Rosslyn station
Rosslyn is the westernmost station on the shared segment of the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines of the Washington Metro. It is located in the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, United States. Rosslyn is the first station in Virginia heading westward from the District on the Orange and Silver Lines and southward on the Blue Lines. It is one of four interchange points on the Metrorail system west of the Potomac River and located in a growing business district. Depending on the year, Rosslyn is the busiest, or one of the busiest stations outside the District of Columbia , along with and , which are also in Arlington, and Silver Spring and Shady Grove in Montgomery County, Maryland. Rosslyn is the biggest choke point of the Metro system. Due to this, planners are considering adding another station in the Rosslyn neighborhood, possibly as part of an inner loop through Washington and Arlington. Location. The station has entrances on the west side of North Moore Street between Wilson Boulevard and 19th Street North and on the east side of Fort Myer Drive between Wilson Boulevard and 19th Street North. A bank of three high-speed street elevators to the mezzanine (upper ) level of the station is on the east side of North Moore Street, across the street from the station entrance. The station is a stop for several express Metrobus lines, including the 5A to Washington Dulles International Airport and L'Enfant Plaza. History. The station opened on July 1, 1977. Its opening coincided with the completion of of rail between National Airport and RFK Stadium and the opening of the , , , , , , , , , McPherson Square, , , , , and stations. Orange Line service to the station began upon the line's opening on November 20, 1978. Station layout. Rosslyn is one of two stations (the other being  the station on the Blue and Yellow Lines) at which westbound trains serve a platform that is a level below the mezzanine-level platform for eastbound trains. This allows for trains to converge inbound and diverge outbound via a flying junction to avoid an at-grade crossing. This ensures that no trains traveling in opposite directions share a track. An indicator sign at the south end of the station flashes to inform passengers of the arriving train's destination, showing Orange for Vienna, Blue for Franconia-Springfield, and Silver for Reston. This feature is only used at final transfer stations ; another example being Stadium-Armory station. Rosslyn is the deepest station on the three lines servicing it. The mezzanine and upper platform are below the Fort Myer Drive street-level entrance; the lower platform is below the entrance. This because its neighborhood is on a bluff over the Potomac River, while its shared rail line into Washington passes through a rock-bored tunnel up to beneath the river surface. The station's depth also takes advantage of the strength and watertightness of the bedrock below the surface. An escalator ride between the street and mezzanine levels takes about three minutes . It is one of three stations on the Metro with platform-level fare gates and elevators (the other two being the and stations). A new bank of three high-speed elevators and an expanded mezzanine opened officially on October 7, 2013. It replaces the original single street elevator, cutting elevator transit time from about a minute to about 17 seconds. The underground hallway to the new elevator bank contains a four-coffered arch like most underground stops on the Red Line that were opened after 1980. This is the only stop on the Blue, Orange, and Silver Lines with this  arch. It is also the only stop in the system that contains both the waffle and four-coffer arch design.