Federal transportation officials say passengers on Metro’s Dulles Rail extension will board the trains a full year after the project’s managers say they will.
The Federal Transit Administration, according to a copy of the March funding agreement, predicts the stations will begin taking passengers on Dec. 1, 2014.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which is managing the project, reasserted this week that trains would be running by December 2013.
The gulf highlights the fact that even though the federal government has — after an enormous dispute over cost— agreed to commit $900 million to the project, it still harbors disagreements over details.
The initial leg of Dulles Rail will carry a new track from past the East Falls Church Metro station, through Tysons Corner, and end at Wiehle Avenue in Reston. Eventually, the project will run 23 miles through Washington Dulles International Airport and into Loudoun County. Early construction and utility work are under way in Tysons.
Airports authority spokeswoman Tara Hamilton said the FTA used the 2014 date “for their planning purposes.”
Fairfax County officials appear more in line with the schedule from the airports authority.
“I think 2013 is realistic,” said County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova. “And that’s the date that I’m using and that our county staff has been using.”
The FTA nearly killed Dulles Rail by withholding funding last year because, among other problems, the project cost too much to justify its ridership. After a series of cuts, and broad political pressure, the FTA relented and released the money.
The rail still faces a raft of funding issues, even with the federal commitment. Airports authority officials proposed Tuesday to incrementally double tolls on the Dulles Toll Road by 2012 to bankroll the rail.
And building three Fairfax County stations along the second phase will require convincing western Fairfax landowners to tax themselves, a tough sell in a slumping economy.
A U.S. Department of Transportation spokesman could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
