The 23-mile extension of Metrorail to Dulles costs too much, won’t cut traffic and will fail to carry as many riders as proponents claim, a top Virginia Republican legislator said Tuesday.

House Speaker William Howell, of Stafford, delivered a bleak assessment of the beleaguered rail project in an editorial board meeting with The Examiner, arguing Dulles rail is “not going to be the panacea they think it is.”