The Red Line of the Washington Metro consists of 27 subway stations from Shady Grove to Glenmont. It has stations in Montgomery County and Prince George's County, Maryland and the District of Columbia. This was the first line in the Metrorail system, and is the primary line through downtown Washington. It is the only line which does not share its track with any other line, except for a few years when it shared with the then-under construction Green Line.
History
Service on the Red Line (and the Metro as a whole) began on March 29, 1976 on five stations between Farragut North and Rhode Island Ave. Gallery Pl-Chinatown's opening was delayed due to a court order regarding lack of handicapped access, but it opened in the middle of the line on December 15, 1976.
The western end of the line was extended one station to Dupont Circle on January 17, 1977, three stations to Van Ness-UDC on December 5, 1981, five stations to Grosvenor-Strathmore on August 25, 1984, and four stations to Shady Grove on December 15, 1984.
The eastern end was extended four stations to Silver Spring on February 6, 1978 (adding Maryland to the system for the first time), two stations to Wheaton on September 22, 1990 and one station to Glenmont on July 25, 1998, completing the line.
A short time after the Green Line branch north of Fort Totten opened, the Green Line Shortcut began as a six month experiment, allowing passengers to get on a train on the Green Line segment and travel as far as Farragut North without having to switch trains at Fort Totten. Due to its success, it was continued until the mid-city portion of the Green Line was completed.
A new station, New York Ave-Florida Ave-Gallaudet U, located between Union Station and Rhode Island Ave-Brentwood, opened on schedule on November 20, 2004.
List of stations, west to east
See also: List of Washington Metro stations
