Franconia-Springfield Metro Station

This metro station is A-​OK in my opinion. It is the closest one to my house so it is convenience if I need to use it. I never have any issue with this station. Most of the time when I use this station, I would either park at the Springfield Town Center garage or someone would drop me off. There is a taxi stand inside the garage as well as park spots for people that are waiting to pick up someone.
Since the price from this station into DC has gone up by a lot, sometime I would drive to Pentagon City (during free parking hours) and catch the metro from there.

Trains almost never arrive on time, their system is plagued by repairs and outages. Have waited too long for trains during rush hours (30 minutes). The price doesn’t falter though! You can drive over to DC in 20 minutes, or you can take an hour on the metro. Enjoy!

I much prefer the Orange line. I find this station crowded, difficult to access and time consuming. Yes, it’s a metro station so it’s run by WMATA so it can only be so good. If given a choice, go ORANGE.

I decided I wanted to give this location a try for a couple of reasons:
1) During rush hours the Yellow line runs trains to & from here (over the Potomac instead of under)
2) Having been an Orange line regular I always wondered about the Blue line trains and how few passengers they had in comparison to the Orange and, to be honest, was a little jealous
3) I live between Dunn Loring/​Merrifield & Franconia/​Springfield (a little closer to the first)
What I really like about this station is how if just feels more relaxed. There is no pushing and people are not running for the seats. The Yellow line ride from here to the Archives is almost enjoyable. I have a signal for a lot more of the ride (one of the advantages of over the Potomac opposed to under — it is also easier on the ears and a more enjoyable review).
My one issue with this location is the parking garage, or more specifically trying to exit said garage. The garage is large, the exit area does not seem able to accommodate the individuals attempting to head home. I am not sure if it is the short left turn light or the short merge area but after a relatively relaxing commute to the station my attempt to drive out have been stressful.

I’m not sure I’d ever be able to give a Metro station a full five stars, but the Springfield stop is about as good as it gets in my book. The employees here are friendly, there are LOTS of functioning ticket machines, the escalators are rarely broken and even when there are huge crowds (rush hour, special events, weekends, etc.) things typically go smoothly. The parking deck is huge, everything is clearly marked and the station is pretty clean. They also let you use the bathroom, which is a plus in my book, especially since it’s the end of the line and that can sometimes mean an hour + on a metro car.

I’m reviewing as a daily commuter who drives to Franconia-​Springfield metro, rides the metro into DC during rush hours and back. I agree with reviewer «Janelle D.» and share many if not all of the feedback she provided.
The Blue Line is the worst for many reasons including but not limited to:
1) it’s rarely on time; don’t bother filleting the metro trip planner schedule and gets your hope up. It comes when it comes.
2) it’s slow and sometimes skips a turn altogether (see #1)
3) the signs at Franconia-​Springfield metro are often incorrectly labeled or not labeled causing people to ride the train and not knowing if you are on blue or yellow line. Only to find out you got on the yellow by mistake (even though the station indicator reads blue line leaving in 2min) and there is only one train at that moment.
4) for the price that keeps on increasing, it’s really a terrible experience. Dc metro in general needs to provide a better experience for its customers. It’s a shame to have such below average experience in the nation’s Capitol.
5) I can’t even keep writing. Brb, too pissed off.

I am a new metro rider and I had a question for the staff and the commuter store. The woman took me over to the machines and spent the time to show me how it all worked. I was completely impressed! I really wish I had gotten her name so I could report her excellent customer service!

This station is the closest Metro station for me. I use it when going into DC on weekday mornings and on weekends. The station is easier to drive to than the Northern Virginia Orange line stations. The station is just off the Franconia-​Springfield Parkway by the mall. The garage is large and usually has open spaces. There’s also an area to park cars when going out of town for several days. The station is on the Blue line but during rush hours and special events there are trains which follow the Yellow line and cross into DC between the Pentagon and L’Enfant Plaza cutting the circuitous Blue Line route through Rosslyn. Station is served by the same old trains and usually has something not working — elevator, escalator, or ticket machine.

