Now that Dulles has a metro stop, I think VA needs something similar to the Purple line to better connect the WMATA rail branches outside downtown DC. We need a light rail (or heavy rail) line connecting the western portion of the Red line to the Silver Line.. preferably from Tysons to Bethesda since Bethesda will already be a transfer stop for the Purple Line and Tyson's is already a highly populated edge city with a rising population. It just makes sense.
Sometimes the purple line is envisioned as eventually extending to Tyson's, but this would probably be a 20-years-until-officially-proposed kind of thing
I think we could also expand it to Merrifield and even Springfield to provide a more direct path for people in Springfield and surrounding areas to get into the airport.
I remember visiting the Station last year (2023) when WMATA closed off part of the Silver and Orange stations for track replacements. The station is marvelous. Certainly, it’s not completely perfect, but it’s a much-needed station and extension for DC Metro. Awesome video!
Love that the station honors the Eero Saarinen-designed terminal next door with its design! Besides Dulles, Eero Saarinen also designed JFK's iconic TWA Flight Center and St Louis's Gateway Arch! He was a pioneer in the concept of the mobile lounge! Dulles's mobile lounges each weigh 76 tons with a maximum cruising speed of 26 mph and can carry to and from the terminal building up to 90 people. Their purpose was to radically restructure the idea of airports. By the early 1960s, airports had transformed to ramifying systems of hallways. As planes grew larger, they needed more space as they lined up next to each other along the airport building. And as flying grew more popular, airports needed to have more and more gates. The result was that terminal buildings sprouted long protrusions called fingers. Hundreds of feet long, they accommodated jets very comfortably. The finger-style airport was a purgatory of walking because airports went from being able to walk straight from the entrance of a simple terminal onto your plane, now you were reduced to wandering through a structure built for giants. So when Dulles opened in 1962, it did not have fingers. Instead, after passengers checked in on one side of the terminal building, they crossed to a row of doors that opened onto a fleet of mobile lounges. While the aircraft, some one or two miles off on the tarmac, were prepared, flyers relaxed in swank waiting areas, enjoying cocktails from nearby stands. Construction of the airport began in 1958, but Saarinen sadly did not live to see its completion in 1962 as he passed in 1961 Dulles's designers thought that by shuttling from the main terminal directly to a midfield jet ramp, they could save passengers from long walking distances amidst weather, noise, and fumes on the ramp. The advent of the jet bridge and construction of the two midfield concourse buildings at this airport negated the benefits of the system. As passenger numbers at Dulles grew, they realized it was impractical to use mobile lounges. Remote concourses were constructed, and the fleet of mobile lounges was used as a shuttle between the concourses and the main terminal. Thus the AeroTrain was eventually built in 2010, while mobile lounges have continued to be used to reach Concourse D before replacement Concourses C and D are built and the AeroTrain is expanded to become a continuous two-way loop. Besides Dulles, mobile lounges have been used at Montréal-Trudeau, Philadelphia International, Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City until 2007, JFK International, the infamous Mirabel International until passenger services ceased in 2004, Paris Charles de Gaulle, and King Abdulaziz International Airport in Saudi Arabia. Early in the space shuttle program, NASA used the Plane Mate system of mobile lounge to move astronauts directly from the orbiter to crew facilities. A modified vehicle obtained from BWI in Baltimore was used for shuttle landings at California's Edwards Air Force Base. A similar vehicle was used at the Kennedy Space Center to take astronauts directly from the orbiter to the Operations and Checkout building.
Great video. I think the reason fare evasion numbers are so high at Dulles and Reagan is that people carrying luggage through the fare gates cause the alarm to go off.
I think it's great that they added the Metro to Dulles. It's been a long time coming, and honestly it's pretty impressive that we can reach three of our airports by public transit and for a reasonable price! (dulles - silver, national - blue/yellow, bwi - marc). As much as I love the beautiful and stunning views of the airport, I wish the station would have been built closer or even underground. It would have been way better, but unfortunately I don't think we'll ever see another underground metro station within the next 30-40 years.
