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Metro Rejects New RFK Rail Station, Plans Stadium-Armory Upgrades and Gold Line BRT

Metro says upgrades are the only feasible way to move game-day crowds by 2030.

Overview

  • Metro’s study, released Tuesday, drops a new rail stop for the RFK campus and instead proposes upgrades to Stadium-Armory, a new Gold Line bus rapid transit route, and a transit center near the stadium.
  • A new station would cost billions, add construction and maintenance burdens, and would not be finished before the stadium’s planned 2030 opening, according to the study.
  • Stadium-Armory now moves about 14,000 people per hour, which could stretch postgame exits past two hours without new escalators, elevators, wider mezzanines, north-entrance changes, and active crowd metering.
  • The Gold Line would run in dedicated bus lanes on H Street NW and Benning Road NE to link RFK with Union Station for Red Line, Amtrak, MARC, and VRE connections, with later extensions envisioned to Benning Road and Rosslyn.
  • The package is priced at roughly $300 million to $400 million, and Metro expects more than half of a 65,000-seat crowd to use transit, with board presentation of the findings scheduled for Thursday.