It seems most of these reviews are from people who INFREQUENTLY travel on the blue, well from someone who used it as a main mode of transportation for years to/​from work, I can offer a real perspective.
WMATA has decided to significantly reduce the number of blue line trains running from ~6 minutes during peak to ~12−16 minutes. This was to accommodate the Silver line. Speaking of which, now that Silver, Orange, and Blue all share the line once you reach into D.C., back-​ups are ABOUND on a DAILY basis. They also added the rush plus Yellow line trains as a way to accommodate blue line riders working on that side of town, only it really serves to benefit folks who happen to work at any stop at the Pentagon or before or somewhere else along the Yellow line in D.C. From the half empty trains leaving the station in the mornings, I don’t think too many people are benefitting from the rush plus Yellow.
Another thing is that the station doesn’t open enough turnstiles when the flow of people are exiting the station in the afternoons. So what you have is hundreds of people all trying to get out of 3 or 4 turnstiles, and of course this includes the idiots who try to skip other people, push pass you, those who have issues with their cards but won’t step off the line, etc. SIMPLE FIX: OPEN MORE TURNSTILES, this is not rocket science, every other station does it!
The most frustrating part, for me, is the line of homeless and/​or beggars that line the walkway each morning and afternoon. There are about six of them that are out there DAILY, and two are fairly aggressive. One is a boyfriend/​girlfriend or husband/​wife team that is out there all the time but I have caught on more than on occasion on an iPhone. There is another lady that literally FOLLOWS you, practically TO YOUR CAR, with some long sob story in a language that isn’t quite English. I don’t know about you but after a long day of work or a stressful drive TO the metro, I have very little patience for this type of behavior.
The parking situation is below average. The parking garage is not that well lit in places and I have often turned the corner to my car to find random men hanging out and smoking who literally look like they are just loitering. I have probably seen some dude on a little golf cart trolling around only a handful of times in YEARS and he looked like he was looking for parking violators NOT as if he was security.
Because of all of this, I have stopped taking the train. I now take a bus to my job and the stress is SO much less. I don’t have to deal with the weird smells of the train, the mentally unstable people, the crowds, the break downs and single tracking, increasing fares, increasing parking rates, and less service. GOOD BYE METRO!

In looking for information on weekday rush hour parking for this metro station, I wasn’t able to find much so had to take a chance using 2 year old information and hope it worked out (it did).
From time to time, I have to go into DC for a meeting or professional conference. Living in Manassas, I tend to choose either VRE or drive non-​HOV. Either way, in rush hour, it’s 2 – 2.5 hours each way (495 Express Lanes were not an option either).
Since I needed the Blue Line, I decided to try driving to the Franconia-​Springfield Metro Station and taking the Blue Line in to DC. I went on a Tuesday morning, I arrived at 7:30 am (it took 75 minutes from Old Town Manassas taking back roads) and there were plenty of parking spaces left at that time. I parked in 4H and there was plenty of parking left above me. I waited about 5 minutes for a Blue Line train and got the last seat in my car.
I returned to the Franconia-​Springfield station at 5 p.m. It was still light out and a fair number of people going to their cars or getting on the metro that I had no concerns about safety.
Overall, the most pleasant trip into DC during rush hour in 21 years. This may be my new go-​to route.

Great station! Its the first metro stop that you can go to if you’re on I-​95 north. Highly recommend taking the metro if you’re headed anywhere in Washington DC. Saves you so much time and the headache if you were to drive to DC. Its totally not worth it to drive! Parking is hard to find in DC, and if you park in a parking garage, its so expensive. If you take the metro, its much cheaper, and you can just sit back and enjoy the ride. One of the things that I love about this station is amount of parking spaces that are available here. Its about $ 4.75 per day, but its absolutely free on the weekends. Station is pretty clean. The blue line is a great line for the metro!

I normally wouldn’t review something like a Metro Station, but I wanted to clarify some things for people who are interested in potentially driving here from the south, parking here, and catching a Metro to DC.
First of all (and probably noticeable from the 4 star review), it’s a good station to do that!
Pros:
——
+ Parking on the weekend is free.
+ There are literally 5,000+ parking spaces. We came here the weekend of Peak Bloom for the National Cherry Blossom Festival and there were hundreds, if not thousands, of spaces still available. Might be busier during main work rushes, not sure.
+ The station as a whole seemed pretty clean.
+ There are about 10 fare card machines and 2 SmarTrip machines. Might not seem important, but when there are 900 people waiting in line, you’ll appreciate multiple lines.
+ You can’t go the wrong direction on the Blue line Metro. Franconia-​Springfield is literally the end of the Blue line, and every train you’ll catch goes in the right direction. You can’t mess this up.
Cons:
— — -
— The SmarTrip card lanes aren’t labeled, and are all the way at the end. We waited in a normal Fare card line for about 20 minutes after decidedly wanting a SmarTrip card for convenience and reusability and didn’t realize you couldn’t buy SmarTrip cards in every lane. It’d be so easy to label the two lanes on the wall. This shouldn’t be an issue during a normal day, but on days like the Cherry Blossom Festival it would have saved some time.
— The layout is a little unclear with all of the parking decks. There are some signs but if you end up wandering the parking garage it might be confusing. We saw the sign right away, but I can agree with people who mention getting lost in the parking garage.
For those who are concerned about safety and are leaving at the wee hours of the night, it seems like there was adequate lighting, but just in case, I’d park on the 3^rd floor (that’s where the bridge to the actual boarding location is) and bring a buddy if you have one. I would probably be comfortable doing it alone, and I’m a wuss, but I could see where a 5,000 capacity car garage might be a little spooky at night.
Overall:
— — — -
Franconia-​Springfield station worked great for us. I absolutely love riding Metros (I rode the hell out of them when I lived in Tokyo, Japan!), and the DC Metro Blue Line is pretty good. We live in Richmond and drove here in the morning, rode to DC, rode back from DC in the evening, and left this station as it was starting to get a little dark, and everything went swimmingly.

