Silver Line Dulles WMATA Metrorail progress/pictures

[JDC]

That roof is not nearly as exciting looking as I thought it would be...oh, I just read in the pdf that it is not yet finished.

[JackRussell]

The pdf is from last Nov. My guess is that the roof is largely done by now.

[JackRussell]

I think I need to take that back. As I look back at some of the renderings of what the finished thing will look like, what they had up when I took the pictures is still a work in progress.

[RobertMCS]

Should we assume that the tracks have been fully installed along the aerial guideway through the woods? I have seen some trucks up there, but I cannot tell. Also track ballast is being laid along the Dulles Greenway by the Loudoun County Parkway and the bridge deck for the overpass at Ashburn Station is being installed.

Speaking of the bridge, is it part of the project or separate? It appears to be an overpass but I’m not sure

[Sand Box John]

"RobertMCS"
Should we assume that the tracks have been fully installed along the aerial guideway through the woods? I have seen some trucks up there, but I cannot tell.

The lead from the mainline back to the abutment west of Horespen Run is under the same project schedule as the rest of the mainline, so I think we safely assume track has or was laid at the same time as the rest of the mainline elevated. Those trucks you saw up there were likely high-rail vehicles as the first thing installed after the deck is poured is the plinths (grout pads) for the rail fasteners. If memory serves much of the rail along the elevated west of the airport was welded into longer lengths on the elevated as apposed to being welded into longer lengths elsewhere and pulled to the location for laying.

Also track ballast is being laid along the Dulles Greenway by the Loudoun County Parkway and the bridge deck for the overpass at Ashburn Station is being installed.

Speaking of the bridge, is it part of the project or separate? It appears to be an overpass but I’m not sure

If said bridge is beyond the west end of the station then that is the extension of Loudoun Station Drive that will connect to the street grid and development on the south side of the Greenway. The roadway bridge and street grid is being built by others.

[JackRussell]

The lead from the mainline back to the abutment west of Horespen Run is under the same project schedule as the rest of the mainline, so I think we safely assume track has or was laid at the same time as the rest of the mainline elevated. Those trucks you saw up there were likely high-rail vehicles as the first thing installed after the deck is poured is the plinths (grout pads) for the rail fasteners. If memory serves much of the rail along the elevated west of the airport was welded into longer lengths on the elevated as apposed to being welded into longer lengths elsewhere and pulled to the location for laying.

That sounds right to me. Unfortunately for the elevated sections there are now few places where you can see the actual track any more. Even from the toll road it is hard to see in over the barrier. Some day if I am bored, I might ride the express bus from Wiehle to the airport in the hopes that since I would be sitting up higher that I would get a better view. But my luck would be that the windows would be filthy.

I note that the ballast tamping machine is now just west of Fairfax County Parkway. Perhaps 1.5 miles to go to reach the current terminus of the Silver Line. I can't tell if this is just one track that they are extending out or whether they are doing both in parallel. The Fairfax County Parkway bridge would give a decent view of this part of the work - I just have to motivate myself to go out there and look.

In the rental car area, I see the high voltage cables being strung up from the ground and into the cable troughs. Suggesting that the 3rd rail is already installed up there.

Still no sign of any other electrical work. No intrusion prevention, no signal lamps. No sign of any of the required stuff for the emergency trip stations.

I recall reading that the expect to reach "Substantial Completion" in Aug of 2019. Still a year and a half out.

[Sand Box John]

"JackRussell"
Unfortunately for the elevated sections there are now few places where you can see the actual track any more. Even from the toll road it is hard to see in over the barrier. Some day if I am bored, I might ride the express bus from Wiehle to the airport in the hopes that since I would be sitting up higher that I would get a better view.

Parking garages and overpasses are your friend. You can see almost 85 percent of the right of way east of the airport from the overpasses and just under half to the west. From the airport garages you can see from the north end of Airfreight Lane to just south of Aviation Drive east of the airport station.

[JackRussell]

Earlier today, I saw work crews installing signal lamps and the associated wiring near Rt 28. That's the first one that I have seen for phase 2.

[RobertMCS]

Over the weekend I took some pics and observations
- The track walls have been built leading into the western end of Loudoun Gateway Station.
- Pedestrian bridges have been installed at Loudoun Gateway and Ashburn Stations.
- They have installed the conduit stubs at TPSS 20 at Ashburn Station and at TBS #12 near Ashburn Station
Here are the pics

[farecard]

I've ranted before about the not-really-Dulles station: outdoors, and a long long way from ticketing & baggage claim. Some respondents say a moving sidewalk will solve the latter issue.

I want to point out that MTA has abandoned its sole moving sidewalks, at Court Square in Long Island City.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny- ... story.html
The reasons given: it's so slow it saves riders only about 9 seconds, and it's a maintenance disaster.

Together, the walkways were out of service 20% of the time and cost about $210,000 a year to maintain.

I see no better fate for the ones promised at Dulles.

[justalurker66]

Did Dulles not have moving walkways from the garage before WMATA built the station?

[farecard]

Did Dulles not have moving walkways from the garage before WMATA built the station?

Will WMATA or WMAA build and maintain the planned walkways?

[JackRussell]

Did Dulles not have moving walkways from the garage before WMATA built the station?

Yes, the moving walkways were there before the station was built. Enclosed and climate controlled - no different from the moving walkways that are elsewhere in the airport.

The walkway will reportedly open again this summer - I have not seen an announcement that they are already open. I really ought to go out there and take a look myself.

If you look at the map of the airport, and look at the distance from the station to the terminal, it is comparable to the distance that one needs to walk from ticketing to your gate.

[JackRussell]

The DCAC met back in May. Meeting materials are here

http://www.dullestollroad.com/sites/def ... -31-18.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They say they are 82% complete now. Lots of electrical work taking place. Lots of good pictures in the meeting materials.

I have observed track laying equipment and hopper cars with ballast very close to where Phase 1 ended.

There was a day I was driving out there, and I saw a crane right at the end of Phase 1. It *seemed* like they might have been removing the bumper blocks, but I couldn't get a good look, and that's really just a guess based on the size of the crane I saw.

[Sand Box John]

"justalurker66"
Did Dulles not have moving walkways from the garage before WMATA built the station?

The pedestrian tunnel with the moving walkways was built as part of the parking garage 1 project and opened in early 2003. The replaced moving walkways will be roughly 50' shorter as the centerline of airport station entrance was within a few feet of the the north end of the original moving walkways.