I wish the entire Silver Line was underground. Would have made for much better urban development around stations and there would be no need for stations to be placed next to highways where they are less accessible by foot. However, if it was fully underground, Tysons station would probably just be opening now and it would be another 10-15 years before Dulles opened lol.
@@PaulClipMaster Dulles station was originally going to be underground! near the terminal, but of course it was simply just too expensive and not enough funds. I think the current station layout is pretty okay though. Once the Dulles People Mover finishes expansion maybe there could be a connection to the Metro
Great video! This line reminds me a lot of the Picadilly line from Heathrow. I think it took me about the same amount of time to get to my Central London hotel as the Silver line takes from Dullas to DC. I visited Europe a few times and it's always nice to see a city you can visit here in the US without renting a car.
The trains headed for Dulles start at the far eastern point of the Silver Line in MD.. It takes them that long to get there with later opening times on the weekend.
but people who dont live along those routes would be left in the dust, I dont think metro has ever run longer span of service on certain lines and not others. Would be an interesting case study tho!
Does it take an hour and fifteen minutes for me to take the metro to Dulles? Yes. But is it worth it to only spend $6.75 over $50-$75? Absolutely! Plus getting off at this station usually means a big adventure! It’s so thrilling to start and end my journeys to places like Mumbai, Bucharest, and Mexico City via transit! Makes trying all the transit there more special ❤
hack yeah! Its a great service for the car free of the DMV and those who dont want to annoy friends with drives or dont want to pay out the wazzo for IAD long term parking!
The canopy design is like an airplane wing, but that's the other part of it: the canopy is meant to mirror in part Eero Saarinen's iconic design of the airport terminal. One of the cons you list is the connection between the station and the terminal, and... money. They didn't want to spend extra to build this underground and closer to the terminal. But at least there are moving walkways, so okayish compromise. And for me, who lives past the end of the western leg of the Red Line, taking Metro to Dulles would take me two hours. BUT.... I've travelled to London twice and if you skip the (faster) Elizabeth Line or Heathrow Express, the Underground Piccadilly Line takes about 30-40 minutes to central London, so an hour between Dulles and downtown DC isn't too too horrible. Thanks for the video, Sammy!
It would be interesting to see a race between car, metro and bus to see who can get to the check-in line quicker and by how much. 16 mins longer by metro is not a good look but maybe if you take into account finding a parking space, walking from the lot with luggage etc. maybe the difference is closer than it first looks?
I still haven't been on the Silver Line since it expanded past Wiehle-Reston. About time it happened, though. If I'm ever able to afford to travel international again, I'll likely be taking Metro out to Dulles.
The next expansion should be to bring a line from Greensboro Metro up Rt 7 to maybe One Loudoun, and then take it down Rt 28 to meet up with the Dulles Airport station. Lots of growth and population on those two routes with more planned.
So the reason IAD only has 4 fare machines is they’re all so old WMATA couldn’t get new ones for the silver line. All the silver line FVMs are stolen from other stops on the system. They really need to replace them all with modern machines.
Great station review! I feel like Dulles Airport Station has to have some of the longest (if not the longest) escalators at an above-ground station in the system. Also the only reason I’ve used the Dulles Airport station (other than for just filming it) is to transfer to the Fairfax Connector, weirdly enough.
One feature I love, however, is that it has four elevators instead of just one or two. This is great not just for accessibility but also since most of us are there with luggage. I hate taking my suitcase on the escalator haha.
they really need to work on their signposting. We had just arrived, walked out of the arrivals, followed the signs in the building to the metro and: were dumped outside onto the bus station/parking lots with no indication that there was an actual route to the metro. The metro was an elevated track with a clear highway in between and no signage outside routing us to it. Eventually we managed to get into the metro station by just crossing the parking lot into the elevator on the parking lot closest to the metro station and getting into the tunnel this way.
Having primarily travelled between Asia and the US, and living in DC, I will say the metro station *feels* very Asian, including the tunnel to the terminal which really reminds me of a lot of Chinese airport metro connections. However, I will say a couple of things that we *definitely* need to improve on: 1. Extended hours of service - it should at least run between 6am to 11:30pm. I know silver line is very long, but the current hours of service leave a lot to desired. 2. Headways - ehhh this one is more meh for me, because I know ridership on the silver line is not SUPER strong (yet), but I would prefer 8 - 10 min headways. 3. Platform screen doors. This way, it wouldn't just feel Asian anymore, it would match most Asian cities in every way!
