New Carrollton station

New Carrollton station is a joint Washington Metro, MARC, and Amtrak station just outside the city limits of New Carrollton, Prince George's County, Maryland located at the eastern end of the Metro's Orange Line. The station will also serve as the eastern terminus of the Purple Line, currently under construction, and is adjacent to the Capital Beltway.

New Carrollton
A Metro train at New Carrollton station in May 2010
General information
Location	4500 Garden City Drive New Carrollton, Maryland United States
Coordinates	38.9480°N 76.8719°W / 38.9480; -76.8719
Owned by	Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Amtrak
Line(s)	Amtrak Northeast Corridor
Platforms	2 island platforms (1 for each service)
Tracks	2 (Washington Metro) 3 (Amtrak/MARC)
Connections	Metrobus: A12, B21, B22, B24, B27, F4, F6, F12, F13, F14, G12, G14, T14, T18 MTA Maryland Commuter Bus TheBus: 15X, 16, 21, 21X Greyhound Peter Pan Bus Lines
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Parking	3,519 spaces
Bicycle facilities	18 racks, 16 lockers
Accessible	Yes[1]
Other information
Station code	Amtrak: NCR Metro: D13
IATA code	ZRZ
History
Opened	November 20, 1978 (1978-11-20) (Metro) October 30, 1983 (1983-10-30) (Amtrak and Conrail)
Passengers
2022	1,100 daily[2] (Metro)
Rank	70th (Metro)
FY 2023	208,161 annually[3] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Washington, D.C. toward Norfolk, Newport News or Roanoke Northeast Regional BWI Airport toward Boston South or Springfield Washington, D.C. One-way operation Palmetto BWI Airport toward New York Washington, D.C. Terminus Vermonter BWI Airport toward St. Albans      Acela does not stop here      Cardinal does not stop here      Carolinian does not stop here      Crescent does not stop here      Silver Meteor does not stop here      Silver Star does not stop here Preceding station MARC Following station Union Station Terminus Penn Line Seabrook towards Perryville Preceding station Washington Metro Following station Landover toward Vienna Orange Line Terminus
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Washington, D.C. toward Tri-State Hilltopper BWI Airport toward Boston South Preceding station Conrail Following station Union Station Terminus Baltimore-Washington Replaced by Penn Line in 1984 Seabrook toward Baltimore Preceding station Washington Metro Following station Landover toward Huntington Blue Line Terminus
Future services Preceding station Maryland Transit Administration Following station Glenridge toward Bethesda Purple Line Terminus
Location

Beneath the Metro station platform, a waiting room serves Amtrak's Northeast Regional, Vermonter, and Palmetto trains, as well as MARC's Penn Line trains. The New Carrollton Rail Yard is nearby.

Greyhound, a nationwide intercity bus company, also stops at the station on routes serving Richmond, Washington, Philadelphia, New York City, Pittsburgh, and points beyond.^[4]

History

The New Carrollton station is the third station in the area to serve rail traffic.

The first station, Lanham, 0.75 miles (1.21 km) north of the current station, opened in the 1870s. By the late 1960s, it consisted of a small shelter and an asphalt platform served by a few Penn Central (later Conrail) commuter trains between Washington and Baltimore.

Metroliner at Capital Beltway in 1974.

The second, Capital Beltway station, sat just inside the Capital Beltway. Opened on March 16, 1970, it was served by Penn Central (later Amtrak) Metroliners.^[5][6]

On November 20, 1978, the Washington Metro opened its New Carrollton station, along with the Cheverly, Deanwood, Landover, and Minnesota Avenue stations, marking the completion of 7.4 miles (11.9 km) of Metro track northeast from the Stadium–Armory station.^[7][8][9]

In August 1982, Conrail commuter trains (later AMDOT, then the MARC Penn Line) began stopping at Capital Beltway, replacing stops at Lanham and Landover.^[10] On October 30, 1983, Amtrak and AMDOT moved from Capital Beltway to a new island platform and waiting room at New Carrollton station.^[5][11][12]

Until 2003, some Acela Express trains stopped at New Carrollton. In October 2015, the Palmetto began stopping in New Carrollton.

