Best of 2022: “That, my friends, is new Metro station smell”: Inside the opening day of Metro’s Silver Line Phase II

This was one of GGWash’s most popular articles in 2022. We’re sharing some of our hits again over the holiday season. This article was originally posted on November 16.

After years of planning and challenges, Metro’s Silver Line finally opened its doors at Washington Dulles International Airport on Tuesday, marking the completion of one of the largest capital construction projects in the US, according to a Metro press release.

“Do you smell that?” Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va. 10th) asked the crowd at the Dulles ribbon cutting. “That, my friends, is new Metro station smell. It’s like new car smell but it’s much better because it will actually remove thousands of cars from the road every single day.”

A 2002 report projected 23,829 daily riders on Silver Line Phase II by 2025. Since that report came out twenty years ago, Loudoun County’s population has more than doubled to 427,592. There’s also enormous ridership potential for reverse-commuters in addition to the more than 19,000 airport employees who have to navigate to Dulles daily.

WMATA officials, regional stakeholders, and residents throughout Greater Washington celebrated the opening of Silver Line Phase II, which consists of six new stations. The extension added about 11.4 miles of track to the 128-mile system, and includes a new rail maintenance facility.

The project has been long delayed — Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) quipped that he started working on it when Secretary Buttigieg was in the third grade — with the final hiccup, approval from the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (WMSC), resolved just last week.

For the scores of residents and Metro enthusiasts, the Silver Line extension was an opportunity to see history in the making.

The party bus is a train

After a celebration at Ashburn, hosted by the Loudoun Station development adjacent to the station – who fêted guests with Silver Line themed mocktails and charcuterie cups – Metro General Manager Randy Clarke and other leaders got back on the train to pick up lucky “Silver Ticket” holders at Wiehle-Reston East, the Silver Line’s Phase I terminus that opened in 2014.

In advance of the big day, WMATA solicited “Metro Memories” from the general public for a chance to win a Silver Ticket. Over 400 people submitted Metro memories on social media, and nearly 100 won a Silver Ticket to join GM Clarke on an express train to Ashburn.

Silver Ticket holder Silonga Anktor shared a drawing of her on the Metro as a teenager.

“I didn’t have a car,” Anktor said. “So the only, like, cool thing I could do from Virginia was to go into DC. And me and my friends would just do that, like every weekend and it was like the coolest thing ever because you feel like an adult. And you’re like going with all these like commuters. That’s my Metro memory.”

For Loudoun County resident and Silver Ticket holder Dawn Eisert, this day has been a long time coming. Eisert followed a friend’s advice and moved to Ashburn Village in 1994, anticipating that one day there would be a Metro station. Her son, Daniel Eisert, said that this has been a dream of his for as long as he could remember.

“I do a lot of running,” Daniel Eisert said. “I live out in Ashburn and almost every day I’d be running down Ashburn Village Boulevard, and a lot of times I’d run down to the station to check it out. I’ve been waiting so many years for this to come. I’ve been saying Metro is coming! Metro is coming! And it’s finally here, and it’s a very exciting day.”

Rose Marcus, who works for a DC-based company, came all the way from Florida to participate in the event.

“I wanted to be here because I know how important it is to have efficient transportation between major points of interest,” Marcus, a guest of Loudoun County resident Greg Howard, said. Howard and his neighbor Shu-Jiuan Liang, who live near the Innovation Center station, have been waiting for this, as Liang emphasized, “too long!” Now, these Loudoun County neighbors are excited to be able to walk to the Metro for the first time.

Onward and upward

Official festivities began Tuesday beneath the cathedral ceilings of the new Dulles Airport station with remarks from local, regional, and national leaders followed by a ribbon cutting and a dignitaries’ ride out to Ashburn, the farthest terminal station from the District in the Metro system. About 500 people attended WMATA’s event at Dulles, including a long list of local, regional, and national leaders.

“Our Metro system is the economic engine of our entire region,” said DC Mayor Muriel Bowser in an interview between ribbon cuttings. “So this represents connecting workers, both workers in Virginia to get into DC and DC workers to get to Virginia for jobs. So that’s real economic development. And it’s great for bringing our visitors back.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg emphasized the importance of these investments during his remarks.

“We have been waiting a long time nationally for the investments that are allowing us to fix roads and bridges to allow us to reconnect communities that were divided in the past,” Buttigieg said. He also highlighted “improvements at ports, and airports, including, by the way, right here at Dulles where a new 14 Gate concourse will improve access to passengers flying in and out of this region. [That is among] the literally thousands of projects that are underway, and that reflect the vindication of those who believe that we need and must pursue these kinds of infrastructure investments.”

In Virginia, the Silver Line project could also invigorate the Commonwealth’s standing in the national and global economies. In an interview, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) noted the weight of Dulles Airport’s significance and how the Silver Line will amplify its potential.

“Dulles is one of the two best economic development assets that Virginia has in terms of connecting us with the global economy,” Kaine said. “Dulles, because of nonstops to foreign cities, and the Port of Virginia in Hampton Roads, because of freight shipment around the world. In a global economy, you’re not just competing with North Carolina anymore, or trying to be stronger than Maryland. You [have to] have outreach all over the world, and Dulles was never going to be all that it can be without rail service directly from Dulles into the capital.”

He explained that Dulles is built on land that could accommodate about 45 million passengers per year but it operates at half that because of insufficient ground transportation.

In terms of WMATA, Clarke — who remained energetic and optimistic through the day’s festivities — said that the completed Silver Line will pay dividends as the agency works to win back ridership and address long overdue repairs.

In an interview with GGWash, Clarke acknowledged some of the difficulties he inherited when he started in July and what the region has to look forward to.

“Obviously Metro has had some challenges over the last year but I think we’ve already turned the corner,” Clarke said. “I think we’re gonna have a very strong [2023]. I think the pride of the region is going to be back, realizing that where Metro goes, the community grows and prospers. And I think that’s evident here with the Silver Line. Look at all the development around every station. That’s why I think everyone’s so excited.”