page_title: Washington Metro
section_title: Related non-WMATA projects
hierarchical_section_title: Washington Metro / Future expansion / Related non-WMATA projects
caption_attribution_description: English: Schematic map of the proposed Purple Line alignments in Maryland, including intersections with existing Washington Metro (WMATA) subway lines.
context_page_description: The Washington Metro, formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which also operates the Metrobus and Metrorail services under the Metro name. Opened in 1976, the network now includes six lines, 91 stations, and 117 miles of route.
  Metro serves the District of Columbia, as well as several jurisdictions in the states of Maryland and Virginia. In Maryland, Metro provides service to Montgomery and Prince George's counties; in Virginia, to Arlington and Fairfax counties and to the independent city of Alexandria. Combined with its ridership in the independent Virginia cities of Falls Church and Fairfax, the Metro service area is largely coextensive with the inner ring of the Washington metropolitan area. The system is currently being expanded to reach Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County, Virginia. It operates mostly as a deep-level subway in more densely populated parts of the D.C. metropolitan area, while most of the suburban tracks are at surface level or elevated.
context_section_description: A number of light rail and urban streetcar projects have been proposed to extend or supplement service provided by Metro. Like the Silver Line in Virginia, the proposed Purple Line has been in planning since the 1980s. The project was originally envisioned as a circular heavy rail line connecting the outer stations on each branch of the Metrorail system, in a pattern roughly mirroring the Capital Beltway. The current proposal would create a light rail system in Maryland between the Bethesda and New Carrollton stations by way of Silver Spring and College Park. Such a plan would connect both branches of the Red Line to the Green/Yellow and Orange Lines, and would decrease the travel time between suburban Metro stations.
  The Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) is a proposed 15-mile (24 km) bus rapid transit line that would link Clarksburg, Maryland, in northern Montgomery County with the Shady Grove station on the Red Line. Assuming that the anticipated federal, state, and local government funds are provided, construction of the first 9 miles (14 km) of the system would begin in 2018.
  In 2005, a Maryland lawmaker proposed a light rail system to connect areas of Southern Maryland, especially the rapidly growing area around the town of Waldorf, to the Branch Avenue station on the Green Line.
  The District of Columbia Department of Transportation is building the new D.C. Streetcar system to improve transit connectivity within the District. A tram line to connect Bolling Air Force Base to the Anacostia station and was originally expected to open in 2010. Streetcar routes have been proposed in the Atlas District, Capitol Hill, and the K Street corridor. After seven years of construction, the Atlas District route, known as the H/Benning Street route, opened on February 27, 2016.
  In 2013, the Georgetown Business Improvement District proposed a gondola lift between Georgetown and Rosslyn as an alternative to placing a Metro stop at Georgetown in its 2013–2028 economic plans. Washington, D.C and Arlington County have been conducting feasibility studies for it since 2016.
caption: Proposed route of the Purple Line
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