West Hyattsville station explained

West Hyattsville
Style:WMATA
Symbol:green
Symbol Location:washington
Address:2700 Hamilton Street
Borough:Hyattsville, Maryland
Platform:2 side platforms
Tracks:2
Structure:Elevated
Parking:453 spaces
Bicycle:Capital Bikeshare, 50 racks and 36 lockers
Passengers:1,511 daily[1]
Pass Year:2023
Pass Rank:67 out of 98
Rebuilt:2021
Accessible:Yes
Code:E07
Owned:Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Other Services Header:Former services
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Custom:
Shape:none
Line:none
Marker:rail-metro
Marker-Color:
  1. 000
Zoom:15

West Hyattsville station is a Washington Metro station in Hyattsville, Maryland on the Green Line. It is the first station in Prince George's County, Maryland northeast on the Green Line, and is located at 2700 Hamilton Street, near the west side of Ager Road and the north side of Queens Chapel Road.

With an average of 1,511 daily riders, West Hyattsville was the 67th-busiest Metro station in 2023.

History

The station was originally known as "Chillum" but was changed to "West Hyattsville" in 1979, well before services began on December 11, 1993.[2]

The Yellow Line began serving West Hyattsville as of June 18, 2012 when the Metro Rush+ Initiative was introduced, which extended the Yellow Line from Fort Totten all the way up to Greenbelt, by way of the already existing Green Line Metrorail Train tracks, during weekday rush hour/peak period commuter times. The Yellow Line originally terminated at Mount Vernon Square but was later on extended to Fort Totten on December 31, 2006 as part of a 12-month experiment during off peak commuter times and weekends, at the suggestion of D.C. Councilmember, Jim Graham. Due to its success, this extension of the Yellow Line was made permanent around May, 2008. However; on June 25, 2017, Metro's Yellow Line trains stopped serving the West Hyattsville station due to the elimination of Rush+, which was part of major changes to the Metrorail system.[3]

However; on May 20, 2019, Metro announced that Yellow Line trains will be re-extended from Mount Vernon Square and Fort Totten to Greenbelt at all service hours beginning May 25, 2019.[4]

Since May 7, 2023, the northeastern terminus of the Yellow Line was truncated from to, following its reopening after a nearly eight-month-long major rehabilitation project on its bridge over the Potomac River and its tunnel leading into . Thus, it no longer services this station.[5]

From July 22 to September 4, 2023, this station was shut down to improve rail system technologies, including free shuttle bus services to closed stations north of .[6]

Station layout

The station is located west of the intersection with Queens Chapel Road and Ager Road. A parking lot, park and ride (formerly the site of the Queens Chapel Drive-In Theater and Mighty Mo Drive-In Restaurant, which closed during the late 1970's), and bus bays are located east of the station's side platforms. The red-brick Kirkwood Apartment Complex and Kirkwood Neighborhood Park can be seen on Ager Road, west of the station site. There used to be an abandoned red brick Palmer Ford Warehouse Building housed on the field right behind the West Hyattsville station, right next to the Kirkwood Apartment Complex. However; that site has been demolished around 2018 to make room for the construction of brand new luxury apartment complexes as part of gentrification taking place in the area. The West Hyattsville station also sits on the former Queens Chapel Municipal Airport Site, which was closed and demolished in 1955.[7]

External links

38.955°N -76.9695°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Metrorail Ridership Summary . Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority . February 11, 2024.
  2. News: Eisen . Jack . Zoological Park Subway Stop Name, 9 Others Changed by Metro Board . The Washington Post . 7 Aug 1979.
  3. Web site: June 25 Fare Service Changes Printable Brochure . 2017.
  4. Metro to extend Yellow Line service to Greenbelt beginning May 25 . WMATA . May 20, 2019 . May 21, 2019.
  5. News: Metro's Yellow Line reopens Sunday with controversial turnback . May 7, 2023 . . . May 7, 2023.
  6. Web site: Enhanced Maintenance Work during Summer 2023 to focus on custom and reliability upgrades to modernize WMATA . www.wmata.com . 23 July 2023.
  7. Web site: Freeman. Paul. 2002. Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Maryland: Central Prince George's County area. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210518170109/http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MD/Airfields_MD_PG_C.htm. May 18, 2021. January 22, 2022.