Greenbelt station is a

Washington Metro The Washington Metro, often abbreviated as the Metro and formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...

and

MARC Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system ...

station in

Prince George's County Prince George's County (often shortened to PG County or PG) is located in the U.S. state of Maryland bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 967,201, making it the second-most populous ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. The station is the northeastern terminus of the Green Line of the Washington Metro. MARC commuter rail trains on the

Camden Line The Camden Line is a MARC commuter rail line that runs for between Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C., and Camden Station in Baltimore, Maryland, over the CSX Capital Subdivision and Baltimore Terminal Subdivision. The Baltimor ...

also stop at Greenbelt on a set of tracks parallel to the Metro tracks. The station is located in the city of

Greenbelt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or gree ...

, at its northwestern border (near Berwyn Heights, Beltsville, and the northern part of College Park), off of Cherrywood Lane, near the

Capital Beltway The Capital Beltway, designated as Interstate 495 (I-495) for its entire length, is an List of auxiliary Interstate Highways, auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area. The Ring road, beltway encircles Washington, D.C., ...

. It has a parking lot that contains more than 3,300 spaces, with convenient access both from the inner loop of the Beltway (I-95 southbound) and to the outer loop of the Beltway (I-95 northbound). It serves as a commuter station for both local residents and commuters who arrive from elsewhere — such as those who travel on the inner loop of the Beltway or south on

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

from

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. Also available at the station is a weekday express

Metrobus Metrobus may refer to: Transport services Bus Rapid Transit *MetroBus (Bristol), a bus rapid transit system in Bristol, England, United Kingdom *Metrobus (Buenos Aires), a bus rapid transit system in Buenos Aires, Argentina *Metrobus (Istanbul), a ...

service, the B30 route to

Baltimore–Washington International Airport Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport – also known as Thurgood Marshall Airport, Baltimore/Washington International Airport, and simply as BWI Airport – is an international airport in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, ...

(BWI), allowing for connections to

's regional transit services, which has been suspended since March 2020 and permanently discontinued due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The Greenbelt Metro is the most accessible station for employees and visitors of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C., in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959, as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC ...

, who can connect to TheBus's route 15X. In-between Metro's Greenbelt and stations, trains pass

Lake Artemesia Lake Artemesia is an artificial lake in Prince George's County, Maryland, located within the Lake Artemesia Natural Area in College Park and Berwyn Heights. The lake covers an area of , and the surrounding natural area is administered by Maryl ...

, which was created as part of the construction of the two stations. The Greenbelt Rail Yard is also nearby, the largest storage yard in the Metrorail network.

History

Metro service at Greenbelt began on December 11, 1993, coinciding with the opening of three other stations in northern Prince George's County, Maryland — the completion of 7.96 miles of Green Line rail north of in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

In 1979, before opening, the name was changed from "Greenbelt Road" to just "Greenbelt". GreenbeltMARCstation

The Greenbelt station played a role during the January 20, 2009 presidential inauguration of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. Prior to this date, a decision was made by

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional public transit agency that operates transit services in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA provides rapid transit servic ...

(WMATA) officials not to allow private cars to park at this station in order to allow more than 1,100 charter buses to use the parking. However, only 35 such requests were made by private bus companies, and WMATA then reversed its decision, opening up 3,400 spaces to private vehicles. On June 25, 2017, Metro's Yellow Line trains stopped serving the station due to the elimination of Rush+, which was part of major changes to the Metrorail system. On May 20, 2019, Metro announced that Yellow Line trains will be re-extended from Mount Vernon Square and Fort Totten to Greenbelt at all service hours beginning May 25, 2019. In May 2018, Metro announced an extensive renovation of platforms at twenty stations across the system. The platforms at the Greenbelt station would be rebuilt starting on May 29, 2021 through September 6, 2021. On April 8, 2021, a

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

mass vaccination site was opened in the parking lot of Greenbelt station. On May 7, 2023, the northeastern terminus of the Yellow Line was truncated from Greenbelt to , following its reopening after a nearly eight-month-long major rehabilitation project on its bridge over the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

and its tunnel leading into . Thus, it no longer services this station. Half of Yellow Line service is expected be re-extended to Greenbelt in December 2025. From July 22 to September 4, 2023, the Metro station was closed to improve rail system technologies, along with all other Green Line stations north of .

Station layout

Metro trains stop at an

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

, while MARC trains utilize two high-level

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 platforms, ...

s. All platforms are accessible to riders with disabilities, but the MARC station is unstaffed and lacking facilities.

References

External links

Entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{MARC Train Camden Line Stations on the Green Line (Washington Metro) Washington Metro stations in Maryland MARC Train stations Greenbelt, Maryland Railway stations in Prince George's County, Maryland Railway stations in the United States opened in 1993 1993 establishments in Maryland