After four years of construction, Metro opened its newest Red Line station Saturday morning in a ceremony attended by Mayor Anthony Williams, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, and other community and business leaders.
The New York Avenue station will provide service to Northwest D.C. The station is expected to spur economic development in the area.
"This is really a journey into the future in terms of connecting neighborhoods to downtown, people to work places and pioneering ways to finance public transportation," Williams told The Washington Post.
Funding for the new station came from three sources, according to a Metro press release. Federal, local government and private donations made up the $103.7 million needed to build the new stop.
The station was built between two existing stations, Union Station and Rhode Island Avenue. It's the Metro's first "fill-in" station and its 84th station.
The construction's completion means the end of delays due to double tracking, but the station will not solve the Red Line's slow service. Trains will now stop at the station for two to three minutes, meaning wait and trip time will increase.
"Our customers are familiar with the operating plan between Union Station and Rhode Island Avenue," said Jim Gallagher, Metro's Deputy General Manager for Operations in a press release.
"With a new station, we want our customers to recognize there will be a slightly different travel plan that requires trains to slow down and service a new station," he said.
