Dulles Metro Expansion

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is constructing a 23-mile dulles metro extension of the existing Metrorail system, which will be operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority from East Falls Church to Washington Dulles International Airport west to Ashburn.  This has been a long term goal of the majority of Reston area residents and businesses.  The system will co-exist and be in addition to the current Dulles Toll Road for vehicular traffic and the Dulles expressway which is for getting traffic strictly to and from Washington Dulles Airport.

The extension will serve Tysons Corner, Virginia’s largest employment center, and the Reston Herndon area, the state’s second largest employment concentration. The first section to Reston is projected to open in 2013.  And eventually with the second section due to open in 2016, it will provide a one-seat ride from Dulles International Airport to downtown Washington.

Phase 1 and 2

The project will include 11 new stations. It will be built in two phases. Phase 1 will run from East Falls Church to Wiehle Avenue on the eastern edge of Reston. It will include four stations in Tysons Corner-Tysons east, Tysons Central 123, Tysons Central 7 and Tysons West. Construction will begin in March of 2009 and it will be completed in 2013.

Phase 2 will run from Wiehle Avenue to Ashburn in eastern Loudoun County. A construction date has not been set for the extension that will serve Reston Town Center, Herndon, Dulles Airport, Route 606 and Ashburn.

The purpose of Dulles Metrorail is to provide high-quality, high-capacity transit service in the Dulles Corridor. New Metrorail service in the corridor will result in travel time savings between the corridor and downtown D.C., expand the reach of the existing regional rail system, offer a viable alternative to automobile travel and support future transit-oriented development along the corridor.

Latest information from The Dulles Corridor Metro project, Wikipedia and assorted news articles.