The subway system of the

United States Capitol Complex The United States Capitol Complex is a group of twenty buildings and facilities ( complex of buildings) in Washington, D.C., that are used by the federal government of the United States. The buildings and grounds within the complex are managed a ...

in Washington, D.C., consists of three underground electric

people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...

systems that connect the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

to all three of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

office buildings An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...

and one of the five

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

office buildings.

History

The original subway line was built in 1909 to link the

Russell Senate Office Building The Russell Senate Office Building is the oldest of the United States Senate office buildings. Designed in the Beaux-Arts architectural style, it was built from 1903 to 1908 and opened in 1909. It was named for former Senator Richard Russel ...

to the Capitol. In 1960, an operator-controlled

monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...

was installed for the

Dirksen Senate Office Building The Dirksen Senate Office Building is the second office building constructed for members of the United States Senate in Washington, D.C., and was named for the late Minority Leader Everett Dirksen from Illinois in 1972. History On the eve ...

. A two-car subway line connecting the Rayburn House Office Building to the Capitol was built in 1965. The Dirksen monorail, which had been extended to the Hart Senate Office Building in 1982, was replaced in 1993 by an automatic train.

Network

US Capitol basement floor plan 1997 105th-congress

On the Senate side, two separate subway lines exist. The first is a crewed two-track system, with a single open-topped car operating on each track, connecting the

and the Capitol. The other is a computer-controlled system with three enclosed trains of three cars each running on a 90-second schedule, connecting the Hart Senate Office Building, the

, and the Capitol. The train cars are unpowered; the train is propelled by a track-side

linear motor A linear motor is an electric motor that has had its stator and rotor "unrolled", thus, instead of producing a torque (rotation), it produces a linear force along its length. However, linear motors are not necessarily straight. Characteristica ...

. This line has two parallel tracks for most of its length, but at the Hart and Capitol stations the tracks converge into one, with a single

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platfo ...

. This allows easy return travel on the opposite track. The Dirksen station features a side platform for Capitol-bound trains and an

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular o ...

for Hart-bound trains. All three of these stations feature

platform screen doors Platform screen doors (PSDs), also known as platform edge doors (PEDs), are used at some train, rapid transit and people mover stations to separate the platform from train tracks, as well as on some bus rapid transit, tram and light rail sys ...

. A small maintenance spur is located adjacent to the Hart station. On the House side, an older, crewed two-track system, with a single open-topped car operating on each track, shuttles passengers between the Rayburn House Office Building and the Capitol. The remaining four House office buildings are not serviced by the subway system; two (

Cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

and Longworth) use a shared underground footpath tunnel while the other two (

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

and

O'Neill The O'Neill dynasty ( Irish: ''Ó Néill'') are a lineage of Irish Gaelic origin, that held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As kings of Cenél nEógain, they were historically the most prominent family of the Northe ...

) have no underground connection to the capitol. The House and Senate subway systems do not terminate in the same location under the Capitol, but they are connected by a labyrinth of tunnels.

Security

Members of the public can travel on the trains – usually during a tour of the Capitol Complex – but must be escorted by a staff member with proper identification. During votes, the House subway is restricted to congressional members. The Russell subway is restricted to members and staff during Senate votes. Since the terrorist attacks of

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

, restrictions have been placed on visitors using the Senate subway between the Hart and Dirksen buildings.

Collisions

A collision occurred on October 2, 2007, in the Rayburn to Capitol subway line after a car failed to slow down when it reached the end of the track line. The operator was injured and taken to a hospital for observation.

Shooting

Then Senator John W. Bricker was shot at by former Capitol Police officer William Louis Kaiser on July 12, 1947. Bricker survived as shots did not hit him.

Image gallery

Rolling stock

Current cars: * 4 open car sets with seating for 18 and separate cab for operator; 2 sets for the House and 2 sets for the Senate * 3 enclosed, unpowered car sets with seating for 36; automated cars Retired cars: *

Studebaker Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...

Company built electric coach cars c. 1909 from Russell line * 2 electric monorail c. 1912 * 2 electric monorail c. 1915 and 1920 replacing 1912 cars and retired 1961; built by Columbia Construction Company at

Washington Naval Yard The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy. The Yard currently serves as a ceremonial and administrat ...

* Dirsken line electric monorail c. 1960 retired 1993 and replaced with enclosed monorail cars

References

External links

Capitol Subway System
(

Architect of the Capitol The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex. It is an agency of the legislative branch of the federal government and is ...

website)
User Clip: U.S. Senate Subway
documentary at

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

, created January 26, 2013, showing the history of the capitol subway systems. {{Coord, 38, 53, 23, N, 77, 0, 32, W, type:landmark_region:US-DC, display=title Articles containing video clips Electric railways in Washington, D.C. Passenger rail transportation in Washington, D.C. People mover systems in the United States Railway lines opened in 1909 Underground rapid transit in the United States Subway System