Metropolitan Branch Trail

Description

The Metropolitan Branch Trail, also called the Met Branch Trail, is an 8mi planned rail trail will run from the Silver Spring, Maryland Transit Center to Union Station in the District of Columbia. It serves to extend the Capital Crescent Trail where it merges with the active WMATA/CSX railroad into the National Capital. At Fort Totten a connector trail to the Northwest Branch Trail of the Anacostia Tributary Trail System at Hyattsville, Maryland will be constructed; and an on-street connection to the National Mall will be constructed from Union Station. When completed, the Metropolitan Branch Trail will serve as part of the East Coast Greenway.Seven miles of the trail are within Washington, DC and one mile (1.6 km) is in Maryland. The trail gets its name from the Metropolitan Subdivision of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), which the trail parallels. The remainder of the trail closely parallels the current WMATA/CSX tracks into Maryland. It is anchored by two significant railroad landmarks, Union Station and the old B&O Railroad Station in Silver Spring.