The Silver Line is what the region needs

Transit

by Matt Johnson • October 9, 2009 12:10 pm

Berlin S-bahn. Photo by the author.

This is one-half of a point-counterpoint about transit in the Dulles corridor. Read the opposing viewpoint.

Because it's often called the Dulles Rail project and managed by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, many people think the point of the Silver Line is to connect Dulles Airport to Washington. Now, don't get me wrong, connecting Dulles is one of the points of the rail line. But it is not the main point. A major aspect of the project is connecting Tysons Corner and its jobs to Washington. Now, while I hope that Phase II (to Dulles, Ashburn) is eventually completed, even if only Phase I is completed (through Tysons to Wiehle Ave), it will remain a good project.

For some, the trip from Dulles to Metro Center will be the one they care about. But Metro wasn't designed for tourists. It is indeed for commuters, as Spencer points out. Some of those commuters will walk to the Ryan Road station from Ashburn Village. Some will drive from Leesburg. And of those commuters, many will head to downtown, likely alighting at Farragut West, Metro Center, or L'Enfant Plaza. But we can't forget about the jobs in Tysons or Ballston or Rosslyn or at the Pentagon. Many riders from the exurbs will only be traveling part of the way.

As for airport travelers, I'm sure they'd love a quick trip downtown. And perhaps we should find a way for that kind of a trip to happen. But most people who are in a hurry (businessmen, lobbyists, congressmen) pick a more convenient airport or better yet, take the Acela. In the time I've lived in Washington, I've used Dulles Airport just once. It's just too far away. But tourists who don't know any better, or long-distance (international) travelers will be glad for the Silver Line. Even if it does make quite a few stops. Their hotel might be at L'Enfant Plaza or it might be in Reston. They probably aren't going straight downtown. And if they are, an hour isn't such a high price to pay.

I think you'll find airport-bound travelers are willing to ride pretty far. In Atlanta, MARTA allows overnight parking at some stations (for a fee). It's very common for suburban Atlantans (especially from the affluent north side) to park at North Springs, Sandy Springs, or Doraville on the northern fringes of the rail system and ride all the way to the airport. It beats parking there, it beats driving there, and it gives you something to complain about (MARTA) for the next 6 months. But no matter how much people complain about Atlanta's subway, they continue to do it. It takes 46 minutes and 17 intermediate stops to go from North Springs to Airport, and it involves a trip right through the center of downtown. If Atlantans will knuckle-down and do it, Washingtonians certainly will.

Spencer compares other airport rail connections to Dulles' situation, but his examples are apples-to-oranges comparisons. Philadelphia's SEPTA Regional Rail connection to the airport (R1) only runs every 30 minutes, far short of the Silver Line's projected 6-12 minute waits. The only reason that the R1 takes such a short time to traverse the trip to downtown is that it's only 6.9 miles from 30th Street Station (as the crow flies). BART, meanwhile, is even more exurban-oriented than Metro. Despite having about the same distance in miles (106) as Metro, it has half as many stations, with virtually no intracity circulation on the Peninsula. SFO is also much closer to the Embarcadero at 12.2 miles than is Dulles to Metro Center at 22.9 miles.

London is a much better comparison. Heathrow is served by "local" subway trains in addition to an expensive express airport connection and regional-type trains. In fact, if both are possible, they should be built. However, there are major obstacles to reactivating the WOD between East Falls Church and Alexandria.

Paris is another good comparison. Europeans are better at this planning thing than are Americans. Airport-rail connections are excellent ways to link travelers to their final destinations. As Spencer points out, Charles deGaulle Airport is served by high-speed and inter-city trains. Other cities have similar setups. When I returned from my summer-long study abroad in Germany, I "flew" from Stuttgart Central Station to Atlanta-Hartsfield. I went down to the Bahnhof in downtown Stuttgart, went to the Lufthansa counter and checked my suitcase. I then boarded a Deutsche Bahn Inter-City Express which had a Lufthansa carriage attached. It had Lufthansa seat covers and stewardesses. At Frankfurt Airport Station, everyone in my carriage alighted, went through security, and boarded our flights to different parts of the world. I didn't see my suitcase during the trip from Stuttgart to Atlanta, despite the fact that my first "flight" was by rail.

Unfortunately, the W&OD wouldn't be able to duplicate the role of France's TGV. It's great that TGV trains call at DeGaulle. The W&OD doesn't connect to anything. Even if the full route were restored, Amtrak won't be running trains on it. It goes from Bluemont (west of Leesburg) to Alexandria. So an inter-city connection is not possible. National and BWI Airports are both close enough to an inter-city rail line to create a truly intermodal station, but Dulles is not.

Paris' RER is also not comprable to American commuter rail. In fact, it's a lot closer to Metro than it is to VRE. Paris' counterpart to VRE and MARC is not the RER, but rather the Transilien trains.

