The underground platform at Fort Totten served as the northern and southern terminus until the mid-city Georgia Avenue–Petworth and Columbia Heights stations opened.

However, to eliminate this transfer, during weekday rush hour peak commuter times between January 1997 and September 1999, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) operated the Green Line Commuter Shortcut that bypassed Fort Totten station and used an underground connection to the Red Line and served all stations up to Farragut North in Downtown.

The Commuter Shortcut was discontinued in September 1999 when the northern and southern portions of the Green Line were connected, and the Georgia Avenue–Petworth and Columbia Heights stations opened.

Signage was replaced at all Green Line Stations between Mount Vernon Square and Fort Totten to reflect this change between December 4, 2006, and January 1, 2007.

[6] On May 7, 2023, the Yellow Line was truncated back from Greenbelt to Mount Vernon Square, following its reopening after a nearly eight-month-long major rehabilitation project on its bridge over the Potomac River and its tunnel leading into L'Enfant Plaza.

[7] On June 22, 2009, two southbound Metro trains on the Red Line collided between the Takoma and Fort Totten stations, killing nine and injuring 80, the deadliest accident in the system's history.