Silver Line Dulles WMATA Metrorail progress/pictures

justalurker66 wrote:

farecard wrote:If the Metro went there, it might help it compete, but seeing as how it's never going there, i.e. the terminal {as Cleveland & others do}, just somewhere nearby, I wonder.

Do you really think a few hundred feet is success or failure? Seems picky to me.

I disagreed with the initial post as well. High speed moving walkways will make the separation distance irrelevant.

I am thinking of O'Hare in Chicago ... CTA runs to the airport and terminates in the parking lot. Not any closer than the planned Silver Line station. Metra runs past the airport and there are plans to extend the Airport Transit System to a Metra station near the economy parking.

Using O'Hare as the example I'd consider the Metra service to be "doesn't go there and never will" (discounting the Airport Transit System connection). I would consider the CTA service as serving the airport. I consider the planned Silver Line station at Dulles as serving the airport.

The same schemes that farecard mentioned for express tracks and trains have been floated in Chicago. One has to realize what CTA and WMATA are designed to do. I am glad that WMATA will serve the airport ... but one has to remember what is at the other end of the ride. A rail system designed for daily commuters.

The lack of public transit has little or nothing to do with the declining passenger counts at Dulles Airport, it is mostly the result of industry mergers and politics.

Dulles was opened a few years before Kansas City International,the difference between the two is, Kansas City moved most of the flights from the old Airport across the river from downtown to the new airport. Congress would not let the Federal Aviation Administration and its predecessor the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority do the same.

Kansas City Municipal airport now called Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport (I went to school with one of his daughters) was and is about the same size as Washington National. Today it is a glorified version of the Montgomery County Airpark.

The other key difference here is that Washington is probaby well suited to have three large airports. Dulles would have been forced to grow much faster otherwise and I'm not sure the area was ready for it at the time.

This fantastic, and slightly unrelated video, discusses Dulles and the idea behind its central terminal placed at a distance from the gates so that the people movers could make like easier for passengers. What a hoot. I particularly liked the idea of them as luxury accommodations, as well as the man reading the Playboy magazine almost missing his flight. http://vimeo.com/4139559

Loudoun County is prepared to move forward and recommend to Metro the names 'Ashburn' and 'Broad Run' (first choice, followed by Loudoun East and Loudoun Gateway) as the names of its two future Metrorail stations. http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/b ... names.html

The DCAC met yesterday - powerpoint slides available here:

http://www.metwashairports.com/tollroad/7568.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are two presentations - one having to do with the rail project, the second having to do with finances.

http://www.metwashairports.com/file/Rai ... ion%29.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

• They talk a bit about phase 1 - the various punchlist items that they are still working on before they are done.
• The design work for phase 2 is now about 69% complete. Construction is 1% complete
  • 60 drilled shafts installed.
  • 42 columns installed.
  • 26 caps installed.
• There was a "Package S" contract that was let out that I hadn't know about before - site prep for the yard. This was a separate package from the contract to build the yard itself, and that work is essentially complete.
• Construction enabling work on Herndon and Reston stations will begin 1st and 2nd quarter of 2015 respectively.
• There are a couple of nice pictures at the end, including an aerial photo of the section now under construction.

The finance presentation wasn't as interesting. Toll rates remain the same until 2018. They project tolls way into the future - by the year 2038, they anticipate it will be 10$ to go from one end to the other, but that's a long way off.

I have seen reports in the news that the airport station should have just begun construction, but I haven't been out there to look.

I was noticing myself that the laydown yards for phase 1 where Rt 7 and the toll road cross are *finally* being cleaned up with grass being planted.

Here is a shot from a recent trip out of the airport along Autopilot Drive. It was too dark to get any other good photos.



When I flew out at Thanksgiving, I did not see any work starting at the station site yet. Much activity is taking place daily at the area next to the Greenway. The drill rig and many concrete trucks are out there when I pass by at about 6:30 and 4:00 everyday. A little tree clearing has started near the Broad Run bridge. And utility vehicles are now working at the Dulles Substation along Route 28, which I assume is related to the Metro project.

JackRussell wrote:The DCAC met yesterday - powerpoint slides available here:

http://www.metwashairports.com/tollroad/7568.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are two presentations - one having to do with the rail project, the second having to do with finances.

http://www.metwashairports.com/file/Rai ... ion%29.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

• They talk a bit about phase 1 - the various punchlist items that they are still working on before they are done.
• The design work for phase 2 is now about 69% complete. Construction is 1% complete
  • 60 drilled shafts installed.
  • 42 columns installed.
  • 26 caps installed.
• There was a "Package S" contract that was let out that I hadn't know about before - site prep for the yard. This was a separate package from the contract to build the yard itself, and that work is essentially complete.
• Construction enabling work on Herndon and Reston stations will begin 1st and 2nd quarter of 2015 respectively.
• There are a couple of nice pictures at the end, including an aerial photo of the section now under construction.

The finance presentation wasn't as interesting. Toll rates remain the same until 2018. They project tolls way into the future - by the year 2038, they anticipate it will be 10$ to go from one end to the other, but that's a long way off.

I have seen reports in the news that the airport station should have just begun construction, but I haven't been out there to look.

I was noticing myself that the laydown yards for phase 1 where Rt 7 and the toll road cross are *finally* being cleaned up with grass being planted.

Page 22 of the second pdf shows a nice illustration of the Dulles yard.

justalurker66 wrote:

farecard wrote:If the Metro went there, it might help it compete, but seeing as how it's never going there, i.e. the terminal {as Cleveland & others do}, just somewhere nearby, I wonder.

Do you really think a few hundred feet is success or failure? Seems picky to me.

