Silver Line (Washington Metro)

Silver Line (Washington Metro)

The Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, formally dubbed the Silver Line, is an extension of the Washington Metro rapid transit system, currently under construction with the goal of providing rapid transit service to Dulles International Airport and Tysons Corner. The line consists of 34 stations from Route 772 in Loudoun County, Virginia, to Largo Town Center in Largo, Maryland, US. The current plan calls for stations in Loudoun, Fairfax, and Arlington counties in Virginia, the District of Columbia and Prince George's County, Maryland. Eighteen stations will be shared with the Orange Line, including all thirteen shared between the Orange and Blue Lines from Rosslyn to Stadium–Armory. Trains would continue through five stations on Blue Line track to Largo Town Center.

The line will be 28 miles (45 km) long and is estimated to cost up to $6.8 billion. In 2008, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) started building new track in Fairfax County, Virginia. The sections in Arlington, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., are to be shared with the Orange and Blue Lines, which were completed in the 1970s and 1980s. The line will open in two phases with 11.6 miles (18.7 km) of Phase 1 service to the Wiehle – Reston East station to open in 2013 and an additional 11.5 miles (18.5 km) of Phase 2 service to the airport and Loudoun County in 2018. The Silver Line is the largest expansion project by route mileage since the inception of the Washington Metro in 1976.