Plans for a station as the southeastern terminus of the Green Line initially appeared in the original 1968 route map.[2] However, by 1978 the Prince George's County Council, after initially supporting the Branch Avenue alignment, changed their support to moving the terminus to a location adjacent to the Rosecroft Raceway.[3] Metro followed suit and pursued the Rosecroft alignment instead of Branch Avenue in 1980.[3] By May a group of citizens filed suit against Metro stating that the route was improperly changed and failed to conform to the plan adopted by county voters in 1968.[4] In February 1981, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in stating the routing to Rosecroft could not be undertaken until it went through public review.[4] After further appeal, in March 1982 the judge ruled that none of the proposed Green Line along the Rosecroft alignment could start construction until it went through the entire planning process again.[5] After deciding to not file an appeal, in December 1984 Metro voted to change the southeastern terminus back to Branch Avenue thus allowing for construction to commence on the Green Line towards Prince George's County.[6]
Groundbreaking for the final segment of the Green Line occurred on September 23, 1995.[7] The station opened on January 13, 2001.[8] Its opening coincided with the completion of approximately 6.5 miles (10.5 km) of rail southeast of the Anacostia station and the opening of the Congress Heights, Naylor Road, Southern Avenue and Suitland stations.[8] This represented the completion of the system as originally planned.
Station layout
Branch Avenue station has an island platform in an open cut between Auth Way and Capital Gateway Drive. Parking lots are located both east and west of the station platform. Constructed adjacent to the station is a 37-acre (15 ha) rail yard with the capacity to store 116 cars.[9]
