As soon as Thanksgiving, Washington, D.C., metro area residents will be able to take the Metro’s Silver Line train to Dulles International Airport, according to a Wednesday release from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
The added Metro stop at Dulles is part of a six-stop extension of the Silver Line that includes new service stops at Reston Town Center, Herndon, Innovation Center, Loudoun Gateway and Ashburn. The extension brings Metro into Loudoun County, Va., for the first time.
“We committed for the Silver Line extension to being operationally ready for the Silver Line extension in October, and we have met our deadline,” said General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke.
WMATA has completed construction of the entire Silver Line extension but is awaiting a return to service plan and safety certification report from the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission.
The extension’s opening is facing delays because Metro has not been permitted to return to its full fleet of 7000-series railcars. More than 700 of these Metro railcars were suspended from service after a derailment in October 2021.
With a lack of trains in service, opening the Silver Line extension now would increase wait times and overcrowding, Clarke said in the release.
“As we seek crowding solutions, support increasing ridership and work to extend service, the equation of doing more with less no longer works,” Clarke said.
