West Falls Church station

West Falls Church
VT / UVA Orange Line

The center track, used for train storage
Location 7040 Haycock Road
Falls Church, VA 22043
Owned by Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Line(s) Orange Line Orange Line
Platforms 2 island platforms
Tracks 3
Connections Metrobus: 3T, 28A
Fairfax Connector
Loudoun County Transit
OmniRide Commuter
Construction
Structure type Surface
Parking 2,009 spaces
Bicycle facilities 40 racks, 22 lockers
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Station code K06
History
Opened June 7, 1986 (June 7, 1986)
Previous names

West Falls Church (1986-1999)

West Falls Church/VT-UVA (1999-2011)
Traffic
Passengers (2015) 3051 daily [1] Decrease 71.21%
Services
Preceding station   Washington Metro   Following station
toward Vienna
Orange Line

West Falls Church is a Washington Metro station in Idylwood, Virginia on the Orange Line, the first station inside the beltway on the Orange Line going east. It is one of only two stations in the system to have three tracks, the other being the National Airport station. The center track is used for train storage, and for relaying trains to the adjacent Falls Church Yard.

A view of the east end of the platforms, open to the weather. The Silver Line viaduct can be seen in the distance

The station serves the suburban community of Falls Church and the Northern Virginia Center operated by Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia. While the station has a street address on Haycock Road, it is physically located in the median of Interstate 66 near Virginia State Route 7 (Leesburg Pike); riders access the platform and mezzanine by means of an elevated walkway from the parking area. The initialisms for the two universities were added to the station's name in 1999, two years after the dedication of the shared graduate center. These initialisms were moved to a subtitle location on November 3, 2011.[2] Service began on June 7, 1986.

This is a major suburban transfer station, as many commuter buses that serve communities near the Dulles Toll and Access Roads (Virginia State Route 267) connect to the Metro system at West Falls Church using a bus-only exit from the Access Road. These buses include Fairfax Connector to points within Fairfax including Reston and Herndon, Metrobus to Tysons Corner, and Loudoun County Transit reverse commute routes to businesses including AOL and MCI and transfer points in Dulles.

With the opening of the Silver Line on July 26, 2014, many commuter bus routes that formerly terminated at West Falls Church were rerouted to instead terminate at locations along the new Silver Line stations in Tysons Corner and Reston. [3] West Falls Church was also the original staging point for Washington Flyer buses to Dulles Airport, but this shifted to Wiehle-Reston East with the opening of the Silver Line.[4]

The Silver Line joins the Orange Line via a flying junction immediately east of this station but does not serve the station. Plans originally called for the Silver Line to stop at West Falls Church, but it was cut out of the final plan.

Station layout

P
Platform level		 Westbound ← Orange Line Orange Line toward Vienna (Dunn Loring)
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Center track No regular service
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Eastbound → Orange Line Orange Line toward New Carrollton (East Falls Church) →
M Mezzanine One-way faregates, ticket machines, station agent
G Street Level Exit/ Entrance

References

  1. ↑ "Metrorail Average Weekday Passenger Boardings" (PDF). WMATA. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
  2. ↑ "Station names updated for new map" (Press release). Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 2011-11-03. Archived from the original on 2011-11-05. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  3. ↑ "Bus service changes to Silver Line". Fox 5 DC. 2014-07-23. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  4. ↑ http://prod.flydulles.com/iad/silver-line-express-bus-metrorail-station?_ga=1.145912374.347950824.1441369453

Media related to West Falls Church (WMATA station) at Wikimedia Commons

Bus bays at West Falls Church station

Coordinates: 38°54′03″N 77°11′21″W / 38.900773°N 77.189298°W / 38.900773; -77.189298

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.