A non-profit group tasked with improving airports and air transportation in the Washington, D.C., region made recommendations on Tuesday that could trim nearly $800 million from the skyrocketing costs of the Dulles Rail project.
The suggestions by Dulles-based Washington Airports Task Force are the first public moves to end to the impasse between the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which runs the project, and angry Virginia officials, whose constituents paying for it.
The task force supports building an aboveground station at Dulles instead of the more expensive underground station approved by the airports authority. The aboveground station could save more than $330 million from the overall $3.5 billion estimated cost.
The task force also suggested negotiating third-party agreements to run parking garages, for a savings of up to $200 million; negotiating a “cost effective rail yard” with Metro to save up to $100 million; and seeking additional support from Virginia, which could reduce debt requirements by up to $150 million.
Task force President Leo Schefer said that finding a financially viable solution to the construction of the rail “is a matter of the gravest consequence to the future prosperity of our entire region, the District of Columbia and Maryland, as well as Virginia.”
