Van Dorn Street is an island platform

Island platform

An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange...

ed Washington Metro

Washington Metro

The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...

 station

Metro station

A metro station or subway station is a railway station for a rapid transit system, often known by names such as "metro", "underground" and "subway". It is often underground or elevated. At crossings of metro lines, they are multi-level....

 in both Fairfax County

Fairfax County, Virginia

Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...

 and Alexandria

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The station was opened on June 15, 1991, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including the Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess...

 (WMATA). Providing service for the Blue

Blue Line (Washington Metro)

The Blue Line of the Washington Metro in the United States consists of 27 rapid transit stations from Franconia–Springfield to Largo Town Center. It has stations in Fairfax County, Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Prince George's County, Maryland...

 Line, the station is located at South Van Dorn Street

Virginia State Route 401

State Route 401, also known as part of Van Dorn Street, is a primary state highway in Alexandria, Virginia, United States. It runs from the south city limits near the Van Dorn Street Metro station northeast to State Route 420 , generally paralleling Interstate 395 to the east...

 and Eisenhower Avenue, next to the Capital Beltway

Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)

Interstate 495 is a Interstate Highway that surrounds the United States' capital of Washington, D.C., and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. I-495 is widely known as the Capital Beltway or simply the Beltway, especially when the context of Washington, D.C., is clear...

. From 1991 to 1997 it was the southwestern terminus of the Blue Line.

In June 1977, the city of Alexandria, Southern Railway and the United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service, Inc. , typically referred to by the acronym UPS, is a package delivery company. Headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States, UPS delivers more than 15 million packages a day to 6.1 million customers in more than 220 countries and territories around the...

 reached an agreement allowing for Metro to retain the air rights

Air rights

Air rights are a type of development right in real estate, referring to the empty space above a property. Generally speaking, owning or renting land or a building gives one the right to use and develop the air rights....

 for the construction of the Van Dorn station when funding became available. After years of planning, in March 1987 Metro awarded a $32.3 million contract to complete the station by 1991 to Dillingham Construction of Pleasanton, California

Pleasanton, California

Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, incorporated in 1894. It is a suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area located about east of Oakland, and west of Livermore. The population was 70,285 at the 2010 census. In 2005 and 2007, Pleasanton was ranked the wealthiest middle-sized city in...

. Originally slated to be part of the Yellow Line

Yellow Line (Washington Metro)

The Yellow Line of the Washington Metro consists of 17 rapid transit stations from Huntington to Fort Totten. The line terminates at the Mount Vernon Square station during peak hours.Peak hours are 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Service is extended to the Green Line stations during...

, in early 1990 it was decided Van Dorn would be served by the Blue Line with the Yellow Line being shifted to the Huntington station. The station opened on June 15, 1991, with the completion of 3.9 miles (6.3 km) of rail west of the King Street – Old Town station. Van Dorn Street would remain as the southwestern terminus of the Blue Line from its completion through the opening of the Franconia–Springfield station on June 29, 1997.

External links

• WMATA: Van Dorn Street Station
• StationMasters Online: Van Dorn Street Station
• The Schumin Web Transit Center: Van Dorn Street Station
• Station from Google Maps Street View