- US Congress members have a private subway system that runs beneath the Capitol.
- The subway connects congressional office buildings with the Capitol building.
- The Capitol subway dates back to the early 1900s.
The government shutdown may still be underway, but one system used daily by lawmakers is still running.
Beneath the US Capitol in Washington, DC, a system of tunnels connects the Senate and House floors with various office buildings where senators and representatives spend their work days.
At the heart of this tunnel system is the Capitol subway, a private three-line subway system that transports legislators on two-minute journeys from their office buildings to the Capitol.
The subway system dates back to the construction of the Senate office buildings in the early 1900s.
These days, subway cars run between locations hundreds of times a day, and have even functioned during past shutdowns. Photos from the current shutdown, which started October 1, show senators aboard its cars and speaking with journalists in its hallways.
Look inside the little-known rail system that has moved Congress members for over a hundred years.
Senators began using cars to move beneath the Capitol in 1909.
Senators began using cars on the underground tunnels to commute from their office buildings to the US Capitol as soon as the offices were built.
The Russell Senate Office Building, the oldest congressional office in the nation's capital, opened its doors to senators in 1909, and as soon as they began operating in the offices, Studebaker Company cars were commissioned to move the legislators on a subway line between the office building and the Capitol building, per the Architect of the Capitol.
The cars were replaced by a monorail in 1912.
Only three years later, the cars were replaced by an electric monorail with wicker seats that could carry more passengers at once and made the trip faster and more efficient.
The first Senate subway was summoned by bells.
The original Senate subway became a necessity whenever the Senate was in session, making 225 trips daily and whisking senators from their offices to the Senate floor during votes.
Senators had the front seats of each car reserved for them at all times, and could summon the monorail by ringing a bell three times, Untapped reported.
The monorail shuttled members of Congress through defining moments in the nation's history.
The monorail quietly kept pace with history, carrying lawmakers amid historic moments, such as the election of the first female senator, Hattie Caraway, who is pictured riding one of the cars in 1937.
By 1960, the Capitol subway system had started to extend.
By 1960, a second monorail was built to accommodate the expansion of the Capitol offices with the construction of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, which was finished in 1958.
As the Capitol offices expanded, demand for the subway system also grew.
Another subway line connecting the Capitol to the newly built Rayburn House Office Building began service in 1965, and in 1982, the Dirksen line was extended to the Hart Senate Office Building, which was finished that year.
The modern subway that lawmakers use today was inspired by the railways at Disney World.
By the late 1980s, lawmakers had begun stressing the need for a more efficient subway system, which became more apparent as lawmakers showed up late or even missed votes on the floor due to long wait times.
A modernized, magnet-powered subway was built in 1994, inspired by the railways in Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, per the US Senate website.
An automated line services the Dirksen and Hart office buildings.
Today, the same automated line continues moving senators between their offices and the Capitol.
The subway connecting the Dirksen and Hart office buildings with the Capitol is used by lawmakers daily to make the two-minute journey.
However, the time it saves compared to walking the tunnels is only 90 seconds each way for Senators in the further office buildings and even shorter for those in the closer one, the Washington Examiner reported.
Some senators skip the train altogether and choose to walk.
With the time saved being so minimal, lawmakers often choose to walk in the subway-adjacent walkway instead. Sometimes, they will invite journalists to walk with them.
The line connecting to the older building operates on open, manually controlled cars.
The train line connecting the Russell building to the Capitol features a different type of car, more similar to its historic iterations.
The manually controlled open-air tram has two cars that travel to and from the oldest Senate office building on request.
Although smaller and older, the Russell line has fewer malfunctions than its fully automated counterpart.
The subway system is short and relatively slow.
Although convenient in some ways, the Capitol subway covers a small area, and travels at relatively slow speeds.
The line connecting the Capitol with the Russell building only spans about 1,000 feet and its manually operated cars run at an average speed of 18 mph.
The subway terminals look like airport rail systems.
Entry points on the Dirksen automated monorail have platform doors such as the ones you would see in an airport rail line or in some countries' subway systems.
Visitors can request rides aboard the private train from their legislators.
While the system isn't open to the public unless you're a member of Congress, a credentialed press member, or a staffer on Capitol Hill, lawmakers and their teams can offer tours of the trains to their constituents.
The Rayburn line is the only one in the subway system to have a "members only" car, which can be used solely by members of Congress. The rest of the subway cars can be used by anyone with an invitation.
Presidents have taken the subway system during their congressional careers.
If you decide to pay a visit — and get a Congress staff member to give you a tour — you could be sitting in a car next to a future US president.
Sometimes, lawmakers will travel with their staff.
A senator's commute from their office to the Capitol can often serve as an informal briefing time with their staff.
Others opt to use the train cars as phone booths.
Photos show senators using the private cabin to catch up on phone calls.
Or use the time to catch up on policy documents.
Other senators might use the time to read up on policy proposals and relevant information of the day.
While others ponder the subjects of the day.
Other senators simply prefer to be left alone during their short ride, giving them time to contemplate the day or just take a break.
Journalists working inside the Capitol often wait for lawmakers at the subway terminals.
On the Capitol side, journalists often crowd the small area between the subway exit and the Senate floor to ask lawmakers questions.
Even lawmakers have to run to catch the train sometimes.
Although they have a private subway system to go between their offices and the Capitol building, lawmakers sometimes have to rush to catch their train and avoid longer waits.
Others have to wait for the train.
The automated Dirksen monorail often has longer wait times than its older open air counterpart.
Legislators often have to wait a few minutes at the terminal for the next train car to arrive to go back to their offices or to make it to the Senate floor.
Like any mode of transportations, the Capitol subway often malfunctions.
Senators can often face stoppages in the Capitol subway, which often malfunction and stop along their journey.
For some, the gamble of taking the subway isn't worth the minimal time it saves.
Lawmakers can even get stuck on the train cars during malfunctions.
In July 2025, the Washington Examiner reported that the subway system "keeps trapping US senators," due to the frequent malfunctions, which have led some legislators to call for increased funding.
Unlike public subways, the private Congress subway doesn't have a pet policy.
West Virginia Republican Senator Jim Justice is known to bring his English bulldog, Babydog, along with him to his office in the Hart Senate Office Building, where Babydog recently had her sixth birthday party amid the ongoing government shutdown.
