I was in Washington to see the parade and fireworks for the 4th of July. We stayed at a courtyard that was one block from the Navy Yard stop.
The management who planned for the 4th did a great job. They changed operating patters on the yellow line so that the yellow line trains ran from Franconia Springfield to Ft Totten rather than originating in Huntington. They increased the frequencies on the Orange line between Vienna and the mall area by having orange line trains run on both branches at the east end (new Carrolton and Largo town center). The blue line operated only from Huntington to Rosalyn.
These alterations allowed more people to easily get into DC for the festivities.
Getting to and from the fireworks was a piece of cake. We left the hotel, took a short metro ride from Navy Yard to Gallery place/China town. Had dinner at Legal sea foods which is less than a block from the 7th street exit of that station. AFter dinner we rode to federal center south, which left us only a two block walk to a security entrance on the mall. These trips were made with minimum wait time. It was obvious that metro had ramped up its operations. There were always seats available on these trains.
After the fireworks, the metro provided a clinic as to how to move masses of people efficiently. We made our way back to Federal Center south, and easily entered the paid fare area. The platforms were crowded, but additional staff made sure that people spread out. This worked well. We waited 2 minutes for a train going towards Vienna. I saw an empty train pass going the other way. It was probably going to switch over and come back on the way to Vienna.
We boarded our train and rode to L'Enfant plaza, and easily made our way up to the green line/yellow line platform. A yellow line train entered the mobbed station. and people crowded aboard. That train pulled out, and as the last car cleared the station I could see the green train entering the station. The lights on the edge of the platform never stopped blinking. There were seats available. Signs on the platform indicated that a yellow train was 1 minute behind the green train. We pulled out and two stops later we were back a Navy Yard.
The fireworks ended at 9:30, and we were back in our hotel by 10:05. We did not have to wait for a second train at either station. In fact we got back faster than normal because of the increased service. I was impressed.
The management who planned for the 4th did a great job. They changed operating patters on the yellow line so that the yellow line trains ran from Franconia Springfield to Ft Totten rather than originating in Huntington. They increased the frequencies on the Orange line between Vienna and the mall area by having orange line trains run on both branches at the east end (new Carrolton and Largo town center). The blue line operated only from Huntington to Rosalyn.
These alterations allowed more people to easily get into DC for the festivities.
Getting to and from the fireworks was a piece of cake. We left the hotel, took a short metro ride from Navy Yard to Gallery place/China town. Had dinner at Legal sea foods which is less than a block from the 7th street exit of that station. AFter dinner we rode to federal center south, which left us only a two block walk to a security entrance on the mall. These trips were made with minimum wait time. It was obvious that metro had ramped up its operations. There were always seats available on these trains.
After the fireworks, the metro provided a clinic as to how to move masses of people efficiently. We made our way back to Federal Center south, and easily entered the paid fare area. The platforms were crowded, but additional staff made sure that people spread out. This worked well. We waited 2 minutes for a train going towards Vienna. I saw an empty train pass going the other way. It was probably going to switch over and come back on the way to Vienna.
We boarded our train and rode to L'Enfant plaza, and easily made our way up to the green line/yellow line platform. A yellow line train entered the mobbed station. and people crowded aboard. That train pulled out, and as the last car cleared the station I could see the green train entering the station. The lights on the edge of the platform never stopped blinking. There were seats available. Signs on the platform indicated that a yellow train was 1 minute behind the green train. We pulled out and two stops later we were back a Navy Yard.
The fireworks ended at 9:30, and we were back in our hotel by 10:05. We did not have to wait for a second train at either station. In fact we got back faster than normal because of the increased service. I was impressed.
