East Falls Church station

East Falls Church station is an island platformed Washington Metro station in Arlington County, Virginia, on the Orange and Silver Lines. East Falls Church station is the last aboveground, at-grade, or open-cut station for eastbound trains until Minnesota Avenue. East of this station, the trains enter tunnels.

East Falls Church
East Falls Church station's platform facing west in May 2010
General information
Location	Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Coordinates	38.8859763°N 77.1568243°W / 38.8859763; -77.1568243
Owned by	Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Bus stands	4
Connections	Metrobus: 2A, 3F, 3Y, 26A, 28A Arlington Transit: 52, 53, 55 Fairfax Connector: 715, 803 Washington & Old Dominion Trail
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Parking	422 spaces
Bicycle facilities	Capital Bikeshare, 12 racks, 6 lockers, secure parking room
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	K05
History
Opened	June 7, 1986; 38 years ago (June 7, 1986)
Rebuilt	2020
Passengers
2023	1,891 daily[1]
Rank	53 out of 98
Services
Preceding station Washington Metro Following station West Falls Church toward Vienna Orange Line Ballston–MU toward New Carrollton McLean toward Ashburn Silver Line Ballston–MU toward Downtown Largo
Location

The station serves the communities of Falls Church and Arlington. It is located in the median of Interstate 66 near Lee Highway (U.S. Route 29). Service began on June 7, 1986. A parking lot with 422 spaces sits on the Lee Highway side of the station.

Transit-oriented development

East Falls Church has the least transit-oriented development of the six stations on the Orange Line in Arlington County. Unlike the stations from Rosslyn to Ballston, East Falls Church station is in the median of Interstate 66, where it is difficult to access for pedestrians.^[2] As of 2018, Arlington County was considering plans to develop the site.^[3]

History

The station was built as part of the final westward extension of the Orange Line to Vienna.,^[4] a 9.1-mile (14.6 km) stretch west of the Ballston–MU station. It opened on June 7, 1986, along with the West Falls Church, Dunn Loring, and Vienna stations.^[4]

When the Silver Line began service on July 26, 2014, East Falls Church became the final transfer point before its split with the Orange Line.^[5]

In May 2018, Metro announced an extensive renovation of platforms at 20 stations. The East Falls Church station platform was to have been be rebuilt starting in early 2021.^[6] However, due to low ridership caused by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, platform reconstruction began one year early, along with other maintenance and repair projects on all stations to the west.^[7] This station was one of 19 WMATA stations closed due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.^[8][9] The station was further closed due to the platform reconstruction and Silver Line phase two tie-in projects that closed stations west of Ballston–MU station.^[10][7] Shuttle buses began serving the station on June 28, 2020.^[11] Trains began bypassing the station on August 16, 2020, when work was nearly done. The station was reopened on August 23, 2020.^[12]

From June 3 to 26, 2023, the station was closed for track replacement, along with other stations west of Ballston–MU station.^[13]

Station layout

Similar to all stations within the Interstate 66 median apart from West Falls Church, East Falls Church has a simple island platform setup with two tracks. An exit in the central part of the platform leads to a mezzanine on the western side of North Sycamore Street. The station's parking lot and bus bays are to the north of this exit at the southwestern corner of the intersection of North Sycamore Street and North Washington Boulevard.^[2]

References

1. "Metrorail Ridership Summary". Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
2. "Station Vicinity Map: East Falls Church" (PDF). WMATA. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
3. "East Falls Church Planning at a Glance". arlingtonva.us. Projects & Planning. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
4. Lynton, Stephen J. (June 8, 1986), "9.1 more miles for Metrorail", The Washington Post, p. C1
5. "All aboard! Metro's new Silver Line rolls down the tracks for the first time". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
6. "Metro wants to rebuild 20 station platforms over three years, creating SafeTrack-like disruptions". Washington Post. May 7, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
7. "Platform Improvement Project". www.wmata.com. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
8. "Special Covid-19 System Map" (PDF). Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 27, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
9. "Metrorail stations closed due to COVID-19 pandemic". Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. March 23, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
10. "Metro to use upcoming low-ridership summer to maximum effect, expands Orange, Silver line shutdown". www.wmata.com. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
11. "Metro to reopen 15 stations, reallocate bus service to address crowding, starting Sunday | WMATA". www.wmata.com. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
12. "Metro announces reopening of East Falls Church and Arlington Cemetery stations on Aug. 23". WJLA. August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
13. "Metro Closes 4 Orange, Silver Line Stations in Virginia for Weeks, Impacting Travel to Dulles Airport". June 2023.

External links

• WMATA East Falls Church station page

• The Schumin Web Transit Center: East Falls Church Station
• Sycamore Street entrance from Google Maps Street View