'

Shlepping that distance in August or January, carrying baggage?
Waiting for next train on the raised outdoor platform in either season?
Hell Yes.

Transit options have to look more attractive than driving to succeed. They already suffer from price-visibility [1] and little non-rushhour end-to-end travel time advantage for many travelers. The convenience at Hopkins is striking: I get off the train, and take the escalator to Ticketing; I am *there*... BWI Light Rail is at least indoors.



1] The fare is immediately visible as an expense. Most drivers shrug off the total cost & don't think of the $0.50/mile they are paying out in car payments, gas, repairs and insurance; it's lost to them. Visibility is one of the big reasons for the "parking meter by cellphone" schemes -- when forced to carry and insert quarter after quarter, there is far more price resistance.

farecard wrote:

justalurker66 wrote:

farecard wrote:If the Metro went there, it might help it compete, but seeing as how it's never going there, i.e. the terminal {as Cleveland & others do}, just somewhere nearby, I wonder.

Do you really think a few hundred feet is success or failure? Seems picky to me.

'

Shlepping that distance in August or January, carrying baggage?
Waiting for next train on the raised outdoor platform in either season?
Hell Yes.

Transit options have to look more attractive than driving to succeed. They already suffer from price-visibility [1] and little non-rushhour end-to-end travel time advantage for many travelers. The convenience at Hopkins is striking: I get off the train, and take the escalator to Ticketing; I am *there*... BWI Light Rail is at least indoors.



1] The fare is immediately visible as an expense. Most drivers shrug off the total cost & don't think of the $0.50/mile they are paying out in car payments, gas, repairs and insurance; it's lost to them. Visibility is one of the big reasons for the "parking meter by cellphone" schemes -- when forced to carry and insert quarter after quarter, there is far more price resistance.

People talk about the schelp, but it's basically the same setup as National Airport, especially to Terminal A. And, National Airport's station is also weather-exposed. Neither of those factors seems to diminish the number of people who use Metro to reach the airport.

farecard wrote: Shlepping that distance in August or January, carrying baggage?
Waiting for next train on the raised outdoor platform in either season?
Hell Yes.

Transit options have to look more attractive than driving to succeed. They already suffer from price-visibility [1] and little non-rushhour end-to-end travel time advantage for many travelers. The convenience at Hopkins is striking: I get off the train, and take the escalator to Ticketing; I am *there*... BWI Light Rail is at least indoors.

Other than the ends of the platform at the Dulles station, the remainder of the walk to the Dulles Terminal will be under a roof or indoors. The center part of the platform is enclosed. You can wait there or get off from a middle car under the canopy. For one arriving at Dulles, you can take the elevator down to the mezzanine, exit through the fare gates into the temperature controlled pedestrian tunnel with 2 slide walks leading to the main terminal. Not a lot of exposure to the weather.

Several renderings of the planned Dulles Metro station arrangement on the Dullesmetro.com website:
Station exterior
3D cross section rendering of the station and pedestrian tunnel.

The BWI light rail station is at the far end of the terminal complex at Concourse E which is underused and reserved for future growth. I should check a BWI map and figure out how long a hike it is to the check in desk for the busier Concourse D. And how long the hike is to Concourse A.

Using the Google Maps measuring tool, I get an approximate distance (working off approximate locations in satellite view), I get about 1700' from BWI light rail to Terminal A/B, and at DCA it's over 2000' from the Metro to Terminal A (though much closer to terminals B & C.

And - at IAD, at least the daily or longer parking is equally or further away (and less convenient) than where the Metro station will go. Two airports I've used (SEA and MDW) make you walk through the parking garage, and out the far side, to get to the train. And of course my home airport (BOS) forces you onto a shuttle bus that also serves the rental car center if you want to take the train.

Taking the train to the airport becomes more and more attractive for longer trips (as long as luggage doesn't become an issue - I'll haul a lot of luggage with me on transit, but not everyone will) when there's a good cost savings over multi-day parking. Obviously folks who can expense their parking for work, or on a short trip and pay for the daily garage aren't likely to use Metro, but for someone comparing it to economy parking, it's a lot more convenient.

Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, Pictures 01 10 2015

Nothing has begun at the sites of any of the stations, however lanes along the Dulles Access Road are being shifted in area of the Innovation station. Grading has begun in the area of Sulley Road VA-28 and preparations are being made for the construction of the bridge over Horse Pin Run west of Sulley Road. Visible construction continues to be mostly confined to Dulles Airport property.

All of the columns that have come out of the ground south of Rudder Road and along Airfreight Lane are done, there are roughly 5 at the south end just north of Aviation Drive that have not been started.

All but hand full of the columns along Autopilot Drive are done. The columns in the median of Autopilot Drive north of Rudder Road has not come out of the ground yet.

Things have begun north of Materials Road on both the mainline and the yard leads. The mainline columns have come out of the ground to the Dulles Greenway. East and west yard lead columns are mostly rebar cages sticking out of the ground. Construction of the mainline and west yard lead columns in the Dulles Greenway right of way have not begun.

Test track and Commissioning Facility

The contractor is getting close to prepping the roadbed for ties south of Greenbelt Road. The rail that was staged in the south park and ride lot at the Greenbelt station has been moved to various locations along the test track right of way.

Pictures at picasaweb.google.com/cambronj DCMP 10 13 1014.
Pictures at picasaweb.google.com/cambronj Greenbelt Test Track and Commissioning Facility.
This and previous posts in this series can be seen at cambronj.blogspot.com.

Yep, we were in the cell phone holding lot at Dulles picking a kiddo up at Christmas and noticed that some of the concrete pillars were in - discernable progress.