DULLES, Va. — Seven decades in the planning, the long-awaited opening of Metrorail to Dulles and beyond is less than two weeks away. Metro gave reporters a chance to preview the trip on Wednesday, but starting Nov. 15, everyone will get to take the ride.
There are three gleaming new glass and steel stations in Loudoun County: Ashburn, Loudoun Gateway and Dulles Airport. In Fairfax, stretching along the Toll Road, there's Reston Town Center, Herndon and Innovation Center.
The ride from Dulles to downtown D.C. should take just under an hour.
"This has been a vision for Dulles Airport for 70 years," said Jack Potter, CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which runs Dulles and built the Silver Line for Metro.
Dulles celebrates its 60th birthday on Nov. 17, but even before it was built, planners were talking about a rail line to help people get to and from it.
"It's become an expectation to have transit when you land at an international airport to get downtown," Potter said of world travelers and airlines.
The $3 billion Silver Line Phase 2 project is about $250 million over budget and four years behind schedule.
"You never look back," Potter said. "You just look forward."
The Dulles Airport station is on the far side of the ground level parking lot, just to the side of the daily parking garage. It takes about five minutes to walk from the platform to baggage claim in the terminal. The airports authority wanted to build it closer to the terminal in the planning stages, but putting it farther out only costs travelers about two extra minutes and save the project about $300 million.
The signs are already up at the airport, and Metro says trains should run about every 15 minutes to start.
Employers have already invested millions building campuses near the new Silver Line stations. Metro GM Randy Clarke predicts that will explode.
"Future growth along this corridor is just going to be amazing to watch come together," he said. "And it's all based, as usual around this region, where Metro is is where people want to live work and play."
Metro still has a little work left on things like computer software and blue safety lights, and it still needs certification from the safety commission, but Clarke is convinced it will be ready to roll for its public opening Nov. 15.