Washington DC: Rail transit - Page 76

Busy Bee · #**1501** Posted **Jul 15, 2023, 9:34 PM**

^Agreed.

For a deeper dive into the future of Metrorail expansion, here's a couple good posts on GGW from a few years back:

https://ggwash.org/view/75003/metro-...d-silver-lines

https://ggwash.org/view/77619/five-m...etro-expansion

202_Cyclist · #**1502** Posted **Jul 17, 2023, 12:04 PM**

It is unfortunate we can’t build transit on-time and on-budget in this country.

Purple Line further delayed, another $148M over budget
The troubled 16-mile light-rail project connecting the D.C. suburbs in Maryland is now more than five years and $3.8 billion over budget

Bt Erin Cox
Washington Post
July 17, 2023

“
Maryland’s Purple Line will open at least seven months later than the previous estimate and cost $148 million more, state officials said Friday as they sought more resources to push the half-built and long-delayed project toward completion.

The 16-mile light-rail line connecting the car-dependent D.C. suburbs of Montgomery and Prince George’s counties is now $3.8 billion over its initial 2016 budget of $5.6 billion. It is expected to open in May 2027, more than five years later than first planned — provided there are no further complications.

The latest delays partly stem from the consequences of steps to salvage the project in 2020 when the key builder quit, but also from inflation and labor shortages...”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md...20for%20locals.

Busy Bee · #**1503** Posted **Jul 17, 2023, 1:31 PM**

The whole thing is so depressing.

Busy Bee · #**1504** Posted **Jul 27, 2023, 8:19 PM**

This person is thinking what i was thinking in regards.to the Blue Line loop proposal to take full advantage of line capacity for a new river tunnel and downtown alignment. I also think another possibility would be to have another service designation on the Dulles line along with Silver, like brown or pink, that either takes up the local service out to Tysons and Dulles and the Silver Line operates as a pretty speedy express bypassing Tysons along the toll road as well as the segment between East Falls Church and Rosslyn. The Silver line and the Pink/Brown would then take separate tunnels after Rosslyn and interline with the new Blue Line to Union Station. It could follow the Blue Line south as proposed by this gentlemen or branch E/NE.

Https://ggwash.org/view/90394/the-bl...-to-improve-it

TowerDude · #**1505** Posted **Jul 28, 2023, 3:13 AM**

If they could manage an express service from DCA to Dulles with maybe one stop downtown that would be pretty good. Mandate the airlines more tightly coordinate their flights at the two airports to take into consideration that express service.

Prahaboheme · #**1506** Posted **Jul 29, 2023, 1:56 PM**

The Dulles bus express service from DC tends to be quicker and more convenient for me so I continue to use that over the Silver line. I always take the metro when flying from DCA as the yellow line from my neighborhood is fast and efficient in comparison to highways.

I tend to avoid Dulles whenever possible as arriving there is only half the battle. Navigating its labyrinthine layout and at times, the multiple transfer locations makes the experience a headache.

202_Cyclist · #**1507** Posted **Aug 18, 2023, 2:55 PM**

He helped build N.Y.’s Moynihan Train Hall. Now he’s rebuilding D.C.’s Union Station.

By Luz Lazo
Washington Post
8/17/2023

Doug Carr is the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation president and CEO. A new effort to revitalize Union Station is underway after a spike in vacancies and safety issues at the transit hub. (Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post)

"Union Station is in line for a major expansion, an investment that railroad and city officials say will help to move more passenger trains through the Northeast Corridor while modernizing an important gateway to the nation’s capital.

Plans include updated concourses and tracks, more retail options, a new train hall and modern parking and bus facilities. The proposed expansion, at least an $8.8 billion expense, calls for a transformation of the nation’s second-busiest intercity rail hub by 2040.

Meanwhile, efforts in recent months have centered on near-term improvements to add life back into the station, which some have described as unsafe, outdated and unwelcoming..."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/trans...redevelopment/

Prahaboheme · #**1508** Posted **Aug 18, 2023, 3:01 PM**

This cannot come soon enough. Union is a shell of its former glory as a destination transit hub. The vacancies are downright depressing. And please, bring back the Center Cafe in the main hall.

202_Cyclist · #**1509** Posted **Aug 18, 2023, 3:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prahaboheme

This cannot come soon enough. Union is a shell of its former glory as a destination transit hub. The vacancies are downright depressing. And please, bring back the Center Cafe in the main hall.

The Union Station modernization and expansion, especially Akridge's Burnham Place proposal to build housing and offices over the tracks behind Union Station, is perhaps the project I am most excited about in the DC region.

I have bene taking Amtrak a lot over the past year. The article and Mr. Carr are correct-- there has been modest improvements at Union Station recently but it has fallen a long way during the pandemic with homelessness and vacant stores. It is unfortunate and I have sympathy for the homeless but safety is a valid concern for passengers presently using Union Station.

cambron J · #**1510** Posted **Aug 19, 2023, 12:25 AM**

Prahaboheme

This cannot come soon enough. Union is a shell of its former glory as a destination transit hub. The vacancies are downright depressing. And please, bring back the Center Cafe in the main hall.