Bostonians spotted! Yeah, WMATA missing a trick in the early morning there! Note you always give a percentage for fare evasion, may I ask how that's derived, please? Thanks for the look round! \m/
@@sammymarrco47 fascinating, thank you - in which case, I'd suggest the 'higher than expected' evasion percentage would largely feature people just off the plane who just couldn't be bothered, when faced with so few points of sale - for me the obvious contrast would be the approach walkway for Heathrow Express, a broad tunnel between the 2 tracks with a whole row of machines spread out along it at regular intervals down the centre line, forming central alcoves for stress-free purchase, while not obstructing people who already have tickets \m/
Metro is not bad, and it is not good. As an IBEW member I hole-heartedly support any WMATA expansion. As a DMV resident I would never use it unless I am in the city for a hole day. Driving is still on the whole cheaper especially if you value your time. Even if I am traveling alone, I have family and friends who can drop me off or pick me up from a flight. Security on Metro is abysmal, I do not want to be trapped in a box with someone dealing with a mental health crisis or drugs. From MOCO to Dulles, Metro is effectively unusable. Redline to Chinatown to Silverline is over 2 hours. Just build a damned bridge between the beltway and Point of Rocks. Shame that Whites Ferry closed down. I just want a bridge between MOCO/Frederic and Ashburn instead of diverting all the traffic and clogging up 495 15/7. The problem is not that we are not capable of building it; powerful 'communities' aka. Potomac do not want to see commuter traffic through their multi-million dollar residential enclaves.
yeah unfortunately if you don't live near a station its not as useful unless you're going downtown or to an event like a nats game or protest. Good news, the last time I saw a mental heath person was May of 2023, its been pretty chill recently. 🤞it says that way!
It’s crazy that Americans will do anything but take transit. Considering that the metro is such a nice train, it’s crazy that people would drive instead.
driving is often faster, even for some trips directly from a station! :( Almost every family has at least one car, 90%. Also, there's a stereotype in the US (much less in the DC area) that transit is for the poors™
I pity any visiting arrivals in finding the train station and then having to decipher METRO's utterly confusing fares and how to work the really confusing vending machines. I always suspected they contracted with a big name tech company to make something easy into a mind numbingly difficult purchase..
@@sammymarrco47 That is a great idea! Just use a Visa or Master Card with a chip reader and no more tickets needed. EZ pass for cars works well too and never have to stop to pay tolls. On July 4th I was visiting to go to the Nats game in DC. I thought the 4th qualified for holiday price like many other did. Had to get in long line at Navy Yard to use Exit Fare then coming back the $10 I added to the Smart Ticket failed to work. A day of frustration on Metro. DC has large numbers of visitors who are not familiar as the regular commuters.
Now that Dulles has a metro stop, I think VA needs something similar to the Purple line to better connect the WMATA rail branches outside downtown DC. We need a light rail (or heavy rail) line connecting the western portion of the Red line to the Silver Line.. preferably from Tysons to Bethesda since Bethesda will already be a transfer stop for the Purple Line and Tyson's is already a highly populated edge city with a rising population. It just makes sense.
It’s has to be in the style of a REM metro
Connecting Tysons with something like Landmark would be awesome
Sometimes the purple line is envisioned as eventually extending to Tyson's, but this would probably be a 20-years-until-officially-proposed kind of thing
I think we could also expand it to Merrifield and even Springfield to provide a more direct path for people in Springfield and surrounding areas to get into the airport.
I remember visiting the Station last year (2023) when WMATA closed off part of the Silver and Orange stations for track replacements. The station is marvelous. Certainly, it’s not completely perfect, but it’s a much-needed station and extension for DC Metro. Awesome video!
thanks!
