WASHINGTON — Metro opened up 15 of its rail stations on Sunday after closing those locations due to the COVID-19 coronavirus. 14 additional bus stops will open back up on Monday.
The announcement by WMATA comes as D.C. started Phase 2 of reopening Monday, June 22, which included the reopening of retail stores, restaurants and bars.
The rail stations that reopened Sunday: Federal Center Southwest; Federal Triangle; Mount Vernon Square; Judiciary Square; Archives Smithsonian; Greensboro; Eisenhower Avenue; Virginia Square; East Falls Church; McLean; Van Dorn Street; Clarendon; Cleveland Park; Grosvenor-Strathmore; Cheverly; College Park; Morgan Boulevard.
Three stations on the Orange and Silver lines — Greensboro, East Falls Church and McLean — have reopened with shuttle bus service due to the ongoing platform reconstruction work at East Falls Church.
Metro announced on March 17 the drastically reduced service as stay-at-home orders were issued, reducing the number of bus lines and rail stations in addition to scaling back on train frequency to every 30 minutes.
"Metro acted quickly, at the earliest stages of the pandemic, to protect front line employees, customers and the general public," said Metro in its statement. "Many of those protections will continue as the region reopens, including frequent cleaning of buses, trains and high-touch surfaces, rear-door boarding, supply conservation, and a requirement that all customers and employees wear face coverings or masks on all trains, buses and stations."
Buses on Monday will be added to the system’s 14 busiest bus lines to provide more capacity and more frequent service as the region reopens, said Metro officials.
To make these additions possible, Metro will temporarily suspend bus service on four routes that currently have extremely low ridership — NH2, C14, G2 and M6. Metro is asking customers along these routes are asked to use other Metrobus routes nearby.
In addition, selected entrances for certain rail stations will reopen at Anacostia, Farragut North, Dupont Circle, Metro Center, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, U Street, Gallery Place-Chinatown, Friendship Heights, and L’Enfant Plaza. Metro had originally closed these entrances in March to conserve critical cleaning supplies at the early stages of its pandemic response.
Arlington Cemetery is the only Metrorail station without regular service, as Arlington National Cemetery is closed to the general public because of the pandemic.
Rear door boarding will continue until further notice, said Metro
Metro also says that it cannot guarantee social distancing safety, and is still asking those who take rail and bus travel in the area to consider different transportation options when they can.
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