Metro Center Station

I am comparing theDC metro to the subway of my youth, the Boston MBTA. This system is heads and shoulders above Boston.
This is the easiest way around DC. The metro that I used was at the Navy Yard and we went to the Washington Capitals game. First fairly easy way down to the station itself. You get a card that you can add funds to. The system worked well, follow the directions and boom you have a card with funds. Then you go to the gate, easy peasy you place card on symbol and in you go. The station is clean well organized and we went four stops to china town and the Verizon center. No worry about parking, and traffic.
The ride was easy and all in all took about 15 minutes. Much faster than driving. There were seats available and the train itself was clean. DC did the subway right. My advice is if you are a novice as I was, google locations and metro lines. That way no surprises or stress. The location of the Verizon center was not easily located on the map at the station. Cheap fast comfortable. DC metro in three words.

Bottom Line: Metro Center is not as glamorous as it seems it should be but the station serves its purposes and is a transfer point for the Orange, Silver, Blue and Red lines.
With a name like Metro Center I kinda expect this to be some star-​stunning Metro station where all seven lines intersect; however, that is not the case. For one, all of the Metro stations are rather pedestrian and for two, only four lines connect through here. (L’Enfant holds the title for the most connections since five lines cruise through there.)
While some Metro stations are a single level, its important to note that Metro Center has an upstairs and downstairs. Orange, Silver and Blue trains are downstairs while the Red Train is upstairs. You may need to go upstairs or downstairs to cross to the other side of the tracks depending on where you are going.

This is a popular stop since you can switch to other lines. The station gets really crowded at peak hours. I try to make travel plans other than rush hour. Whenever I have an issue with my card not working or need help, the staff are always nice.

My preferred transfer point. I’ve gotten so used to getting out here that I really should just set an alarm so I could possibly get a quick nap in. I’m usually so pumped up on caffeine and reading in the mornings and then playing games in the way home.

Mi primera vez en esta estación, buena organización y muy fácil de entender las rutas, hay personas para ayudarte todo el tiempo

Metro is very professional when it comes to keeping this station clean and safe. Huge plus (A+) in my book. This station is used by several of the metro lines… Green, blue, red, yellow, and silver.
The station can get overcrowded at times, especially during rush hour. Whenever this happens, I will wait for a train car that’s either last or first of the train. When you attempt to go for a center train car, you’ll get packed in with 20+ passengers like a sardine in a sardine can.

This station can get busy and because the red line trains come down the middle you have to make sure you are on the correct side of the track. Since I don’t take red line trains as often as the ones that service Virginia this has sometimes left me trying to pick the correct side. I can only imagine how disorienting it can be for folks visiting the area. During rush hour traffic, especially if a line is experiencing problems, those platforms can be crowded. Also of note, this is the only metro station where I have felt threatened/​endangered by others in the station — no one with the metro logo stepped in or even showed interest as threats were being yelled at me, I just kept moving and thankfully a train came.
All that said this is a large and central station that Metro does a pretty good job of keeping operational, clean, and safe.

Although metro’s attempts to keep working escalators has been nonsupregent, the metro center station gives great access to the same area that is accessed by the gallery place station, which, I have found, tends to be more crowded.

Taxi from Union Station to my hotel (2 miles away) was $ 10.50 with tip. Took the subway back to Union Station for $ 2.75. Very patient booth transit worker showed me how to buy the ticket, which machine to use and how to get to the Red Line. The subway station itself is quite grand and imposing. Was a fun, fast, and inexpensive way to get to Union.

Yesterday I Had a super safe time navigating my way from the lower platform up to the upper platform. However, I noticed that 1 of the octagonal floor tiles was missing on the Glenmont side of the platform. It could catch someone’s shoe and cause them to trip and fall. I’ve Already taken a picture of it.

A pretty whatever station. I mean, all DC stations pretty much look and feel the same. Because this stop is a hub, it gets pretty busy at times, but it’s nothing that’s really unmanageable.
I ride the Blue Line here and it’s a smooth ride. I’ve never had any problems. Like some people have mentioned before, the trains can be kind of nasty sometimes. The car I was riding on had a big olé puke stain on the carpet of the seat next to mine. The stain looked pretty fresh, too, as it still looked like it had some chunks in it. Just a warning.
This stop is really convenient, both because of how many transfers come through here and also because of its location. It’s conveniently located to all the touristy things you’d want to do (but then again, everything in DC is pretty walkable).

