Crossing WDC Metro
 

Hi all, I'm flying into IAD on a Tuesday at 14:10 and was thinking about using the Washington Flyer coach to West Falls Church then orange metro lineMetro Center then change to the red line for Union Station and finally a MARC train to Odenton :)

Given that I'll be traveling through the various stations and trains during evening rush hour, will I incur the wrath of the local rush-hour commuters as I will have a large suitcase and laptop bag with me? I guess I'm really asking will there be enough space on the escalators and turnstiles on the metro trains for my large suitcase during the rush hour?

Cheers

You're quite brave! If you are sticking with the public transportation system, then you might consider the Metro Bus 5 (or 5A?) from IAD ...it is $3 IIRC, stops at Rosslyn on the orange line and you are then on your way. I've had no problem with rollaboard and briefcase on the escalators, but if you have a larger suitcase, stick to the elevators, which Rosslyn, Metro Center and Union Station have. (I haven't been at West Falls Church)

Also - if you are on the escalators with luggage -- STAY TO THE RIGHT! Those govt employees are very protective of their right to walk up the escalator on the left, and if your luggage is big enough to block them, take the elevator.

The heaviest part of rush hour is about 4:45pm-6:15pm, which you'll largely avoid. People with suitcases board Metro throughout the day, it won't be a big deal as long as you don't block the train doors or prevent people from walking up escalators. Use the handicapped turnstile which is wide enough for any suitcase.

As lskohn noted you might consider taking the 5A to Rosslyn, since you'll have twice as many trains (Orange and Blue) to choose from and thus less waiting time for the same number of transfers. Or you could take it all the way to L'Enfant Plaza and substitute the Yellow/Green+Red Line trains for a short cab ride (taking the train from L'Enfant confers no convenience benefit, and potentially a time penalty). Cash fare for the 5A is $3.10.

And in the future, never fly into IAD to get to the Baltimore suburbs (and never fly into BWI to get to northern Virginia). Whether by car or transit it's an awful haul.

No one will get upset as long as you don't block the aisles or the doors. I see people do it all of the time. However, the Red Line trains can be packed to the gills at Metro Center. The 5A bus to L'enfant and a taxi to Union Station sounds much better to me.

All Metro stations are ADA accessible = have elevators.

Its not just the govt employees, its almost all metro riders. Coming down, someone blocking an escalator can be the difference between making a train or not, which adds 4-6 minutes of unnecessary commute during rush hour. Coming up, some people are trying to connect to a bus or another line. Its just plain courtesy to your fellow riders.

I ride the metro from Union Station fairly regularly, including today, and I can tell you that the escalators are plenty wide to ride down with it in front of you (or behind you) and still allow a reasonably girthed passenger to pass by.

Thanks all for the tips and advice, maybe that Super Shuttle from IAD to Union Station might be the way to go.

I was advised to fly into BWI but BA only uses 767's from LHR to BWI and I really wanted to experience business class on a 747 which means it's IAD.

Cheers

If you are doing it for that experience. Otherwise, it really makes no sense to go somewhere other than BWI to Odenton, MD. You are adding 2-3 hours (maybe more) of travel on each end of your trip, plus the always fun experience of IAD, which is horrible.

They have them, but do they work? The daily list of elevator outages is pretty long.

And every metro station has a passenger information display informing us all that many of those elevators are out of service much of the time. (They do provide shuttle bus service to meet ADA requirements.)

Odenton is on Marc's Penn Line, right? Wouldn't it be easier to avoid the transfers by just staying on the Orange Line all the way to the end at New Carrolton and getting on the Marc train there?

That's going from almost the end of the line to the opposite end of the line :eek:, easily over an hour from turnstile to turnstile.

I always find it easiest when traveling with a suitcase on Metro to sit at either end of the car near the emergency exit door. Sitting (or standing) here will keep you out of the flow of traffic in and out of the train. I've made the same trip a number of times - It's not that bad.

Quite probably (and, in fact, I'd recommend that). A word of advice on this, though: while New Carrollton has a comfortable heated waiting room downstairs with staff that theoretically announce incoming and outbound trains, when I was riding MARC from that station regularly, about half of the time they failed to announce the train until after it had left. Wait on the platform, unless you don't mind spending an extra hour in scenic New Carrollton.

Generally speaking, my experience has been that things break or at least get fixed quicker at major stations like Rosslyn and Union Station