Rail (Metro) to Dulles Airport
Metro (Blue and Yellow Lines) at Reagan Washington National Airport
Our transportation network is a wonderfully-tangible piece of cultural geography in Northern Virginia. For rail systems, both freight rail and passenger rail, the physical geography is also a factor.
For example, Tysons Corner is one of the highest spots in Fairfax County.. but trains don't climb hills. Metro's "Silver Line" from East Falls Church to a spot in Loudoun County past Dulles Airport could bypass Tysons.
There's historical precedent. About 150 years ago, the first rail lines bypassed the county seats of Fairfax, Prince William, and Fauquier counties.
Warrenton ultimately got a spur line. Brenstville, in Prince William, withered away without a rail connection and the county seat was ultimately moved to Manassas.
Fairfax Station was built close enough to the Fairfax Courthouse. People/freight traveled from town to rail station by horse-and-buggy for 75 years, until automobiles appeared about 90 years ago.
Rail connections are seen as essential to economic development in the "smart urban growth" philosophy, however. That's one reason why there is a proposal to build the Silver Line of Metrorail in a tunnel through at least a portion of Tyson's Corner, and have people take escalators up to the surface. when the Federal government first announced plains to reject funding the project, the president of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce wailed "It's our whole growth strategy."1
The wide range of opinions on how to improve transportation in the Dulles-to-DC corridor included this statement on the Dr. Gridlock blog in the Washington Post: "VRE from Dulles to Union Station would be better anyway."2 It reflects the basic challenge of understanding the options. Most fundamentally: there is no existing rail line for Virginia Railway express (VRE) trains to use between Dulles and Union Station. All existing VRE trains run on rail lines built by the predecessor companies to CSX and Norfolk Southern, over 100-150 years ago.
The capital costs of building a rail line, with either a long or a short tunnel through Tysons, is the main reason the Silver Line proposal ballooned to $5 billion, before the Federal government developed cold feet. The closest rail line to Dulles was the former Alexandria. Loudoun and Hampshire railroad, later known as the Washington and Old Dominion. It ceased operations in the 1960's, and is now the W&OD Trail.
Links
- Bacon's Rebellion columns
- The Rail to Nowhere (July 24, 2006)
- Rail Rip-off (May 15, 2006)
- Bottomless Pit (March 20, 2006)
- Feelings vs. Facts (September 5, 2005)
- Railroaded Again (February 28, 2005)
- The Commuting Problem (January 18, 2005)
- Rethinking Metro (October 18, 2004)
- Getting From Point T to Point D (July 26, 2004)
- Rail-to-Dulles Realities (January 5, 2004)
- Rail-to-Dulles Scam (December 1, 2003)
- Build Rail to Dulles? (December 2, 2002)
- It is Time to Fundamentally Rethink METRO and Mobility in the National Capital Subregion
- The Rail-to-Dulles Scam, by Phillip Rodokanakis
- Bus Rapid Transit Policy Center
- Coalition for Smarter Growth - Dulles Corridor
- Dulles Area Transportation Association
- Dulles Corridor Rail Association
- Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project
- Fairfax County - Dulles Rail Transportation Improvement District
- Federal Transit Administration
- James Madison Institute
- Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
- Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
- Northern Virginia 2020 Transportation Plan - Transit
- Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance
- ProRail ("...forum for ideas on mass transportation issues in Western Fairfax County")
- Thomas Jefferson Institute - Rail at Any Cost: Options that Could Provide Better Service than Dulles Rail At a Third of the Cost
- Tysons Transportation Association
- US Department of Transportation - Federal Transit Administration: Bus Rapid Transit
