Pentagon station is a split platform station on the

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 ...

located adjacent to

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

in Arlington,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by the

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 ...

. Providing service for both the

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

and

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

Lines, the station is where the two lines diverge and thus acts as a transfer point. Northbound, both lines rise above ground, with the Blue Line serving the station, and the Yellow Line crossing 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 ...

into the District of Columbia. The station opened on July 1, 1977 with the completion of of rail between National Airport and

RFK Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. located on East Capitol Street near the Anacostia River. Opened in 1 ...

. Photography is not allowed anywhere on the station grounds.

Bus service

Pentagon station is also a major bus hub in northern Virginia. The current bus facility opened in 2001 as part of the Pentagon Renovation Program. * Arlington Transit: 42, 87, 87A, 87P, 87X *

DASH The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

: 35, 103, 104 * Fairfax Connector: 306, 393, 394, 395, 396, 598, 599, 698, 834, 835 * Metrobus: A11, A25, A27, A28, A66, A90, F28, F29, F44, F81, F83, F85 * Loudoun County Transit: 282, 482, 682, 882 * PRTC OmniRide: 543, 602, 612, 942, D-100, D-200, D-300, L-100, L-200, MC-100, MC-200, RS * Ride Smart Northern Shenandoah Valley: DC Motorcoach (From Front Royal to D.C.)

Station layout

The station is located underground, adjacent to

, and formerly had a direct (but secure) entrance to the Pentagon and its underground shopping center. This entrance was closed in 2001 as part of the Pentagon Renovation Program. Access to the Pentagon is now gained via a new secured entrance facility above ground near the bus depot and the entrances to the subway station. The new exit features signage displayed at Gallery Place-Chinatown and newer stations. Pentagon is one of two stations (the other being the Rosslyn station) at which trains going one direction are boarded on a different station level than trains going the other direction, as a way to prevent an at-grade crossing. This is because the Blue and Yellow lines split apart an extremely short distance from the station. An indicator sign at the north end of the station flashes to inform passengers of the arriving train's destination, showing Blue for , and Yellow for . This feature is only used at final transfer stations; another example being . South of the station, two empty tunnels diverge from the tracks towards Columbia Pike for future extension, but the plans were later dropped.

Incidents

2010

On March 4, 2010, a gunman, identified as John Patrick Bedell, who espoused anti-government views, shot and wounded two Pentagon police officers at a security checkpoint in the Pentagon station. The officers returned fire, striking him in the head. Bedell died the next day, on March 5, 2010.

2021

At 10:40 a.m. EST, on August 3, 2021, a stabbing occurred, killing officer George Gonzalez and leading to a lockdown of the Pentagon that was later lifted. The perpetrator, 27-year-old Austin William Lanz, shot and killed himself using Gonzalez's service weapon. In an apology issued by Lanz's family, they stated that in his final few months, he suffered from "many mental health challenges". There was a warrant out for Lanz's arrest due to an incident months earlier, in which Lanz broke into a Georgia home with a crowbar.

Notable places nearby

* Pentagon Memorial * United States Air Force Memorial

References

External links

* * Archived The Schumin Web Transit Center
Pentagon Station
{{Washington Metro stations navbox Stations on the Blue Line (Washington Metro) The Pentagon Transportation in Arlington County, Virginia Washington Metro stations in Virginia Stations on the Yellow Line (Washington Metro) Railway stations in the United States opened in 1977 1977 establishments in Virginia Railway stations located underground in Virginia