Love that the station honors the Eero Saarinen-designed terminal next door with its design! Besides Dulles, Eero Saarinen also designed JFK's iconic TWA Flight Center and St Louis's Gateway Arch! He was a pioneer in the concept of the mobile lounge! Dulles's mobile lounges each weigh 76 tons with a maximum cruising speed of 26 mph and can carry to and from the terminal building up to 90 people. Their purpose was to radically restructure the idea of airports. By the early 1960s, airports had transformed to ramifying systems of hallways. As planes grew larger, they needed more space as they lined up next to each other along the airport building. And as flying grew more popular, airports needed to have more and more gates. The result was that terminal buildings sprouted long protrusions called fingers. Hundreds of feet long, they accommodated jets very comfortably. The finger-style airport was a purgatory of walking because airports went from being able to walk straight from the entrance of a simple terminal onto your plane, now you were reduced to wandering through a structure built for giants. So when Dulles opened in 1962, it did not have fingers. Instead, after passengers checked in on one side of the terminal building, they crossed to a row of doors that opened onto a fleet of mobile lounges. While the aircraft, some one or two miles off on the tarmac, were prepared, flyers relaxed in swank waiting areas, enjoying cocktails from nearby stands. Construction of the airport began in 1958, but Saarinen sadly did not live to see its completion in 1962 as he passed in 1961
Dulles's designers thought that by shuttling from the main terminal directly to a midfield jet ramp, they could save passengers from long walking distances amidst weather, noise, and fumes on the ramp. The advent of the jet bridge and construction of the two midfield concourse buildings at this airport negated the benefits of the system. As passenger numbers at Dulles grew, they realized it was impractical to use mobile lounges. Remote concourses were constructed, and the fleet of mobile lounges was used as a shuttle between the concourses and the main terminal. Thus the AeroTrain was eventually built in 2010, while mobile lounges have continued to be used to reach Concourse D before replacement Concourses C and D are built and the AeroTrain is expanded to become a continuous two-way loop. Besides Dulles, mobile lounges have been used at Montréal-Trudeau, Philadelphia International, Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City until 2007, JFK International, the infamous Mirabel International until passenger services ceased in 2004, Paris Charles de Gaulle, and King Abdulaziz International Airport in Saudi Arabia. Early in the space shuttle program, NASA used the Plane Mate system of mobile lounge to move astronauts directly from the orbiter to crew facilities. A modified vehicle obtained from BWI in Baltimore was used for shuttle landings at California's Edwards Air Force Base. A similar vehicle was used at the Kennedy Space Center to take astronauts directly from the orbiter to the Operations and Checkout building.
Great video. I think the reason fare evasion numbers are so high at Dulles and Reagan is that people carrying luggage through the fare gates cause the alarm to go off.
ahh that makes sense!
I think it's great that they added the Metro to Dulles. It's been a long time coming, and honestly it's pretty impressive that we can reach three of our airports by public transit and for a reasonable price! (dulles - silver, national - blue/yellow, bwi - marc).
As much as I love the beautiful and stunning views of the airport, I wish the station would have been built closer or even underground. It would have been way better, but unfortunately I don't think we'll ever see another underground metro station within the next 30-40 years.
I wish the entire Silver Line was underground. Would have made for much better urban development around stations and there would be no need for stations to be placed next to highways where they are less accessible by foot. However, if it was fully underground, Tysons station would probably just be opening now and it would be another 10-15 years before Dulles opened lol.
@@PaulClipMaster Dulles station was originally going to be underground! near the terminal, but of course it was simply just too expensive and not enough funds. I think the current station layout is pretty okay though. Once the Dulles People Mover finishes expansion maybe there could be a connection to the Metro
Great video! This line reminds me a lot of the Picadilly line from Heathrow. I think it took me about the same amount of time to get to my Central London hotel as the Silver line takes from Dullas to DC. I visited Europe a few times and it's always nice to see a city you can visit here in the US without renting a car.
yeah some people arnt a fan of the time but there's precedent for it even in the "good" countries.
Maybe the Silver and Yellow lines should open earlier to help passengers bound to/from the airports? 🤔
And blue line
The trains headed for Dulles start at the far eastern point of the Silver Line in MD.. It takes them that long to get there with later opening times on the weekend.
