Dulles Corridor Metrorail Extension Project, United States of America

The Dulles Corridor Metrorail Extension Project (unofficially called the Silver Line) is a 23-mile extension of the existing 106-mile Metrorail system, which serves Washington DC and parts of Maryland and Virginia. The extension runs from East Falls Church to Washington Dulles International Airport westward to Ashburn.

The project has been undertaken to increase the capacity of the existing metro system and extend its services to new areas. The project will serve Reston, Herndon area and Tyson Corner, as well as offer a comfortable one-seat ride from Dulles International Airport to Washington.

The project is managed by The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) and will be turned over to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to operate after completion.

The extension is expected to serve 85,700 passengers by 2030.

Dulles Corridor project

The Dulles Corridor proposal has been envisioned since Dulles Airport opened. In the 1990s, serious efforts to build this project began and the decisions were made to undertake the Draft and Final Environmental Impact Studies necessary to build the system. The project was initially approved by Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) board, Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB), the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Board, Loudoun County and Fairfax County in 2002.

The project includes construction of 23-miles of extension and 11 new stations and a rail yard. It is being built in two phases. The first phase includes construction of an 11.6-mile extension line from the Orange Line at East Falls Church to Wiehle Avenue and four metro rail stations at Tysons West, Tysons East, Tysons Central 123 and Tysons Central 7 (partly below surface station). Phase 1 is expected to be completed in 2013. The second phase will include construction of an 11.5-mile extension line between Wiehle Avenue and Ashburn. Six new stations will be built during this phase at Route 772, Herndon Monroe, Reston Parkway, Route 28, Dulles International Airport and Route 606.  A major rail yard at the airport will also be constructed during this phase. The phase is expected to be completed by 2017.

The overall cost of the first phase is estimated to be $2.7bn, while the second phase is expected to cost around $2.8bn.

Financing

The project is funded by a number of resources. The Federal Government has funded $900m for Phase 1. The Commonwealth of Virginia has provided $200m in non-toll funding and an additional $75m of pass-through Federal transportation grants for Phase 1. The Commonwealth has also contributed $23.3m for Phase 2. Fairfax County, Loudoun County and the Airports Authority have committed to fund 25% of the overall project cost. The remaining costs will be funded through revenue bonds backed by the Dulles Toll Road revenues.

In July 2011, Fairfax County Board in Virginia gave preliminary approval for funding to the second phase of the project. The county intends to fund construction of the metro station at Route 28 at an estimated cost of $83m, a parking garage at the Route 28 station at a cost of $53.5m and parking at Herndon-Monroe station at cost of $51.4m. The county also approved the cost-sharing plan of the US Department of Transportation, which proposed to reduce the cost of second phase to $2.8bn from the $3.83bn previously proposed.

Dulles Corridor Metrorail construction

Construction of Phase 1 began in March 2009. The team is currently working on construction all along the Phase 1 alignment, including connections for the extension to the existing Metro system, completion of two short tunnels under a small portion of Tysons Corner, construction of bridges for aerial tracks throughout Tysons Corner including crossing a major interstate highway as well as all five stations. Phase 1 construction has reached the 40% mark.

The tunnels will connect two of the metro stations planned to be built in Tysons. The tunnel construction is estimated to cost $85m and is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.

Phase 2 is in Preliminary Engineering (PE). Construction is yet to be started. It is scheduled for completion in 2017.

Project contractors

In March 2009, Dulles Transit Partners, a team of Bechtel and URS, received notice to proceed on the $1.6bn lump sum design-build contract for Phase 1 of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. Under the contract DTP is providing engineering, procurement and construction services to complete phase one.

Rolling stock

In March 2010, 64 cars of the 7000 series were ordered to be used in the Dulles Corridor extension line. In May 2010, WMATA signed an $880m contract with Kawasaki Rail Car for manufacturing 428 cars of the 7000 series cars. The 7000 series cars are designed with latest technology such as digital displays, communications network and CCTV cameras.