In May 2018, Metro announced an extensive renovation of platforms at twenty stations across the system.^[13] The Metro station was closed from May 28, 2022 to September 5, 2022, as part of the summer Platform Improvement Project, which also affected stations north of Stadium-Armory on the Orange Line. Shuttle buses and free parking were provided at the closed stations.^[14]

On September 10, 2022, Blue Line trains started serving the station due to the 14th Street bridge shutdown as a part of the Blue Plus service.^[15] The service ended on May 7, 2023 with the reopening of the Yellow Line.^[16]

The Purple Line light rail system will begin at New Carrollton and run west to Bethesda. The line will connect to Washington Metro stations on the Red and Green lines. The system is under construction as of 2022 and is scheduled to open in 2027.^[17][18]

Station layout

Amtrak/MARC platform

At New Carrollton, the Northeast Corridor consists of three tracks. The westernmost two tracks (Tracks 2 and 3) have an island platform between them, with Track 1 having no platform. To the east of the Amtrak platform is the Metro platform, serving the Orange Line. Bus loops and parking lots are located on both sides of the rail line.

The station has entrances at Harkins Road and Ellin Road, and Garden City Drive near U.S. Route 50, and Exit 19 on Interstate 495.

Long-term plans for the New Carrollton station include adding a second island platform (providing access to Track 1) and adding a fourth track.^[19]

References

1. "MARC Station Information". Maryland Transit Administration. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
2. "Metrorail Average Weekday Passenger Boardings". WMATA. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
3. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2023: State of Maryland" (PDF). Amtrak. March 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
4. Staff (August 25, 2011). "Greyhound Brings Premium Greyhound Express Service to the Southeast and Announces Expansion with 24 New Routes and Six New Markets". Greyhound Lines, Inc. Archived from the original on April 21, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
5. Fuchs, Tom (April 2009). "30th Anniversary of New Carrollton Station" (PDF). Transit Times. 23 (2): 5.
6. "More Metro stops added at Capital Beltway stops". The Capital. May 15, 1970. p. 16. Retrieved October 1, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Sequence of Metrorail openings" (PDF). Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 2017. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
8. Feaver, Douglas B. (November 12, 1978). "Orange Line brings Metro to Beltway". The Washington Post. p. C1.
9. Eisen, Jack; Feinstein, John (November 18, 1978). "City-County Fanfare Opens Orange Line". The Washington Post. p. D1.
10. Sauve, Frances (August 11, 1982). "Commuter Trains' New Stop: Beltway Station". The Washington Post. p. MD11. ProQuest 147456718.
11. "Metro Parking Spots Rented to Amtrak For Temporary Use at New Carrollton". The Washington Post. October 28, 1983. p. C12. ProQuest 147479061.
12. ""New New Carrollton station" brochure, 1983". Amtrak: History of America's Railroad. Amtrak. 1983.
13. Siddiqui, Faiz (May 7, 2018). "Metro wants to rebuild 20 station platforms over three years, creating SafeTrack-like disruptions". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
14. "Final phase of Metro's multi-year Platform Improvement Project begins this weekend, closing five Orange Line stations". WMATA. May 23, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
15. "Metro announces travel alternatives for major Blue and Yellow Line construction this fall". Retrieved March 9, 2024.
16. "Metro's Yellow Line reopens Sunday with controversial turnback". WJLA-TV. May 7, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
17. "Stations". Purple Line. Baltimore, MD: Maryland Transit Administration. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
18. Shaver, Katherine (January 26, 2022). "Md. board approves $3.4 billion contract to complete Purple Line". The Washington Post.
19. "MARC Growth & Investment Plan" (PDF).

External links

• New Carrollton, MD – Amtrak
• New Carrollton, MD – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• WMATA New Carrollton station page

• StationMasters Online: New Carrollton Station

v t e Purple Line
Legend
Bethesda Connecticut Avenue Rock Creek Lyttonsville 16th Street–Woodside Silver Spring Bonifant Street Silver Spring Library Wayne Avenue Dale Drive Sligo Creek Manchester Place Long Branch MD 193 University Boulevard Piney Branch Road Takoma Langley Montgomery County Prince George's County Riggs Road Northwest Branch Anacostia River Adelphi Road–UMGC–UMD Campus Drive–UMD Campus Drive Baltimore Avenue–UMD College Park–University of Maryland Riverdale Park North–UMD MD 201 Kenilworth Avenue Riverdale Park–Kenilworth Beacon Heights–East Pines Glenridge Maintenance Facility Glenridge Ellin Road New Carrollton All stations are accessible