⁴ᴷ⁶⁰ Portland TriMet: MAX Red and Blue Line Trains at Washington Park

Welcome to the deepest transit station in North America.

The wonderfully unique platforms of TriMet's Washington Park station are 79 meters (260 feet) below the surface, making it one of the deepest stations in the world. It is also the only fully underground station in Portland's extensive light-rail system.

The station is so far below ground level that its high-speed elevators have to travel the equivalent of a 28-story building, which takes approximately 25 seconds. The station has no public stairs or escalators, which is probably for the better.

The station is built in the center of the Robertson tunnel, which connects central Portland with its western suburbs. The station is serviced by the Red and Blue Lines, which travel between Beaverton Transit Center and Portland Airport and Hillsboro and Gresham, respectively.

Trains can be heard from the platforms from over a mile away as they enter the tunnel (and in our humble opinion, Washington Park boasts the greatest train tunnel sounds we've ever heard; listen at 2:15 if you don't believe us).

The station opened in 1998, and might as well be the jewel in the crown of TriMet's light rail system. A geological timeline, visible at various parts of the video, is found along the platform walls. The walls closest to the tracks are exquisitely painted murals of various landscapes and wildlife. The yellow roof girders on the eastbound platform symbolize the sunrise, and the orange girders on the westbound platform are representative of the sunset (the platforms are nicknamed Sunrise and Sunset by TriMet.

The station boasts these elements because it is located next to some of Portland's top attractions: The Oregon Zoo, World Forestry Center, Portland Children's Museum, Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and Hoyt Arboretum are all adjacent to the station in all different directions.

The station is largely made of rock, which when combined with the wind that the trains carry through the platforms, keeps the station at a year-round temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

The digits of Pi are also carved into the wall of the eastbound platform, but only the first 11 numbers are correct. That's really the only thing about this station that isn't perfect.