Photos: The Silver Line Opens
"Welcome aboard the Silver Line. It's time to ride!"
Metro's General Manager Richard Sarles may have delivered those words from a parking lot near the Wiehle-Reston East station, but the VIP crowd at today's Silver Line opening was too excited to get caught up on a technicality.
After numerous delays, problems with the Bush administration, construction issues and questions about impact, it was finally time for officials to declare victory and cut a ceremonial ribbon on Phase 1 of the long-planned project.
"This is the biggest and largest, most complicated infrastructure project probably in the United States of America," Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said before touting the economic benefits the Silver Line is projected to have for parts of the state. "This is what makes Virginia unique. The opportunity to open up our businesses for new employees."
"I want to thank everybody, but the folks we haven't thanked most importantly are all of you who helped pay for this," he said. "Give yourself a round of applause. This is your Metro!"
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who's been working to make the Silver Line a reality since his time on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in the 1990s, did not shy away from the difficult parts of the Silver Line's development: "When we began this 19 years ago ... there were not many believers," Connolly said. "Helping people imagine it, visualize it, made all of the difference."
"We were sued," he said to a large laugh. "Some the people who sued us are in this room."
"We had to be willing to push through that vision. We debated, we listened we compromised. We never lost sight of that vision that this had to happen."
Connolly said the Silver Line is not just important for Northern Virginia, but for the entire region: "We are in this together."
Just before noon, officials made their way from a tent near the station to an entrance leading to a pedestrian bridge to cut a ribbon with several pairs of average-sized scissors. Once the task was done, a large crowd of customers gathered to watch poured into the Wiehle-Reston East station — one of five to open today — from both entrances for the chance to ride one of the first trains.
Aboard the first train with the public was D.C. Mayor Vince Gray, who discussed city restaurants and the D.C. United soccer stadium deal ("We're trying") with a man from Reston. Men in silver hats and masks led the car in a chant: "When I say silver, you say line. Silver! Line! Silver! Line!"
"I'm not here to go anywhere today, but just to bask in the beauty of things. I'm super excited that the Silver Line is finally opening," said Maura McKnight, a Reston resident who lives less than a mile from the Wiehle station, aboard the second train today. "[The Silver Line opening] means we've arrived, as Restonians. I don't work in D.C., but I go into town for plays and museums and stuff quite often, so this will eliminate any problems at all getting there."
An 18-year resident of Reston riding the first Silver Line train to depart Wiehle-Reston East said she plans to use the train for date nights in downtown D.C. with her husband. "Worth the wait," she said.
While good feelings were as common as the free felt Silver Line pennants being handed out (maybe everyone was just happy to see Teddy?), the day was not without its hiccups. According to NBC4, a train overshot the platform at Tysons by four cars. There was an escalator outage at the McLean station, according to the Post, and the first train left Largo about 20 minutes late.
According to Metro, 9,786 people had entered or exited the system at one of the five new stations as of 3 p.m. The Silver Line had arrived.
With reporting from Matt Cohen