- Virginia Business
- Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation
- Virginia Department of Transportation
- Virginia Institute for Public Policy
- WAMU - Metro Connection: Metro Rail to Dulles (April 23, 2004)
- Washington Airports Task Force
- Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
- Washington Post - More on Metrorail
- Kaine Raises The Specter Of Higher Dulles Tolls (Washington Post, January 29, 2008)
- Va. Gains Time to Save U.S. Funding for Dulles Rail: Decision Encourages State Political Leaders (Washington Post, January 29, 2008)
- Private Interest In Rail To Dulles: Without U.S. Funds, Partnership May Be Only Alternative (Washington Post, January 28, 2008)
- Dulles Extension Yet Another Defeat For All Commuters (Washington Post, January 27, 2008)
- Contradictions Surface in Dulles Rail Talks: Kaine Says Federal Slam Is a U-Turn; FTA Says Va. Knew of Its Concerns (Washington Post, January 26, 2008)
- Dulles Derailed (Washington Post editorial, January 25, 2008)
- The Dulles Rail Death Knell: A Region Stunned at Loss of Future Economic Engine Seeks to Salvage or Rethink Project (Washington Post, January 25, 2008)
- 'Does Not Appear to Be a Prudent Investment' (Washington Post, January 25, 2008)
- Dulles Rail Project All but Dead: With Federal Funding at Risk, Some in Va. Say Demands for Major Revisions Can't Be Met (Washington Post, January 25, 2008)
- For McLean Chamber Group, Tysons Tunnel Dream Endures (Washington Post, November 19, 2006)
- Metro Extension To Dulles Delayed (Washington Post, October 19, 2006)
- Virginia to Review Rival Bid For Tysons Rail Extension (Washington Post, August 1, 2006)
- Tunnel Visions (editorial in the Washington Post, July 31, 2006)
- Tysons Metro Tunnel Buoyed: Cost Wouldn't Threaten Completion, Panel Says (Washington Post, July 29, 2006)
- Wolf, Davis Say Tunnel May Delay Dulles Rail (Washington Post, July 27, 2006)
- Tysons Landowners Could Cover Cost Of Metro Tunnel (Washington Post, July 26, 2006)
- Tysons Tunnel Could Risk U.S. Funds (Washington Post, May 8, 2006)
- Tunnel or Bust (Washington Post editorial, April 30, 2006)Tunnel Back On Table for Dulles Rail (Washington Post, April 26, 2006)
- Cost Dooms Metro Plan For Tunnel At Tysons (Washington Post, March 24, 2006)
- Dulles Rail Project Faces Cuts as Costs Swell (Washington Post, March 23, 2006)
- Vision for Transit-Friendly Tysons May Slam the Door on Dealer Row (Washington Post, March 20, 2006)
- Project Chosen for Site at Planned Metro Stop in Reston (Washington Post, February 16, 2006)
- Metro's Future in the Balance (Washington Post editorial, October 6, 2005)
- Leaders Back Idea of Dedicated Funds for Metro (Washington Post, October 4, 2005)
- Alliance Offers Plan To Fund Dulles Rail (Washington Post, September 25, 2005)
- Landowners Craft Plan to Help Finance Dulles Rail (Washington Post, September 22, 2005)
- Cost of Tysons Rail Plan Trimmed 25% (Washington Post, August 11, 2005)
- Va. Rail Plan Exempted From Stricter Cost Gauge (Washington Post, August 2, 2005)
- Rail Route In Tysons An Uphill Challenge (Washington Post, July 27, 2005)
- Dulles Metrorail Battle Resumes (Washington Post, July 10, 2005)
- Price Soars For Extension Of Metrorail (Washington Post, June 25, 2005)
- Tysons Transformation Will Be a Daunting Task (Washington Post, May 15, 2005)
- Choke Point Slows Down Orange Line (Washington Post, April 15, 2005)
- Western Alliance for Rail to Dulles
- Wikipedia
References
1. "The Dulles Rail Death Knell: A Region Stunned at Loss of Future Economic Engine Seeks to Salvage or Rethink Project," Washington Post, January 25, 2008 www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/26/AR2008012602083.html
2. "Feds Slam Dulles Rail Project," Em> Washington Post, January 24, 2008, blog.washingtonpost.com/getthere/2008/01/feds_question_dulles_rail_proj.html?sid=ST2008012401224 (last checked January 30, 2008)
Sprawl in Virginia
Metrorail Virginia
Geography of Virginia