus of the Blue Line from its opening through the opening of its extension to Template:Wmata on November 22, 1980.<ref name="November 23, 1980">Template:Citation</ref>

21st century

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 Template:Wmata and Benning Road, Metro officials decided to extend the line into nearby Prince George's County, Maryland to Largo, which is the eastern terminus of the Blue Line.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Silver Line service at Stadium-Armory began on July 26, 2014.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Between May 28 and September 5, 2022, all Orange Line trains were terminating at Stadium–Armory station due to the Platform Improvement Project which closed stations north of Stadium–Armory station. On weekends, all Blue and Silver Line trains were terminating Stadium–Armory while Orange Line trains were cut back to Ballston–MU due to aerial structure repairs along the D route.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This included having Orange and Silver line trains skip the Stadium–Armory station during rush hours, but service had been restored as of November.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

External links

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