MetroRail 4th of July Service Patterns

July 4th has always been a big day for the DC MetroRail. The organizers of the fireworks display on the National Mall always encourage visitors to take Metro downtown and the trains and buses keep running until everyone is off the mall. Train service is far more frequent during the day than on a normal Saturday even though they claim to be on a Saturday schedule. From 1977 until the mid 90s, barrels were set up at the faregates and the honor system was used to collect fares, but there is no saying how many people actually paid to get in. Since the mid-90s, fares have been collected all day on July 4th.

Beginning in 1999, Metro announced that a special service pattern would operate on MetroRail all day long on the 4th. This service plan was and is used because the travel patterns on the Fourth are different than those on a normal day, especially after the fireworks. There are no plans as of now to abandon this practice of different routings on the Fourth at this time.

Here are the service plans each year this plan has been run:

1999
Red	Shady Grove to Glenmont
Orange	Vienna to New Carrollton or Addison Road
Blue	Franconia-Springfield to U Street-Cardozo via Fenwick Bridge
Yellow	Huntington to Mount Vernon Square
Inner Green	U Street to Anacostia
Outer Green	Greenbelt to Farragut North via "Green Line Commuter Shortcut", extended to Grosvenor after fireworks
Shuttle	Rosslyn (upper level) to National Airport

2000
Red Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange Vienna to New Carrollton or Addison Road
Blue Franconia-Springfield to Mount Vernon Square via Fenwick Bridge
Yellow Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Green Greenbelt to Anacostia

2001
Red Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange Vienna to New Carrollton or Addison Road
Blue Franconia-Springfield to Mount Vernon Square via Fenwick Bridge
Yellow Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Green Greenbelt or U Street to Branch Avenue

2002
Red Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange Vienna to New Carrollton or Addison Road
Blue Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Yellow Franconia-Springfield to Mount Venon Square via Fenwick Bridge
Green Greenbelt or Fort Totten to Branch Avenue
Station Closings Smithsonian closed all day due to exits being in secured area on the Mall

2003
Red Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange Vienna to New Carrollton or Addison Road
Blue Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Yellow Franconia-Springfield to Mount Venon Square via Fenwick Bridge
Green Greenbelt or Fort Totten to Branch Avenue
Station Closings Smithsonian closed all day due to exits being in secured area on the Mall

2004
Red Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange Vienna to New Carrollton or Addison Road
Blue Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Yellow Franconia-Springfield to Mount Venon Square via Fenwick Bridge
Green Greenbelt or Fort Totten to Branch Avenue
Station Closings Smithsonian closed all day due to exits being in secured area on the Mall

2005
Red Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange Vienna to New Carrollton or Largo Town Center
Blue Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Yellow Franconia-Springfield to Mount Venon Square via Fenwick Bridge
Green Greenbelt or Fort Totten to Branch Avenue
Station Closings Smithsonian closed all day due to exits being in secured area on the Mall

2006
Red Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange Vienna to New Carrollton or Largo Town Center
Blue Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Yellow Franconia-Springfield to Mount Venon Square via Fenwick Bridge
Green Greenbelt or Fort Totten to Branch Avenue
Station Closings Smithsonian closed all day due to exits being in secured area on the Mall

2007
Red Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange Vienna to New Carrollton or Largo Town Center
Blue Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Yellow Franconia-Springfield to Mount Venon Square via Fenwick Bridge, no service to Fort Totten despite the "weekend" schedule
Green Greenbelt or Fort Totten to Branch Avenue
Station Closings Smithsonian closed all day due to exits being in secured area on the Mall

2008
Red Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange Vienna to New Carrollton or Largo Town Center
Blue Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Yellow Franconia-Springfield to Mount Venon Square via Fenwick Bridge, no service to Fort Totten despite the "weekend" schedule
Green Greenbelt or Fort Totten to Branch Avenue
Station Closings Smithsonian closed all day due to exits being in secured area on the Mall

For the rerouted services, special maps have been printed and taped over all regular maps in both stations and trains. Many people, including the webmaster, have taken maps off the trains following the fireworks as souvenirs. The webmaster does not have any maps available for purchase, sorry!

Below is a collection of pictures showing the strange sights and destination signs that are seen as a result of the special routings for the day. All pictures were taken on July 4th in the year noted below the picture.

