Inauguration Day Brings Metro Station Closures, Other Service Impacts In D.C. Area

WASHINGTON, DC — Inauguration Day for President-elect Donald Trump, which falls on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Jan. 20, will have an impact on Metro riders.

Many employees and students will have the day off for the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday. However, people heading to D.C. will experience busier Metro stations and closures.

By request of the United States Secret Service and the United States Capitol Police, Metro is opening its rail service early at 4 a.m. on Jan. 20 to accommodate crowds. Inauguration attendees will have specific Metro stations with security entrances listed on their tickets. Those stations are Union Station, Judiciary Square, Capitol South and Federal Center SW.

Metro will provide signage and staff to direct riders.

"Inaugurations are typically high ridership events," Metro said in a news release. "Be prepared for long lines, full trains and buses, and the possibility of intermittent delays due to large crowds."

D.C. government has also provided an inauguration information web page detailing road closures, security information and other preparations for the event.

Several Metro stations will be closed from 8 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 19, through 5 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan 21.

On the Blue, Orange and Silver Lines, the McPherson Square, Federal Triangle and Smithsonian stations will be closed. On the Green and Yellow Lines, the Mount Vernon Square-Convention Center and Archives-Navy Memorial stations will be closed. The Pentagon station on the Blue and Yellow lines will be closed on Jan. 20. Trains will bypass closed stations.

Some downtown station entrances will be closed, as well. From 8 p.m. on Jan. 19 to 5 a.m. on Jan. 21, the 13th and G St. NW and 12th and F St. NW entrances at Metro Center and 17th and I St. NW entrance at Farragut West will be closed. The Gallery Place 7th and F St. NW entrance will be closed on Jan. 19 until 10 p.m. The Judiciary Square F Street/National Building Museum entrance will be closed from 4 p.m. on Jan. 19 to 5 a.m. to Jan. 20.

In addition, the Union Station Metro station cannot be accessed through the Amtrak/Union Station entrance from 4 p.m. on Jan. 20 to 5 a.m. on Jan. 21. Entrances at First Street NE and Massachusetts Avenue NE will remain open.

Metro says riders should expect crowding at other stations, including L’Enfant Plaza, Gallery Place, Metro Center, Dupont Circle and Foggy Bottom in D.C. and Pentagon City, Crystal City and Rosslyn in Virginia.

Additional Metrorail service will run from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Jan. 20. Red Line trains will run every 4 minutes, and other lines will run every 8 minutes. The Yellow Line will extend to Greenbelt.

Metro hours are 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Jan. 17, 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Jan. 18, 7 a.m. to midnight on Jan. 19, and 4 a.m. to midnight on Jan. 20. Metrobus will run on a Saturday Supplemental schedule and will have detours in downtown D.C. from Jan. 18 to 21. MetroAccess subscription trips are cancelled on Jan. 20.

Metro will sell a special inauguration SmarTrip card with a picture of Trump starting Jan. 15 at the Ashburn, Forest Glen, Franconia-Springfield, Glenmont, Greenbelt, King St-Old Town, L’Enfant Plaza, Metro Center, Navy Yard-Ballpark, New Carrollton, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Shady Grove, Stadium-Armory, Union Station, Vienna and Washington Dulles International Airport stations. Cards will be in select fare vending machines.