UPDATE: The Silver Line rail will be receiving an additional $250 million to close out its construction. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s board of directors approved the request for those funds during a meeting on Wednesday.

The budget adjustment pushes the cost of the project’s second phase, an 11.5 mile extension from Wiehle-Reston East station to Ashburn with six new stations, to more than $3 billion. The board will be providing the majority of those additional funds, alongside Fairfax and Loudoun counties.

Jack Potter, president and CEO of MWAA, attributed the additional costs to a four-year delay of the project due to “unforeseen circumstances.”

Those circumstances included incorporating new stormwater regulations into the project’s design, upgrades in safety and train technology, and COVID-19 restrictions.

“Of course, nobody wants to go over budget. And as all these things arose, our team worked diligently to address them and to mitigate the impacts,” Potter said. “The Silver Line has been well worth the investment.”

The Phase II also includes a new railyard, which brought additional complexities and variables, said Drew Hascall, vice president of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project.

“One of… the biggest coordination issues is just bringing to life a yard of that size and making sure it operates the way it’s supposed to and that (WMATA is) staffing it properly,” Hascall said. “So integrating that into the project and then trying to deliver the rail system – the six stations and – the yard simultaneously was difficult.”

MWAA says it has negotiated an “equitable adjustment” from contractors for any changes that cost extra. It also has established a trust account between the Airports Authority WMATA, which will go to support ongoing inspections and maintenance.

The projected cost of the entire Silver Line extension from East Falls Church to Ashburn is now more than $6 billion. Final testing for the second phase is underway. Metro’s board will set the opening date for service, expected to be sometime this fall.

Potter added that additional toll revenue would not be needed to cover the Silver Line’s actual costs.

Original: 

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s board of directors is set to decide Wednesday whether to add $250 million in funds for construction of the second phase of the Silver Line rail project, as requested by staff. The request wasfirst reported by The Washington Post. The MWAA is overseeing construction of the rail line.

The project is an 11.5 mile extension from Wiehle-Reston East station to Ashburn with six new stations, including Washington Dulles International Airport. The current budget for the second phase of Silver Line construction is about $2.8 billion. If approved, additional funding would push it to more than $3 billion.

Originally, the Silver Line was expected to be completed in 2016. MWAA staff cited “project complexity at all levels,” COVID-19 restrictions, and cost escalation due to inflation as challenges that have slowed the project’s completion and led to increased costs. The project’s first phase went $220 million over budget.

The project has also faced construction challenges that delayed completion. In 2018, the Metro’s Office of Inspector General launched a two-year investigation that found hundreds of cracks in concrete panels at a number of stations. The office’s 2020 report indicated that the cracks are likely due to “faulty materials” and recommended repairs to seal the cracks every 5 to 7 years.

Now it’s close to the finish line. MWAA officials announced late last year that construction on the extension was “substantially complete.” In June, MWAA handed over control of the project to Metro.

In addition to six new stations, the project includes a 90-acre rail yard with storage capacity for 168 railcars and new maintenance facilities for trains.

MWAA did not respond to a request for comment.

Jordan Pascale contributed to this story.