More than eight years after the first portion of Metro’s Silver Line opened for service, railcars will finally begin running to new six new stops in early October. One caveat: There won’t be any passengers onboard. The initial rides on the Silver Line’s new stretch are simply a test, designed to ensure the rail system meets safety requirements, reports WTOP.
According to the WMATA documents, Metro’s “simulated service” will take place from October 3 to October 17. As the transit system prepares for passenger service on the new section later this fall, the rail system is training first responders, updating maintenance policies, and readying new maps of the Metro system.
The construction of Metro’s Silver line has occurred in two parts. The original Phase 1 portion of the track, which began offering service in July of 2014, begins at the McLean station and currently ends at the Wiehle-Reston East station. Phase 2 will carry passengers along an 11-mile stretch that includes a stop at Dulles Airport and terminates in Ashburn.
Luke Mullins is a senior writer at Washingtonian magazine focusing on the people and institutions that control the city’s levers of power. He has written about the Koch Brothers’ attempt to take over The Cato Institute, David Gregory’s ouster as moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press, the collapse of Washington’s Metro system, and the conflict that split apart the founders of Politico.
