Already a Year Behind Schedule, Testing Halted on Silver Line Phase 2 to Virginia

Construction is underway, but testing has been halted, on Phase 2 of the WMATA Silver Line, which will eventually include six stations, including one at Dulles International Airport, and will for the first time extend Metro into Loudoun County.

September 23, 2019, 10am PDT | James Brasuell | @CasualBrasuell

A Silver Line train in Virginia.

Daniel J. Macy

Shutterstock

Lori Artani reports bad news for Phase Two of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) Silver Line, after officials requested that testing of trains ceases due to safety concerns.

Construction of the new Silver Line is being managed by Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), but Capital Rail Constructors (CRC) is doing the building. The second phase of the project is already a year behind schedule. Phase One opened with four stations in Tysons and one in Reston on July 26, 2014.

"For months, MWAA and its contractors, which also include Hensel Phelps, have been grappling with a growing list of problems on the $5.8 billion project, including rail ties with too much curvature in them to meet Metro standards, defective concrete panels at several stations that must be treated with special sealant, and contamination in the ballast that supports the track in the new rail yard," according to Artani.

The latest bad news was revealed when CRC revealed that they'd been ordered by Metro to halt testing. MWAA, as Artani reports, has been sticking to positive messaging about the progress of construction on the project. Metro and MWAA are not on the same page here.

Full Story:

Metro has ordered Silver Line builder to stop running test trains because of construction flaws

Published on Wednesday, September 18, 2019 in The Washington Post