Route
The southwestern terminal of the Blue Line is the Franconia–Springfield Station located at the intersection of Frontier Drive and the Franconia-Springfield Parkway (Virginia Route 289). The line travels above ground along the CSX Railroad right of way where it joins the Yellow Line just south of King Street in Old Town Alexandria. The joint line continues north along the CSX Railroad until it curves to the east on an elevated bridge adjacent to the National Airport terminal. The Blue Line then enters a subway tunnel under 15th Street South in Crystal City and bends north under Hayes Street and then The Pentagon parking lots. The Blue Line separates from the Yellow Line in this tunnel and emerges on surface tracks that parallel Virginia Route 110 before entering a tunnel south of Rosslyn, where it merges with the Orange Line. The tunnel travels under North Lynn Street and then the Potomac River where it bends to the east and travels under H Street NW. The tunnel bends south under 12th Street NW and crosses under the Red Line in the Metro Center station. The tunnel then turns east under D Street SW, where it passes under the Yellow and Green Lines in the L'Enfant Plaza station. The tunnel continues east under Pennsylvania Avenue SE, G Street SE and Potomac Avenue SE. The Blue Line then bends north under 19th Street SE and transitions to an elevated line in the RFK Stadium parking lot near Oklahoma Avenue NE. The Blue Line crosses the Anacostia River on a bridge adjacent to Benning Road NE. At this point the line splits from the Orange Line and enters a tunnel under Benning Road and East Capitol Street. The Blue Line becomes a surface or elevated route with short tunnels parallel to Central Avenue from Addison Road – Seat Pleasant to its Eastern terminal at Largo Town Center, where it ends adjacent to the parking lots of "The Blvd" shopping center.
In terms of WMATA's internal route designations, the Blue Line service travels along the entirety of the J Route (from the terminus at Franconia-Springfield to the C & J junction just south of King Street), part of the C Route (from the C & J junction just south of King Street to Metro Center), part of the D Route (from Metro Center to the D & G Junction just east of Stadium-Armory), and the entire G Route (from the D & G junction past Stadium-Armory to the terminus at Largo Town Center). The Blue Line needs 23 six-car trains (138 rail cars) to run at peak capacity.
Read more about this topic: Blue Line (WMATA)
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