Purple Line Background
The Purple Line Project is a 16-mile, 21-station light rail transit line that will connect several communities in Maryland. The project when complete will connect Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George’s County. The corridor is located along the Capital Beltway near Washington, D.C., in a densely populated area with continued commercial, institutional, mixed-use, and residential development. The Project will include five major activity center stations (Bethesda, Silver Spring, Takoma-Langley Park, College Park, and New Carrollton) and 16 smaller stations that serve residential communities, commercial districts, and institutional establishments. It will also provide direct connections to three branches of the existing Metrorail system, all three MARC commuter rail lines, and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor line. Although the Project will provide direct connections with Metrorail and MARC, it will remain physically and operationally separate.
The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is leading this project, with the support and close coordination of a team that includes the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, State Highway Administration, and local municipalities in the project area.
Parks in Montgomery County that are scheduled to be impacted include:
- Elm Street Urban Park
- Ken-Gar Palisades Local Park – Wetland Mitigation Project
- Long Branch Stream Valley Park
- Long Branch Trail
- New Hampshire Avenue Estates
- Rock Creek Stream Valley Park
- Rock Creek Hiker-Biker Trail
- Sligo Creek Trail
- Sligo Cabin Neighborhood Park
- Sligo Stream Valley Park
Status/Project Update
The project was approved in late 2016. The initial groundbreaking for the Purple Line began on August 28, 2017.
For the latest construction updates visit the Purple Line Transit Construction Webpage.