Metro Update Offers Estimates on Silver Line Fares

By William Callahan

Virginia transportation officials gave updates about new projects, including anticipated fares for Metro’s Silver Line, Thursday morning during the fifth annual Keep Tysons Moving conference at the Gannett building in Tysons.

Construction on Phase I of the Silver Line, which will extend the train system from Falls Church through Tysons to Wiehle Avenue in Reston, is 94 percent complete, said Marcia McAllister, communications manager for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority will ultimately set the date that the line opens for passengers. The project’s exact opening date has been a moving target, but passengers are expected to first board Silver Line trains in December 2013 or January 2014.

McAllister said the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, responsible for building the line, has laid a total of 124,000 feet of linear track. She also addressed the line’s parking issues.

“We know that it’s a concern,” she said. “We’re going to depend an awful lot on pedestrians, taxis and new bus routes.”

MWAA also had fare estimates, though they’re subject to change.

As of now, a trip from Reston to Metro Center in downtown Washington, DC, is projected to cost $5.75. McLean to Metro Center would be $4.50.