Gallery Place Metro Station, Awaiting Arrival

this place is cool! I want to go there!

Great feel of the place in this picture. Interesting architecture.

The Metro architecture in DC is an interesting solution to several design parameters that unfortunately create additional problems. By placing the station walls at a remove from customers, they prevented graffiti (a big concern in the 1970s when the system was designed and built), but they absolutely limited the ability of the stations to expand, so several lines share the same tracks in multiple stations, which creates bottlenecks especially during rush hour. They can only add so many trains with so many cars before they hit the safe traffic volume on the tracks (which they've pretty much already done). So if you live on certain lines (most notably the Blue and Orange lines, to a lesser extent the Blue and Yellow lines) and are not near the very end of the line, you can find yourself waiting for two or three trains to pass before you can get on in the morning because they're full, and they can't run more trains to make up for it.

Very well done; love the composition

Hey is this the same image you meant to reference from my image of the DC metro? Interesting how the portra gives a nice white ceiling where mine is a strong blue, hmmm I honestly didn't even remember that it wasn't blueish... cool