For someone who comes from a city without a metro, this experience was so so for me. The system itself was not hard to learn and maps were everywhere and in the cars for assistance. I will agree with a previous Unilocaler in that buying the cards initially was difficult. My husband AF I were definitely confused. Apparently, it was evident because some nice local guy stopped to assist us before boarding himself. I don’t know what we would have done without him.
I’m confused as to why the Unilocaler said she had to pay to leave the station. You’re not actually paying to leave the station. You’re paying for the leg of the trip you just traveled. I’m assuming by scanning your card or ticket it is just tracking it from the last time you scanned it, and then deducting the necessary amount. When going into the station, it’s just giving you your balance. Am I wrong here? Seems pretty self explanatory to me.

Worst. Metro. Station. System. Ever. I live in NYC so I know how bad the trains can get but DC probably has the worst station system that I’ve ever encountered.
First off, buying the fare is confusing enough to get. Depending on where you want to go to, that’s how much you pay. Basically, it’s too much. I wanted to travel to Georgetown with my friends and explore the area but we were so confused on how to buy the metro cards. Thankfully, the station lady was very kind and helpful. If you want to enter the station, you have to tap your card and the slots will open. FYI, it’s one card per person and there’s no «sharing allowed». Stupid, right? The even stupider part was that you have to pay a fare to leave the station also. can you believe that? You have to pay to leave or you’re basically stuck there and what if you had no money? Oops, can’t get out. It’s ridiculous and there’s no transfers either. In NYC, after you use the train or bus, you would get another transfer that expires after 2 hrs to get into another train station or a different bus. This is the capital and I would’ve expected something similar to the subway system in NYC but no, it’s worse than that. There’s carpeting in the trains itself also. It’s absurd that you have to pay to get out, I was baffled when I heard that. I guess if you’re a tourist, you can’t avoid not taking the metro unless you ride in a taxi or have your own car. All in all, I hate the metro system here. I thought NYC’s subway stations were bad but it’s heaven compared to the ones here.

One of the transfer stations. Upstairs red line. Downstairs are the orange, blue and silver lines.
Very busy during rush hour.
Clean station.

Super busy hub in the DC Metro System. It’s packed… all the time, probably because it houses the red, orange and blue lines.
I am not a huge fan of having to change trains or exit at this stop, mainly because I find it dimly lit and hard to navigate. This is one of the stations that you sometimes have to take the escalator «up»… walk across the platform, take the escalator down and cross again to get to your desired train or exit. Maybe it’s just me, but that whole process confuses me, factor in the arrows that appear to be pointing in random directions and I find myself overwhelmed almost every time I come here.
I did have a pretty nasty experience with a Vienna station employee that made me realize how helpful the employees at Metro Center are, that along with the overall cleanliness of the station is my reason for a 3 star rating!

