DuPont Circle — Local services in Washington

Want to catch the Metro when you're at or near DuPont Circle? - well then, THIS is your station!

A stone's through from the heralded DuPont Circle Rat Sanctuary (Now, THERE'S a review for ya'), pedestrians have convenient bi-directional access to the RED line - and are just two stops away from a Blue/Orange/Silver transfer point (Metro Center) and but three stops from a Yellow/Green transfer point (Gallery Place).

So - yes. In YELP Parlance, if you're seeking rail transit service from this point on the Red line to any other point on the red line, or to any point along any of the other colors, well then "Woohoo! As good as it gets!" is right!

On a personal note, I really do like the "future as seen through the early mid-20th century's" feel of this station. For those architecturally inclined, note that there are a total of 11 different styles of station architecture. DuPont Station has one of the most common styles throughout the WMATA. The "Brutalist" style, as it is known, was pervasive from the 50's to the '70s and prominent architect Harry Weese was who is responsible for DuPont Station and a bunch of other DC metro stop designs. I learned that this particular Brutalist design is sometimes referred to as the "Waffle", that most of the downtown stops are in the "Waffle" design" but that DuPont Station was uniquely built with precast panels whereas all the others were constructed using the "pour-in-place" method (for cost-savings, I suspect).

So - anyway - this is a station for folks wanting to get around via Metro, for folks interested in mid-20th century brutalist...

After Woodley Park, the twin rock tunnels that the Red Line has been in since after Grosvenor transitions into a single wide two tracked rock tunnel. When riding through here, you can see trains travelling in the opposite direction race by. This tunnel crosses deep under Rock Creek Park (original plans to incorporate the Red Line into the Taft bridge were blocked by the NPS, requiring wmata to tunnel deep). This means that the Red Line reaches some impressive depths in this stretch.

After tunneling under the Park, the Red line begins to climb uphill again, still in Rock Tunnel. The next station the Red Line reaches is Dupont Circle. This is the final station in rock tunnel. It also is the first station to use the classic downtown "waffle" design. This was actually the first station to be built by rock tunneling. This station was built using metal bolts to hold the rock in place during blasting operations. After that, the precast concrete panels were installed underground. This is the only waffle station to use precast panels instead of poured in place concrete.

This station also is the first to have two side platforms (be sure you are boarding on the right platform). This is due to the Red line using a single two track tunnel through this stretch.

This stop is also quite deep, with the escalators being the fourth longest in the system, after Wheaton, Bethesda, and Woodley Park.

Dupont Circle opened in January of 1977, and was actually the first extension of metrorail beyond it's opening segment. This stop was the Northwest Terminus of the Red Line from...

The first thing that caught me by surprise was the escalator ride down in the north tunnel. Holy crap, I got a little dizzy riding down 188 feet below ground. Mixing in the massive concrete cylindrical facade, slope, and the floor below made parts of the ride seem like a flat moving sidewalk. I did get used to it the more we rode down.

Metro cards were a bit confusing to purchase, but eventually we got it. There is a set fee for the card itself. You then can add the amount of dollars and even cents to the re-loadable card (I believe the minimum is $2 though, unless I was doing it wrong.) A convenient price sheet posted peak & off peak rates. Pay with cash, credit, or debit cards.

Card readers are located on the top of the entry & exit lanes, and on the sides for the handicapped/stroller lane.

The area is clean and felt safe at all hours of the day. I believe they run until 3am.

FACT: The north entry/exit escalators are DC's...