Silver Line Phase 2 maintenance yard reaches substantial completion

Dec. 2, 2021

The 90-acre rail yard and maintenance facility at Dulles International Airport is a major part of the Phase 2 extension of the Metrorail Silver Line.

Mass Transit Staff Report

The 90-acre yard at Dulles International Airport is part of the Phase 2 extension of the Metrorail Silver Line in the Washington, D.C., region.

The 90-acre Rail Yard and Maintenance Facility at Dulles International Airport, a key piece of the Metrorail Silver Line Phase 2 extension project, has reached substantial completion according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA).

The rail yard, located on Dulles International Airport property along Old Ox Road, will enable trains to undergo maintenance and repairs and provide storage for the trains and a range of spare parts for train and track maintenance.

The rail maintenance yard was constructed under a separate contract by Hensel Phelps and follows the early November 2021 news that the six stations and mainline tracks for the project has reached substantial completion. Phase 2 of the Silver Line project will extend Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) Metrorail system to Dulles International Airport and farther into Northern Virginia.

MWAA is overseeing the construction of the project and will turn it over to WMATA for testing and operation. Reaching substantial completion means allows operational readiness testing to begin, where the project team will demonstrate the rail yard’s functionality, as a key step toward delivering the new rail yard to WMATA.

“The completion of the rail yard and maintenance facility is critical to completing the Metrorail Silver Line to Dulles Airport and beyond. We are now one step closer to making that happen,” said MWAA President and CEO John E. Potter. “In addition to serving the Silver Line, the new maintenance facility also will bring hundreds of new jobs to Northern Virginia.”

The Silver Line’s goal is to help ease traffic congestion by providing alternative routes and easier commuting times, as well as improve access to regional entertainment, shopping and Dulles Airport.

Phase 1 of the Silver Line opened in 2014, extending Metrorail service from East Falls Church to the eastern edge of Reston and prompting major transformations in the Tysons and Wiehle Avenue areas. MWAA says those same trends are beginning along Phase 2, with changes already underway in Reston, Herndon and Ashburn and at Dulles International Airport.