The station opened on July 1, 1977[4] with the completion of 11.8 miles (19.0 km)[5] of rail between National Airport and RFK Stadium.
Photography is not allowed anywhere on the station grounds.[6]
Bus service
Pentagon station is also a major bus hub[7][1] in northern Virginia. The current bus facility opened in 2001[8] as part of the Pentagon Renovation Program.[2]
Ride Smart Northern Shenandoah Valley: DC Motorcoach (From Front Royal to D.C.)
Station layout
The station is located underground, adjacent to The Pentagon, and formerly had a direct (but secure) entrance to the Pentagon and its underground shopping center. This entrance was closed in 2001 as part of the Pentagon Renovation Program.[9] Access to the Pentagon is now gained via a new secured entrance facility above ground near the bus depot and the entrances to the subway station. The new exit features signage displayed at Gallery Place-Chinatown and newer stations.
Pentagon is one of two stations (the other being the Rosslyn station) at which trains going one direction are boarded on a different station level than trains going the other direction, as a way to prevent an at-grade crossing. This is because the Blue and Yellow lines split apart an extremely short distance from the station.
An indicator sign at the north end of the station flashes to inform passengers of the arriving train's destination, showing Blue for Downtown Largo, and Yellow for Mount Vernon Square. This feature is only used at final transfer stations; another example being L'Enfant Plaza.
South of the station, two empty tunnels diverge from the tracks towards Columbia Pike for future extension, but the plans were later dropped.[10]
On March 4, 2010, a gunman, identified as John Patrick Bedell, who espoused anti-government views, shot and wounded two Pentagon police officers at a security checkpoint in the Pentagon station. The officers returned fire, striking him in the head. Bedell died the next day, on March 5, 2010.[11]
2021
At 10:40 a.m. EST, on August 3, 2021, a stabbing occurred, killing officer George Gonzalez and leading to a lockdown of the Pentagon that was later lifted. The perpetrator, 27-year-old Austin William Lanz shot and killed himself using Gonzalez's service weapon. In an apology issued by Lanz's family, they stated that in his final few months, he suffered from "many mental health challenges". There was a warrant out for Lanz's arrest due to an incident months earlier, in which Lanz broke into a Georgia home with a crowbar.[12][13][14][15]
^ ab"Pentagon Metro Entrance Facility Project". Pentagon Renovation & Construction. Washington Headquarters Services. Archived from the original on January 9, 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2016. project completion in late fall of 2002
^"METRO ENTRANCE FACILITY CELEBRATES INITIAL OPENING!". Pentagon Renovation Program. December 18, 2001. Archived from the original on December 31, 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2016. The Pentagon Transit Center portion of the Metro Entrance Facility is now open and operational
^Layton, Lyndsey (June 16, 2000), "Pentagon, Metro quarrel escalates; Security concerns would interfere with convenience", The Washington Post, p. A10
