Metro



Metrorail, or simply Metro, is the pre-War rapid transit system of Washington, D.C. and neighboring communities in Maryland and Virginia. In 2277, tunnels can be used to move between the various settlements in the area, although many parts of the tunnels have been taken over by Super Mutants, Raiders, and Feral Ghouls.

Metro Station Names
The Pip Boy World Map usually indicates where Metro Stations are with a circled-M logo. When you move the pointer to one, it shows the name of the station. The problem is that the name it shows is often not the same as the name that appears if you are outside the subway and bring up the Pip Boy's Local Map for the area, nor the same as the name you get for the exit to that station when you bring up on a Local Map while inside the subway.

Because of all the interconnections between outside paths and inside subway stations, this name inconsistency adds an additional level of difficulty to getting around in an already difficult situation.

To add to the confusion, the distance scale inside a subway is often not the same as outside. For example, in the Southeast area of the map, the distance looks pretty significant between the Seward Square Station (near the Ranger Compound) and the Anacostia Crossing (near Rivet City), but what looks like miles can be traversed in a flash simply by entering the station and walking no more than a couple of hundred feet across the subway platform.

To adjust for this difference, you get an anomaly in that when you get to the Anacostia Crossing gate after leaving Seward Square, the World Map will show that you are still on the edge of Seward Square, but after exiting the gate, it will show you all the way down by at the station by Rivet City.

This effect is not limited to subways. At the back door of the GNR Building, you get a different positioning before and after going through the door.

One of the worst map glitches may be the Dupont Station and Georgetown West metro station markers. On the World Map, the markers overlap with the Dupont Station marker being to the left (West), which makes it seem like the DCTA Tunnel exit down the stairs from Georgetown West, which is all that shows up on the Local Map, but if you fast travel to the Dupont Station marker, you end up in a completely different area/Local Map.

Metro Protectrons
Metro entrance tunnels which have offices off of them usually have a Metro Protectron which can be activated by hacking into a control terminal. Once the Protectron is activated, it will head out to patrol the subway tunnels and attack any target (including the player) that does not have a valid Metro Ticket or a corresponding Red Pass Key or Blue Pass Key for either the Red or Blue Metro routes.

Fortunately, a ticket or pass can normally be found by searching the desks in the offices. Or you can just blast the Protectron after activating him and loot his Energy Cell.

Metro Connections
While it may appear to be impossible to get very far in the subway tunnels because of all the debris, the fact is that you can get to a remarkable number of locations without ever having to come above ground, and even more when you add in places where you can make short, safe walks above ground from one station's exit to another station's entrance. Note that with just a couple of short above-ground walks, you can get all the way from Farragut West (just across the river from Super-Duper Mart) to Rivet City (near the bottom of the map) and many important places along the way. (For a more detailed guide, click the Discussion tab, above.)

Of course, you are still going to have to fight Raiders, Feral Ghouls, and even some Super Mutants, but at least you know you will eventually get where you want to go, and you can pick up a lot of loot along the way. Above ground in the central D.C. area, you are very limited in how far you can go without being blocked by debris.

Names used in the chart are the names shown on the Pip Boy World Map. For clarification, Local Map names may also be shown in quotes. All stations which can be reached underground are shown in the second column. Stations and other attractions which can be reached above ground from the last station shown to the left (in columns 2 or 1) are shown in column 3. A new station shown in column 1 normally comes from the last entry before it in column 3.

Appearances
The Washington Metro appears only in Fallout 3.