Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (WMATA Station)

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (WMATA Station)

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (formerly National Airport) is a Washington Metro station in Arlington, Virginia on the Blue and Yellow Lines. The station platform is elevated and covered and is the last above ground station on the Yellow Line in Virginia, heading into Washington, D.C. It is one of only two stations in the system to have three tracks (the other being West Falls Church). The station is located across Smith Boulevard from the B and C terminals from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA); the airport shuttle bus carries people to and from Terminal A. The mezzanines are directly connected to the B and C terminals by pedestrian walkways to Level 2 (gate level). The airport's Abingdon Plantation historical site is near the station.

The station opened on July 1, 1977. Its opening coincided with the completion of 11.8 miles (19.0 km) of rail between National Airport and RFK Stadium and the opening of the Arlington Cemetery, Capitol South, Crystal City, Eastern Market, Farragut West, Federal Center SW, Federal Triangle, Foggy Bottom–GWU, L'Enfant Plaza, McPherson Square, Pentagon, Pentagon City, Potomac Avenue, Rosslyn, Smithsonian and Stadium–Armory stations. When service began on July 1, 1977, it was the southern terminus of the Blue Line, and remained so until the extension to Huntington opened on December 17, 1983.

During construction of a second canopy at the station, Metro began running trains through the center track even though it had not been constructed for standard operations, and on January 20, 2003, a Blue Line train derailed at the switch. No injuries resulted, but the accident delayed construction by a number of weeks. The center track was originally intended for relaying trains.

Read more about Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (WMATA Station):  Renaming Controversy

Famous quotes containing the words ronald, reagan, washington, national and/or airport:

    “In fact, there is clear evidence of black intellectual superiority: in 1984, 92 percent of blacks voted to retire Ronald Reagan, compared to only 36 percent of whites.”
    —Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)

    “We’re an ideal political family, as accessible as Disneyland.”
    —Maureen Reagan (b. 1941)

    “Mrs. Sneed and her daughter, Miss Austine Sneed, are visiting us—Washington correspondents of excellent character.... We are much interested in their accounts of Washington affairs. Nothing could be further from our desire than to return to Washington and again enter its whirl, either socially or politically, but we are interested in seeing Washington with the roof off.”
    —Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)

    “As one digs deeper into the national character of the Americans, one sees that they have sought the value of everything in this world only in the answer to this single question: how much money will it bring in?”
    —Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)

    “Airplanes are invariably scheduled to depart at such times as 7:54, 9:21 or 11:37. This extreme specificity has the effect on the novice of instilling in him the twin beliefs that he will be arriving at 10:08, 1:43 or 4:22, and that he should get to the airport on time. These beliefs are not only erroneous but actually unhealthy.”
    —Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)