East Falls Church station


East Falls Church is an island-platformed Washington Metro station in Arlington, Virginia on the Orange and Silver Lines. East Falls Church station is the last aboveground, at grade, or open cut station for eastbound trains. East of this station, the trains heading toward downtown DC descend underground, therefore leaving the median of I-66 and entering subway mode.
The station serves the communities of Falls Church and Arlington, Virginia and is located in the median of Interstate 66 near Lee Highway. Service began on June 7, 1986. East Falls Church has a parking lot with 422 spaces on the Lee Highway side of the station.
Since March 26, 2020, trains were bypassing this station due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. The station is currently being rebuilt during the Platform reconstruction which closed stations past Ballston–MU station.

Transit-oriented development

Of the six stations on the Orange Line in Arlington, East Falls Church has the least transit-oriented development. Unlike the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, East Falls Church station is located in the median of Interstate 66, posing pedestrian access issues. Arlington County is currently considering plans to develop the site.

History

The station opened on June 7, 1986, as part of the final westward extension of the Orange Line to Vienna. Its opening coincided with the completion of of rail west of the Ballston station and the opening of the West Falls Church, Dunn Loring, and Vienna stations.
The Silver Line began service on July 26, 2014, resulting in East Falls Church becoming the final transfer point before its split with the Orange Line.
In May 2018, Metro announced an extensive renovation of platforms at twenty stations across the system. The platform at the East Falls Church station would be rebuilt starting in early 2021.

Station layout

Similar to all stations within the Interstate 66 median apart from West Falls Church, East Falls Church utilizes a simple island platform setup with two tracks. There is an exit in the central part of the platform that leads to a mezzanine on the western side of North Sycamore Street. The station's parking lot and bus bays are located to the north of this exit at the southwestern corner of the intersection of North Sycamore Street and North Washington Boulevard.