Breda 4038 on the Blue Line at Huntington, 2003
Breda 3111 on the Blue Line at Eisenhower Avenue, 2003
Breda 3111 on the Blue Line at Arlington Cemetery, 2003

Breda 4000 on the Blue Line relaying at Rosslyn (upper level), 2003
Rohr 1139 on the Yellow Line Line at Van Dorn Street, 2003
Rohr 1200 on the Yellow Line Line at Van Dorn Street, 2003

2003
2003
2003

2003
Breda 3003 on the Orange Line at East Falls Church, note the Blue sign in the bulkhead door, 2003
2003

Breda 3006 on the Blue Line wrong railing to Arlington Cemetery. All Blue Lines terminated on the upper level at Rosslyn so they had to wrong-rail to Arlington Cemetery on their way back to Huntington. 2003.
2003
2003

2004
Breda 2003 at Rosslyn, 2004
Breda 2003 at Huntington, 2004

2004
A compromise on the part of the PIMS display at Huntington, 2004
The train in the station at this time was a Yellow Line but it was going to Franconia-Springfield, not Huntington, 2004

Breda 4052 at Largo Town Center, 2005
Breda 4052 at Largo Town Center, 2005
2005

2005
2005

MetroBus service operates on a Saturday schedule with detours around festivities. The other regional bus systems are on Saturday or Sunday schedules. The only real difference about MetroBuses on the Fourth is they have flags on the sides above the windshield. These flags tend to stay on the buses for several days afterwards. For pictures, visit the bus photo galleries in the Washington, DC section.

Back to Washington, DC

This line has been in operation since

2000
Red	Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange	Vienna to New Carrollton or Addison Road
Blue	Franconia-Springfield to Mount Vernon Square via Fenwick Bridge
Yellow	Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Green	Greenbelt to Anacostia

2001
Red	Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange	Vienna to New Carrollton or Addison Road
Blue	Franconia-Springfield to Mount Vernon Square via Fenwick Bridge
Yellow	Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Green	Greenbelt or U Street to Branch Avenue

2002
Red	Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange	Vienna to New Carrollton or Addison Road
Blue	Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Yellow	Franconia-Springfield to Mount Venon Square via Fenwick Bridge
Green	Greenbelt or Fort Totten to Branch Avenue
Station Closings	Smithsonian closed all day due to exits being in secured area on the Mall

2003
Red	Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange	Vienna to New Carrollton or Addison Road
Blue	Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Yellow	Franconia-Springfield to Mount Venon Square via Fenwick Bridge
Green	Greenbelt or Fort Totten to Branch Avenue
Station Closings	Smithsonian closed all day due to exits being in secured area on the Mall

2004
Red	Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange	Vienna to New Carrollton or Addison Road
Blue	Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Yellow	Franconia-Springfield to Mount Venon Square via Fenwick Bridge
Green	Greenbelt or Fort Totten to Branch Avenue
Station Closings	Smithsonian closed all day due to exits being in secured area on the Mall

2005
Red	Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange	Vienna to New Carrollton or Largo Town Center
Blue	Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Yellow	Franconia-Springfield to Mount Venon Square via Fenwick Bridge
Green	Greenbelt or Fort Totten to Branch Avenue
Station Closings	Smithsonian closed all day due to exits being in secured area on the Mall

2006
Red	Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange	Vienna to New Carrollton or Largo Town Center
Blue	Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Yellow	Franconia-Springfield to Mount Venon Square via Fenwick Bridge
Green	Greenbelt or Fort Totten to Branch Avenue
Station Closings	Smithsonian closed all day due to exits being in secured area on the Mall

2007
Red	Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange	Vienna to New Carrollton or Largo Town Center
Blue	Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Yellow	Franconia-Springfield to Mount Venon Square via Fenwick Bridge, no service to Fort Totten despite the "weekend" schedule
Green	Greenbelt or Fort Totten to Branch Avenue
Station Closings	Smithsonian closed all day due to exits being in secured area on the Mall

2008
Red	Shady Grove to Glenmont or Silver Spring
Orange	Vienna to New Carrollton or Largo Town Center
Blue	Huntington to Rosslyn (upper level)
Yellow	Franconia-Springfield to Mount Venon Square via Fenwick Bridge, no service to Fort Totten despite the "weekend" schedule
Green	Greenbelt or Fort Totten to Branch Avenue
Station Closings	Smithsonian closed all day due to exits being in secured area on the Mall

Breda 4038 on the Blue Line at Huntington, 2003	Breda 3111 on the Blue Line at Eisenhower Avenue, 2003	Breda 3111 on the Blue Line at Arlington Cemetery, 2003
Breda 4000 on the Blue Line relaying at Rosslyn (upper level), 2003	Rohr 1139 on the Yellow Line Line at Van Dorn Street, 2003	Rohr 1200 on the Yellow Line Line at Van Dorn Street, 2003
2003	2003	2003
2003	Breda 3003 on the Orange Line at East Falls Church, note the Blue sign in the bulkhead door, 2003	2003
Breda 3006 on the Blue Line wrong railing to Arlington Cemetery. All Blue Lines terminated on the upper level at Rosslyn so they had to wrong-rail to Arlington Cemetery on their way back to Huntington. 2003.	2003	2003
2004	Breda 2003 at Rosslyn, 2004	Breda 2003 at Huntington, 2004
2004	A compromise on the part of the PIMS display at Huntington, 2004	The train in the station at this time was a Yellow Line but it was going to Franconia-Springfield, not Huntington, 2004
Breda 4052 at Largo Town Center, 2005	Breda 4052 at Largo Town Center, 2005	2005
2005	2005