Evey thing in this comment is why Union Station is so screwed up.

How about making it into an actual passenger railroad station like what was envisioned more then 100 years ago. Demolish the Amshak and parking garage above it and return the gates that access the platforms to the as built train concourse.

Railroad stations should not be repurposed into shopping malls or places to go to eat and be entertained.

Prahaboheme · #**1511** Posted **Aug 20, 2023, 5:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cambron J

Prahaboheme

This cannot come soon enough. Union is a shell of its former glory as a destination transit hub. The vacancies are downright depressing. And please, bring back the Center Cafe in the main hall.

Evey thing in this comment is why Union Station is so screwed up.

How about making it into an actual passenger railroad station like what was envisioned more then 100 years ago. Demolish the Amshak and parking garage above it and return the gates that access the platforms to the as built train concourse.

Railroad stations should not be repurposed into shopping malls or places to go to eat and be entertained.

Respectfully speaking, you’re just delving in hyperbole. It is already a functioning passenger station, and could be much improved with appropriate upgrades. While you may enjoy sitting in a soulless train station without much to do while waiting for train, I can assure you that is an unpopular stance.

cambron J · #**1512** Posted **Aug 22, 2023, 10:27 AM**

Prahaboheme
Respectfully speaking, you’re just delving in hyperbole. It is already a functioning passenger station, and could be much improved with appropriate upgrades. While you may enjoy sitting in a soulless train station without much to do while waiting for train, I can assure you that is an unpopular stance.

In my opinion it is not a functioning passenger station as one has to pass trough an obstacle course and maze to get from the entrance of the station to the platforms to board a train.

Prior to the building of the Amshak behind the original train concourses, the upper level terminal tracks were longer by roughly 400' and there were 7 more tracks then there is today. The lower level had 4 more through track then it has today. The terminal throat had 6 tracks allowing more flexibility for the arrival and departure passengers trains and the movement rolling stock and locomotives between terminal tracks and the servicing yards and shops, today there are 5 tracks.

Demolishing the Amshak and the garage above it would allow the replacement of the lost capacity and would be a major upgrade to the existing passenger station.

On top of all that, the H Street overpass should also demolished and the underpass should be restored with its roadway and sidewalk surfaces lowered to provide clearance under the WMATA Red line tracks.

202_Cyclist · #**1513** Posted **Mar 4, 2024, 1:50 PM**

This is not great. It should be a national priority to find ways to control costs for the construction of transit projects.

Maryland's Purple Line delayed again, cost approaches $10B

https://www.bizjournals.com/washingt...on-delays.html

OhioGuy · #**1514** Posted **Mar 11, 2024, 2:30 PM**

DC Transit now leading post-pandemic recovery among larger peers

TowerDude · #**1515** Posted **Mar 11, 2024, 5:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prahaboheme

The Dulles bus express service from DC tends to be quicker and more convenient for me so I continue to use that over the Silver line. I always take the metro when flying from DCA as the yellow line from my neighborhood is fast and efficient in comparison to highways.

I tend to avoid Dulles whenever possible as arriving there is only half the battle. Navigating its labyrinthine layout and at times, the multiple transfer locations makes the experience a headache.

My favorite use of the Silver Line is to get from downtown DC to the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

jmecklenborg · #**1516** Posted **Mar 12, 2024, 5:00 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TowerDude

My favorite use of the Silver Line is to get from downtown DC to the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

The USAF Museum in Dayton, OH is 4X bigger than that. It's a amazing. Sadly, it didn't get a space shuttle or Concorde, but it's got everything else.

202_Cyclist · #**1517** Posted **Mar 14, 2024, 4:39 PM**

Earlier this week, the Federal Railroad Administration approved the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Union Station expansion.

Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Record of Decision (ROD)

"On March 12, 2024, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) signed a combined Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)/Record of Decision (ROD), consistent with 23 United States Code (USC) 139 (n) (2), which directs that “to the maximum extent practicable, the lead agency shall expeditiously develop a single document that consists of a final environmental impact statement and a record of decision, unless (A) the final environmental impact statement makes substantial changes to the proposed action that are relevant to environmental or safety concerns; or (B) there is a significant new circumstance or information relevant to environmental concerns that bears on the proposed action or the impacts of the proposed action.”

The FEIS addresses the comments received on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and the Supplemental DEIS (SDEIS) and presents the impacts of the No-Action Alternative and the Preferred Alternative (Alternative F). The FEIS addresses the substantive comments received on the DEIS and SDEIS. Because FRA and the Project Proponents (Union Station Redevelopment Corporation and Amtrak) developed Alternative F to address substantive agency and public comments on the Action Alternatives presented in the DEIS, the FEIS considers two alternatives only: the No-Action Alternative and the Preferred Alternative (Alternative F). Changes made in response to comments also include factual corrections, impact analysis refinements, and mitigation measures refinements..."

https://railroads.dot.gov/rail-netwo...on-expansion-8