Virginia and Airports Authority officials still claim they can open the first phase of Dulles Rail by the end of 2012, despite a Federal Transit Administration report contradicting the ambitious timeline and an audit calling into question the project’s ability to meet any set schedule.
A gulf of as much asa year persists between what each side argues is a realistic opening date for the first half of the 23-mile rail line, which will run 11.6 miles of new track from west Falls Church to Reston, recent documents show.
The FTA is weighing whether to grant the project $900 million, a decision that will depend on whether officials can prove the line serves enough riders to justify its cost. But the lack of consensus on the estimated completion date could prove a serious roadblock for a rail line whose price is projected to escalate an average 4.25 percent a year.
Documents submitted to the FTA earlier this month show the project has been trimmed by about $300 million — per the transit agency’s suggestion — but planners still haven’t relented on its schedule. A recent FTA-commissioned report said the actual completion date would likely be between fall 2013 and early 2014.
“Unfortunately, I think the FTA schedule is closer to reality,” said Fairfax County Supervisor and Metro board member Dana Kauffman.
He called the 2012 date “optimistic” and “predicated on all the stars and moon aligning properly.” That timeline is based on a situation in which the FTA approves the project for final design by November and construction is able to begin in April of next year.
“The schedule that we put forth, that’s the schedule that we think we can accomplish based on the work that we’ve done so far,” said Tara Hamilton, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the agency managing the project. “If the steps we’ve laid out are followed, we believe we can meet that 2012 date.”
The project, however, has a long history of delays, all of which were criticized in a U.S. Department of Transportation audit released in July. The audit noted the project’s first phase was once expected to finish by 2009 and cost only $1.52 billion. It is now expected to cost more than $2.5 billion.