I have been to this station more times than I can remember. I always go to this station whenever I go to D.C. because it it fast, cheap, and it keeps me from having to drive through the horrible DC traffic. I would recommend riding the metro if you plan on visiting DC as you won’t have to spend half the day sitting in traffic and looking for a parking spot. The train tickets are decently priced ranging from $ 5.00 to $ 15.00 which if you are going to a further station, then it is worth the price. It’s not a hign end train by any means, but it is a great way to get around DC for a day. so if you ever get the chance, I would highly take a ride on the DC metro.

I been here many of time. I like this location because it safe, easy get in and out of metro, bus is line up for pickup, and Greyhound bus stop that this location.
***STATION: Very clean, well lighted, commuter sale store here and smart card machine in station to buy. Easy to go in and out of parking greage, cab station incrusted. also it the end of the line and hope it will have more station in the future.
***LOCATION: location is great it near Springfield shopping mall that under contrition, Walmart, Hotel & Motels. Easy to get in and out at any time.
Down side that Amtrak dues not stop here, But commuter train VRE dues.
—CUSTOMER SERVICE: During metro hours there a Station Manager on duty. Friendly, helpful, ready to answer any question. Also with the store and sales.
—TRAINS: Metro subway train are great. Clean a lot of cars on each train trip. away a train ready to pull in. And some time go out of service. Weekend I could get mad but it the weekends. Sometime you have to wait for 10 – 15 minutes for the next train. Or if the track work happen at this station up to the next station they my have to bus both-​way. At less it doesn’t happen to close together.
I hope it help if you need information call 202−637−7000 or
or

This station also offers VRE and Amtrak but I only take the Metro. The first couple of time I went here the escalator was broke. Things seem to be better now. This location offers a Blue line full time and a Yellow during rush hour in the morning and afternoon. Typically, when I have boarded a train here I have waited at least three minutes before taking off. If you here stand back, doors closing as you get to it, it must have been sitting for a while. That aside, I have no issues with this location.

Man, I’ve been here so many times it’s hard to keep track. The end of the blue line, this clunky-​named station is a travel hub for commuters and tourists alike. It houses the Greyhound station, many DC/​VA bus stations, a huge parking garage, and a very big structure in general.
Half the station is indoors while the other half is outdoors. It makes for a great open air feeling without necessarily having to stand in the direct sun or under rain. The station is usually clean but pretty deserted on the weekends (especially when they are doing track maintenance). It also gets fairly packed during rush hour. A lot of people live in this area, drive to this station, and then begin their mass transportation commute. I commend every single one of them — but that certainly makes for a sizable commute!

Very convenient way to travel to DC. Parking is easy to navigate. Now when you get to the station is when it all falls apart. The ticket buying system for people who do not use this system daily is a huge mess, you just stand in front of the machine and stare and read and stare and read, until you finally find a person to help you. And good luck with that too, one women could give a shit whether you needed help or not. We luckily found the man that cared about his job and being helpful to people. After paying an arm and a leg to take a little train we get down to the train area where there are no signs of any kind telling you which way trains are going or coming, when the next one will come and what line it will be. We just had good luck picking all our trains but it is just a confusing mess!

Lets start off with the good… The parking is pretty easy to get into and out of … and that’s about it. The way to get fares and passes is overly confusing to someone that does not use this daily, its just stupid to be that you have to add dollars and cents to fares just make them flat fees and make it easier for everyone’s fking life to understand.
Literally people were just standing there confused and unable to understand what to do or how the system worked. Not to mention the confusion once you get down to the trains of what line is what and what train goes where or that they call a train the blue line but it travels on the yellow lines route… I mean wtf dude! Who came up with this shit?! We are lucky we managed to get on the correct trains and not get lost in f%*kville or something. I had not used the metro in many years and it as just as confusing then, in retrospect next time I will just order some smart passes online so I dont have to deal with it next time. However the fact that you can get on a train that’s called one color. but travels on a route thats another color and then turns into red or green or amber is just stupid as all hell.

This is the closest Metro Station closest to my parent’s house and I’ve traveled from here a few times.
The staff have been really helpful in advising me about which passes to purchase and helped my dad save $ 6 be recommending the round-​trip pass instead of the All-​Day pass since we were only going to one location!
I know this advice seems obvious, but I really appreciated it, because I didn’t even know round-​trip passes existed!
I know, I need to get out more ;p

Springfield Metro station is not closed. Dunno why it’s marked as closed. View my other review.
Metro is decent. parking lot sucks. unsafe metro station.