Rosslyn station is the westernmost station on the shared segment of 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 ...

, Orange, and

Silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

lines of 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 ...

. It is located in the Rosslyn neighborhood of

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

. Rosslyn is the first station in Virginia heading westward from

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 ...

on the Orange and Silver Lines and southward on the Blue Line. It is one of four interchange points on the Metrorail system west of 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 located in a growing business district. Averaging 5,941 daily tapped entries in 2023, Rosslyn is the 11th-busiest station in the Metro system and the busiest station located outside of

Rosslyn is the biggest choke point of the Metro system. Due to this, planners are considering adding another station in the Rosslyn neighborhood, possibly as part of an inner loop through Washington and Arlington.

Station layout

The station has entrances on the west side of North Moore Street between Wilson Boulevard and 19th Street North and on the east side of Fort Myer Drive between Wilson Boulevard and 19th Street North. A bank of three high-speed street elevators to the

mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...

(upper) level of the station is on the east side of North Moore Street, across the street from the station entrance. The station was historically a stop for several express Metrobus lines, including the now-discontinued D.C.–Dulles Line (route 5A). Rosslyn is one of two stations (the other being the

Pentagon station Pentagon station is a split platform station on the Washington Metro located adjacent to The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Prov ...

) 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 Orange/Silver and Blue lines split apart an extremely short distance from the station. This ensures that no trains traveling in opposite directions share a track. An indicator sign at the south end of the station flashes to inform passengers of the arriving train's destination, showing Orange for , Blue for , and Silver for . This feature is only used at final transfer stations; another example being . Rosslyn is the deepest station on the three lines servicing it. The mezzanine and upper platform are below the Fort Myer Drive street-level entrance; the lower platform is below the entrance.''Rosslyn Magazine: Discover A New Horizon'', Vol. 1, Issue 2, Summer 2006, p. 21. This is because its neighborhood is on a bluff over the

, while its shared rail line into Washington passes through a rock-bored tunnel up to beneath the river surface. The station's depth also takes advantage of the strength and watertightness of the bedrock below the surface. An escalator ride between the street and mezzanine levels takes about three minutes.''Rosslyn Magazine: Discover A New Horizon'', Vol. 1, Issue 2, Summer 2006, p. 21. The separate accessible entrance and general entrances are a relative rarity in the Washington Metro system; only , , and stations share this feature. The underground hallway to the new elevator bank contains a four-coffered arch like most underground stops on the Red Line that were opened after 1980. This is the only stop on the Blue, Orange, and Silver Lines with this arch. It is also the only stop in the system that contains both the waffle and four-coffer arch design.

History

The station opened on July 1, 1977. Its opening coincided 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 ...

and the opening of the , , , , , , , , , McPherson Square, , , , , and stations. Orange Line service to the station began upon the line's opening on November 20, 1978. A new bank of three high-speed elevators and an expanded mezzanine opened officially on October 7, 2013.Arlington County news release 10/7/2013
/ref> It replaces the original single street elevator, cutting elevator transit time from about a minute to about 17 seconds. This project also included an emergency stairwell, station manager kiosk, and new pay stations and had a total cost of $49.9 million, of which Arlington County paid for 42.2%.

References

External links

{{Authority control Stations on the Blue Line (Washington Metro) Stations on the Orange Line (Washington Metro) Stations on the Silver Line (Washington Metro) Transportation in Arlington County, Virginia Washington Metro stations in Virginia Railway stations in the United States opened in 1977 1977 establishments in Virginia Rosslyn, Virginia