Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 17, 2007

The Washington Metro, or simply Metro, is the rapid transit system of Washington, D.C., and neighboring suburban communities in Maryland and Virginia, both inside and outside the Capital Beltway. In Maryland, service is provided in Prince George's County and Montgomery County; in Virginia, service extends to Fairfax County, Arlington County, and the city of Alexandria. The Metrorail (subway) system and the Metrobus (bus) network are owned and operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) &mdash; a multijurisdictional, quasi-governmental agency. WMATA also operates a paratransit service for the disabled called MetroAccess. However, the expression "Metro" usually refers to Metrorail exclusively. Since opening in 1976, the subway network has grown to five lines, consisting of 86 stations and 106.3 miles (171 km) of track. The original plan of 83 stations on 103 miles (165.5 km) was completed on January 13, 2001. There were 206 million trips on Metrorail in fiscal year 2006. The system is the second busiest in the United States, after the New York City Subway system, with about 700,000 trips taken on a typical weekday.