D.C.'s Dulles Rail Project Seems Unlikely

"U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and Federal Transit Administration chief James S. Simpson stunned Virginia politicians at a meeting on Capitol Hill yesterday when they outlined what Simpson called "an extraordinarily large set of challenges" that disqualifies the project from receiving $900 million in federal money. Without that, the project would die."

"Kaine said Virginia officials and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which is managing the project, would address the concerns of Simpson and Peters by Monday. But several project supporters, including state and congressional officials, said privately that it would not be possible to meet all of the federal government's demands. The federal and state governments have spent more than $140 million in planning the rail line."

"The news sent shock waves through the region's political and business establishments, which have been promoting the need for a rail connection between the nation's capital and its major international airport since the 1960s. The line was expected to ease congestion through Virginia's biggest jobs corridor and also help it grow by stimulating a transformation of suburban Tysons Corner into a thriving downtown."

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