Email signup

Metro contemplates October opening for Silver Line Phase 2

Reston Town Center Metro station, still closed (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Metro officials are aiming for an October opening of the phase two of the Silver Line, a long-delayed project that appears on track to go live this fall.

At a board meeting on Thursday (July 28), Metro’s new general manager Randy Clarke cautioned that a more specific timeline can’t be disclosed because the completion of the 11.4-mile project is dependent on work by other stakeholders, including a go-ahead from the Federal Transit Administration and the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission.

He hopes to have more details to share next month.

“We obviously have some work that we have to do,” Clarke said at the meeting, adding that safety is Metro’s top priority. 

Metro declared operational readiness in late June. Now, a number of items need to be handled, including training employees, simulating service, running through emergency preparedness drills, rail inspections, and wayfinding measures, Clarke said. 

“We are either running safe service or the service should not run,” he said.

As part of safety certifications, the FTA and WMSC will also give Metro the green light to proceed with rail service. That work is still underway, along with a safety and security certification by Metro’s Chief Security Officer.

The second phase of the Silver Line has been in the works under the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority for almost a decade now, encountering numerous delays that have frustrated local residents, business owners, and elected officials.

At the meeting, Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn pressed Clarke for more details on the opening date. He emphasized that phase two must clear additional hurdles — including a go-ahead from the WMSC, which did not exist when the first phase opened.

“I don’t know if a lot of people recognize that,” Alcorn said, adding that residents and businesses are eager for rail service to begin soon.

Clarke said that Metro believes it is at “the confidence level” that all remaining work needed for safety certification will be completed by October.

“It’s important work,” he said. “…The team is incredibly focused on getting there.” 

Recent Stories

A look at the smallest and largest homes sold in Fairfax County last month, February 2024.

A tent encampment housing between 20 and 35 individuals in the woods between Inova’s emergency room and Sunrise Assisted Living Center in Reston may soon fold. Fairfax County officials hope…

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is considering using kiosks equipped with artificial intelligence to provide select legal information in a variety of languages. The kiosks would feature a virtual…

Commuting will be easier for four families in the D.C. area, thanks to their new vehicles from a quartet of Virginia and Maryland automobile dealerships. The businesses handed off the…

Real estate agents claim that home buyers don’t pay anything to use their service, but buyer’s agents usually net 2-3% of a home price as commission. Let me rebate you as much of this as possible.

It is common for a real estate seller’s agent to charge between 5 and 6% of the sales price as commission, a cost which sellers keep in mind when judging how to price their property.

This commission is typically split between the seller and buyer agents, meaning as a buyer, your agent is receiving anywhere from 2.5-3% of the sale price of the home, even if nothing is coming directly out of your pocket.

Read More

Submit your own Community Post here.

Active Bystander: Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) Training

The Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) Active Bystander Certification course, also known as Active Bystander, is the premier training program to prepare civilians for how to respond during an intentional violent event and to address life-threatening emergencies.

Similar to FEMA’s

Virginia Psychic Fair 2024

Many of the best psychics, mediums, healers, and readers of all types, along with related arts and crafts vendors from Virginia and the surrounding areas. Besides all types of readings done at tables their will also be related arts, crafts,

×

Subscribe to our mailing list