The 23.1-mile Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, connecting Northern Virginia's dynamic technology corridor, residential communities, and the Washington Dulles International Airport with downtown Washington, DC. and suburban Maryland opened in November 2022. The $6.01 billion project is now part of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's regional system and operates as the Silver Line.

More than six decades in the making, the project was built in two phases over 13 years by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority with support from local, state, and federal governments using different prime contractors through two counties, a town and densely developed, congested communities.  The Airports Authority owns and operates the Washington Dulles International and Reagan National airports and the Dulles Toll Road, whose funds help fund the rail project.

The project has sparked dynamic redevelopment and new commercial and residential projects in Fairfax and Loudoun counties from Tysons through Reston, Herndon, Dulles, Washington Dulles International Airport to Ashburn in eastern Loudoun County.  It includes 11 new stations and provides a one-seat, no-transfer ride from Loudoun County to the nation's capital where it links up other Metrorail stations to connect to Largo, Md.

The Silver Line is also bringing enormous benefits to the entire National Capital area and is a foundation for future growth which according to the Airports Authority CEO John Potter, is good for our business and good for the local and regional economy. Political, business, and community leaders have praised the project for easing traffic congestion; improving access to jobs; spawning multiple mixed use, high-quality, transit-oriented developments; expanding affordable housing; providing new job opportunities; and enhancing tourism just as early proponents had predicted.

Visit the WMATA Silver Line website for maps, stations and schedules.

Since Silver Line Phase 2 opened on November 15, 2022, with celebrations featuring U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Jack Potter, CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and a host of state and local officials and long-time supporters, ridership has increasing daily.

The Dulles Airport Station and the Ashburn stations are attracting the most riders. Economic growth continues all along the alignment. See the video and photos of Opening Day.

• 60,000 cubic yards of concrete were used on Phase 2 of the project. That is enough to fill over 3.5 Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pools.
• Phase 2 workers laid 260,000 feet of rail, which equals the length of 867 FedEx Fields.
• Phase 2 of he project required 22 miles of cable trough, enough to make 5.5 round trips between the White House and the U.S. Capitol Building.
• Phase 2 of the project used 700 miles of cable which is long enough to stretch from Washington, DC to Chicago.
• Phase 2 of the project required more than two million tons of crushed aggregate from local quarries, which weighs the equivalent of 25 Washington Monuments.

Source: Clark Construction (Capital Rail Constructors)

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