Spencer is correct when he says, "the Metro system is trying to serve as both a commuter rail or an urban subway." He's right. Metro is trying to be a hybrid between commuter rail and a traditional urban subway. And the best part is that it's succeeding! In Europe, they'd have a different name for the type of service offered by Metro. In Berlin, they'd call it the S-Bahn. In Paris, they'd know it as the RER. We don't have enough words to describe our modes.

Metro is the second most-ridden heavy rail system in the country. Metro is obviously doing something right. And that thing it's doing right is serving urban neighborhoods and yet still offering a relatively quick trip downtown from the suburbs.

And while trails and rails can certainly coexist, an Airport Express is quite different from the Purple Line or a scenic train in Maryland's Appalachians. And 100' is not as wide as it sounds. Not all 100' are available for track and trail. There would need to be room for grading and room for noise abatement among other things. But that's not a major point of contention. Even with just two tracks, Dulles express and local commuter services could operate side by side. It's just a matter of locating passing sidings in the right places and scheduling trains appropriately.

Adding a connection in Alexandria is probably impossible due to right-of-way encroachment, Interstate 395, and Potomac Yards. Enough money could reopen it, but it wouldn't be easy or without public objection. The only way to do this, I think, would be to have trains terminate at East Falls Church. But then the line would lack a connection to any other railroad and would fail to offer a one-seat ride to downtown.

VRE and MARC should expand. Maybe a line to Leesburg would make a nice addition. The addition of WOD commuter rail services would complement rather than compete with Metro. But contrary to Spencer's belief, further expansion of Metro does not deny VRE and MARC the ability to become "full-fledged." Metro is not stopping VRE or MARC from expanding. In fact, by expanding travel markets, a more expansive Metro encourages that expansion.

This is one-half of a point-counterpoint about transit in the Dulles corridor. Read the opposing viewpoint.

20 comments — Share	— tags: commuter rail, Dulles, Silver Line, Virginia, VRE, W&OD trail

A Silver Line express without more tracks? (Oct 13, 2009)
Could Virginia reactivate the W&OD? (Oct 12, 2009)
Dulles needs an express rail line (Oct 9, 2009)
The Metro Express (Feb 19, 2009)
Greater Washington Transit Future: a multimodal fantasy map (Feb 21, 2008)

Comments

"Stuttgart Central Station" -- that's an awesome story! It's one of those things where you read it and think, "Hey, that makes total sense, why didn't we think of that?"

by Simon on Oct 9, 2009 12:51 pm

There is a quick trip from Dulles to downtown. It's called the "5A". Two stops between Dulles and L'enfant Plaza during rush hour and three during the middle of the day. Almost as fast as a car, and certainly faster than the proposed silver line.

by Tom on Oct 9, 2009 1:14 pm

I don't have the Silver Line ridership projections handy, but it was pretty clear that the vast majority of their projected ridership was to be regular, non-airport use. Including airport access is a no-brainer, but bending over backward for express service (to the point of exclusion of local service, as advocated in the other post) is counter-productive.

Adding passing tracks at the stations for the Silver Line would be one option - but again, we're only talking about a few new stations. Once the trains get on the older tracks on the way through the core, it's the same old Metro service.

by Alex B. on Oct 9, 2009 1:19 pm

The 5A is scheduled for elimination when Dulles Rail is complete (see Fairfax County proposed bus plan).

I don't think they're doing it, but designing stations and overpasses along the corridor to accomodate a 3rd or 4th track would be smart. Eventually one could run some express rail service and potentially by-pass the Tyson's loop. 23 miles from Leesburg to E. Falls is a long haul--and then you still have to get to downtown DC--some express service may be prudent in future years and the added benefit of a 3rd track is invaluable as WMATA's two track system has all too painfully shown.

by kreeggo on Oct 9, 2009 1:32 pm

Simon,
It's not exactly the same, but United will allow passengers to book their tickets through to NYC-Penn Station, Wilmington-Penn Station, and Philadelphia-30th Street Station on arrivals into Newark Airport/Newark Airport Rail Station. But baggage is not checked through. I think this program just includes the Amtrak fare in the ticket price.

by Matt Johnson on Oct 9, 2009 1:33 pm

I disagree with the title. The Silver Line may be a regional need, but it's not THE regional need. Not if you're talking about the Washington region. Would anyone rank this as the #1 need? I put together a quick poll for fun.

by David C on Oct 9, 2009 1:49 pm

@Matt: I thought that was Continental who did that seeing that their big east coast hub is at Newark. Also, IIRC, Washington Union has an IATA code for similar service.

by Jason on Oct 9, 2009 1:52 pm

@Jason,
I stand corrected. It is indeed Continental. Thanks for pointing that out.

@David C.,
Just so we're clear, I didn't name the post, David did. The title is not supposed to indicate that the Silver Line is all that we need, or what we need the most. It's just a reference to Spencer's post, meaning: The Silver Line is best for this context.

