History
Although originally identified as the western terminus of the Orange Line in the 1968 plan, by 1978 Fairfax County was debating whether or not the initial terminus should be at the Vienna location or at an alternate location in Tysons Corner. After much public debate and public comment, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors endorsed the Vienna routing. The endorsement was made after determining it would cost an additional $59 million and take an additional five years to complete the line to Tysons.
On September 8, 1982, groundbreaking for the station occurred. At the time of its groundbreaking, the final facility was to have cost $17.6 million with parking for 2,000 vehicles. After nearly four years of construction, the station officially opened on June 7, 1986, as the western terminus of the Orange Line. Its opening coincided with the completion of 9.1 miles (14.6 km) of rail from the Ballston station and the opening of the East Falls Church, West Falls Church and Dunn Loring stations.
By 1993, officials in Fairfax City were looking to add "Fairfax" to the station name. In March 1999, the station name was changed to "Vienna/Fairfax – GMU. The station reverted to its original "Vienna" name on November 3, 2011, with "Fairfax–GMU" as a subtitle.
In 2011 Craigslist ranked Vienna as the nation's "most romantic" subway station.
Read more about this topic: Vienna (WMATA Station)
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