This is my first review of anything in DC. It will be the touchstone of a blog, «Victorian Chick’s Debacle in DC,» because of all the things I dislike about our nation’s Capitol, the Metro tops the list. I don’t even know that I can cover everything without bumping up against the character limit, but here goes:
1. Ugly, brown, dark, cave-​like and evocative of science fiction (which I despise).
2. Carpeted cars. It looks like years of puke, pee and poop in some documentary history of Metro passengers with carpet the canvas. (BART smells worse, so I can conclude only that homeless pee smells worse than non-​homeless pee).
3. Dysfunctional and idiotic machines. Forrest Gump could work an MTA machine, where fares are uniform. But I understand why the Metro, like the BART, must have different fares. The problem is that no one is there to help you and you need some kind of cartography degree to figure this thing out. There are no touch screens and you have to use these ancient white plastic buttons to pay for your fare card (3.10 from Bethesda, say, to Dupont Circle).
But it gets worse. Like the BART, you need your fare card to get out, a sadistic touch if you ask me, because the only way anyone would voluntarily spend even two extra minutes in that hellhole is if forced to do so. If you lose or drop the card, you have to pay double.
If you’re buying a new card, rather than refilling an old one (and I’m not even sure if that’s possible), you have to *add* this to the fare. How is a tourist supposed to know that when there is no one to help and no way to decipher that mess of a display. The machine is very large and when I want to catch a subway, I don’t want to spend 15 minutes deciphering this contraption.
Then there is the fact that the machines don’t often work. Metro Station is worse than Dupont on this score. There were lines of people frantic about missing trains and of course the sullen, rude DC Metro workers are not authorized to sell you a ticket. In New York, there are restrictions on buying a Metro Card from a kiosk, but I had problems with a credit card and gave the nice guy at Spring Street (patiently helping irritating customers in front of me) a 10 dollar bill and I was then good to go.
4. Charmless. NYPD Blue, one of the greatest police dramas of all time, made the MTA the backdrop for its main title, an iconic piece of music by Mike Post. No one would set anything other than a sci-​fi nightmare in the DC Metro.
5. Ugly colors in the cars.
6. Passengers who look like they’re in a psych unit sedated with massive amounts of Thorazine. It’s the most depressed group of individuals I’ve ever seen in my life. A DC friend of Mom’s, 74, asked why the Metro is more depressing. Well, beyond ugly, it’s that there are no signs of life (or intellect) in the Metro’s passengers. No one is reading books or newspapers. It’s just a Thoreauvian «lives of quiet desperation» experience.
By contrast, the MTA is brimming with life, passion, energy, and stimulation. The only depressing part of the MTA are the homeless very late at night, or the exhausted, very poor people going to Jamaica after a second or third shift. Income inequality is depressing, but you can’t blame that on the MTA.
7. Broken escalators (both at Metro Center and Dupont). I asked how long the escalator at Metro Center had been broken. The answers ranged from 4 to 5 months. Excuse me? This stupid subway is very far down; what if you’re injured, old, handicapped or carrying big bags? Good news. There’s an elevator. But it only comes every five minutes and moves at a snail’s pace.
8. The cars have no beeping lights to indicate your arrival at a given station (that’s how older NYC trains work). The newer trains in New York have a readout: «Next stop, Canal Street.» The conductors at the DC Metro appear to be mutes. Or Chatty Cathys who pronounce «Judiciary» such that you think it might actually be another word.
9. The whole system is geared to screw tourists, which I don’t get. It’s not as if DC is such an appealing place that a disgraceful subway needs to warn people away. DC used to be affordable. Now it’s pricey. You’d think there would be a mass exodus out of a town where you can’t rely on mass transit and overpay for housing in a third-​rate New York. Yes, DC is physically gorgeous.
RENT A CAR or take cabs when coming from civilization (the North) to DC.
P. S. The money they don’t spend fixing escalators and installing modern elevators is clearly spent on cleaning the floors. I will say this: you can sit on the platforms and sob in despair without catching a disease. MTA platforms aren’t clean, but who cares? The MTA WORKS and gets you where you have to be, while lifting your spirits and exposing you to humanity and diversity – the hallmarks of New York.

This metro station is reasonably clean and has a sales center, complete with Tiffany style metro map themed lights. It’s a surprising thing to see down in the metro tunnels and really cool. There are a few places to eat and stores around the metro entrance. It’s not far from the white house district. As the name implies, it’s centrally located and is actually just blocks away from multiple other stops (for instance, there’s no point in going one stop from here on the Blue Line). Plan accordingly.

It’s the metro. All train lines converge here so it’s the easy center point for transfers. It’s pretty close to Verizon Center so a great getting off point for that too.

This is one of the meain station in Washington, DC. Rush hours are packed and full of people. People stand in next to the edge of plate form. My fear is falling in front of train. Train pack to the top and never find a set. I been using this stop all away back from the late 70’s. Track work was crazy.
try to go one station before and go back to get a seat before wave of people get on. Be sure you get you smart card filled with money. Keep you bag with you at all times. Have your head phone so you don’t have to hear any one ask for money.
Enjoy you travel in Metro rail.

On my first visit to DC, I found the Metro really easy to use and I appreciate that most stops are underground (warm on winter days!). There are maps everywhere and it’s easy to figure out. I kept forgetting that you have to use your pass again on the way out but it’s not hard to get the hang of. It’s nice to know that real humans operate the trains, but I kind of like how Chicago has the automated voice for all of the stops because there’s never a problem hearing them.

A major transfer point, and I usually transfer here between the Red and Blue Lines.
The station itself is a little dark, and can get very noisy at times. Be sure to follow the signs to the right line you’re looking for, and then you should be ok.