But I'm interested to see the poll results anyway. Thanks!

by Matt Johnson on Oct 9, 2009 1:55 pm

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks. My bad.

by David C on Oct 9, 2009 1:59 pm

Funny enough your photo of the S-Bahn was the station that West Berliners used to have to go through to enter East Berlin. I met an artist who told me about the big underground tunnels there they had to go through to enter, buy East German Marks that they HAD to spend all of... anyway Berlin is great.

by Boots on Oct 9, 2009 1:59 pm

The S-bahn station pictured is Hackescher Markt, which was located in East Berlin. However it was not the location of the Grenzübergang (border crossing).

People transferring between West Berlin rail services within East Berlin (the Nord-Süd S-bahn and the U6) could do so without leaving the station.

If someone wanted to enter East Germany from one of those services or via the east-west "Stadtbahn" S-bahn line from the West, they would do so at Bahnhof Friedrichstraße, home of the Tränenpalast (Palace of Tears).

A West Berliner headed from Bhf Zoo to Friedrichstraße would have passed through Hackescher Markt without stopping.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Friedrichstrasse_railway_station

by Matt Johnson on Oct 9, 2009 2:09 pm

The thing is about the priorities... It is going to take the impact of the Silver line for people to see the urgent need of uncoupling the Blue and Orange lines.

by NikolasM on Oct 9, 2009 2:32 pm

Personally, I think the Blue Line should be discontinued in this case. Extend the Silver to Largo Town Center and run every other Yellow to Franconia-Springfield. Have a shuttle between Rosslyn and Pentagon.

by Mike on Oct 9, 2009 2:45 pm

@Mike,
The issue with your proposal is one of infrastructure and ridership patterns.

First off, there are no turnback facilities (crossovers) at either Pentagon or Rosslyn. Theoretically, it would be possible for tail tracks to be constructed using the Columbia Pike Subway provisions at Pentagon. Modifications to Rosslyn would be disruptive and expensive.

But right now a Blue Shuttle would have to run, at a minimum, from Pentagon City to Foggy Bottom, offload, head toward Farragut West, reverse on the Orange/Silver EB track, return to Pentagon City, reverse on the SB platform and repeat. That would further bottleneck the Orange/Silver subway.

Anyway, if you look at ridership patterns, the Blue line is pretty well traveled. See: http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post.cgi?id=3050

by Matt Johnson on Oct 9, 2009 2:56 pm

Matt makes the much better arguement. Most airport rail links carry more airport employees than airport travelers. Getting to Dulles to transfer to an airplane is only one of many reasons for the Silver line. Reverse commuting to Tysons and shopping there is another huge reason.

Lastly, for comparision, it takes about an hour to ride the Blue line in Chicago from the loop to O'Hare, much longer than the Orange line trip to Midway Airport, but the Blue serves other purposes besides going to the aiport.

by Mr. Transit on Oct 9, 2009 5:18 pm

Just a note on the German AiRAIL service: apparently they've stopped the remote baggage check in. I never used it, and always thought it wasn't really useful. It was always faster (in Germany, at least) to get to the train station with your bag (and ticket), get on the train and ride the the airport and check into the flight there.

[There was also something perverse about checking the bag, then having to wait while the bag you just checked was brought down to the platform you were on and and loaded onto the train that you were getting onto (there isn't checked luggage on German trains in general)]

by egk on Oct 9, 2009 5:29 pm

The RER is definitely a commuter train like Transilien. The only difference is that it cross Paris in a tunnel with 1 or 2 stops in downtown instead of ending in a terminus station at the edge of central Paris. Merge VRE and MARC and it would become a kind of RER.
Note that the trains that connect CDG airport to the city skip all intermediate stations and have only one stop in the 25 km between Chatelet-Les-Halles (the main central hub of the metro network) and the airport area: Gare du Nord, the biggest european railway station.

by Yom on Oct 9, 2009 8:25 pm

I read both commentaries.

Mr. Lepler is uses a narrow view when looking at the purpose of the project. His solution is basically redundent and would cost as least as much as the metrorail line.

Mr. Johnson see the big picture. He understands that the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project is more then a link between urban core of Washington DC and Dulles Airport.

Here is a simple and far cheaper solution that would cut at least 15 minutes off the running time between urban core and the airport:

View Metrorail Tysons Corner in a larger map

by Sand Box John on Oct 9, 2009 11:26 pm

The train station at Charles de Gaulle is very efficient, but two things:

The TGV doesn't serve Paris, but makes connections with provincial cities. It's fantastic -- but it doesn't provide high speed rail to the capital.

The RER service is good, but let's not over-romanticize the service through some of Paris' seediest suburbs. Youth violence on the RER-B has really made a lot of Parisians think about taking the trains at certain hours.

You make some good points in your post.

by mch on Oct 11, 2009 7:49 pm

@Matt Johnson and Mike re: Pentagon/Rosslyn shuttle.
Why would the trains need to change tracks to turn around? Couldn't they just head back on the same track they came on? It's only a 5-minute trip, so you could run a shuttle back and forth on a single track with 10-minute headways or run two trains back and forth on the two tracks with 5-minute headways. The infrastructure changes needed would be at the stations to provide transfer access.

by Steve O on Oct 11, 2009 11:11 pm