@@bjdon99 right, I'm saying the Silver line should open an hour earlier
but people who dont live along those routes would be left in the dust, I dont think metro has ever run longer span of service on certain lines and not others. Would be an interesting case study tho!
good video, nice photography and narrative.
thanks peter!
About time!
only took 60 years after IAD opening 😂
Does it take an hour and fifteen minutes for me to take the metro to Dulles? Yes.
But is it worth it to only spend $6.75 over $50-$75? Absolutely!
Plus getting off at this station usually means a big adventure! It’s so thrilling to start and end my journeys to places like Mumbai, Bucharest, and Mexico City via transit! Makes trying all the transit there more special ❤
hack yeah!
Its a great service for the car free of the DMV and those who dont want to annoy friends with drives or dont want to pay out the wazzo for IAD long term parking!
The canopy design is like an airplane wing, but that's the other part of it: the canopy is meant to mirror in part Eero Saarinen's iconic design of the airport terminal.
One of the cons you list is the connection between the station and the terminal, and... money. They didn't want to spend extra to build this underground and closer to the terminal. But at least there are moving walkways, so okayish compromise.
And for me, who lives past the end of the western leg of the Red Line, taking Metro to Dulles would take me two hours. BUT.... I've travelled to London twice and if you skip the (faster) Elizabeth Line or Heathrow Express, the Underground Piccadilly Line takes about 30-40 minutes to central London, so an hour between Dulles and downtown DC isn't too too horrible.
Thanks for the video, Sammy!
youre welcome!
It would be interesting to see a race between car, metro and bus to see who can get to the check-in line quicker and by how much. 16 mins longer by metro is not a good look but maybe if you take into account finding a parking space, walking from the lot with luggage etc. maybe the difference is closer than it first looks?
The Points Guy did a taxi vs. Metro race that’s out on TH-cam. Would be interesting to run it again, however, with the self-driving and parking!
maybe, much of the parking is north of the metro station!
When dulles gets its new terminal in 2026 i hope the metro extend hours to 4am
I still haven't been on the Silver Line since it expanded past Wiehle-Reston. About time it happened, though. If I'm ever able to afford to travel international again, I'll likely be taking Metro out to Dulles.
you should check it out one day, it's a different vibe then the rest of the system
Thank You!
You're welcome!
The next expansion should be to bring a line from Greensboro Metro up Rt 7 to maybe One Loudoun, and then take it down Rt 28 to meet up with the Dulles Airport station. Lots of growth and population on those two routes with more planned.
not dense enough for a train but maybe one day a BRT. The thing is that area is so rich and sprawly people are just going to drive.
So the reason IAD only has 4 fare machines is they’re all so old WMATA couldn’t get new ones for the silver line. All the silver line FVMs are stolen from other stops on the system. They really need to replace them all with modern machines.
ahh, that makes sense, would be nice if they fast tracked (hehe) open loop tap credit card payments.
I haven't been keeping up with WMATA news since I live in Seattle; did they fix their major electronic issues?
Great station review! I feel like Dulles Airport Station has to have some of the longest (if not the longest) escalators at an above-ground station in the system.
Also the only reason I’ve used the Dulles Airport station (other than for just filming it) is to transfer to the Fairfax Connector, weirdly enough.
they are pretty long, it's a cool entrance into the station from the platform!
One feature I love, however, is that it has four elevators instead of just one or two. This is great not just for accessibility but also since most of us are there with luggage.
I hate taking my suitcase on the escalator haha.
they really need to work on their signposting. We had just arrived, walked out of the arrivals, followed the signs in the building to the metro and: were dumped outside onto the bus station/parking lots with no indication that there was an actual route to the metro. The metro was an elevated track with a clear highway in between and no signage outside routing us to it. Eventually we managed to get into the metro station by just crossing the parking lot into the elevator on the parking lot closest to the metro station and getting into the tunnel this way.
that's unfortunate, the signs from the arrivals baggage section seemed adequate with signs for metro!
The next one in North America should be Ottawa, opening in a few months
oh that project is finally getting close to being done, epic!
veeeery nice :^)
Thanks moose man!
I work at Dulles but live in DC & they need to fix the bathrooms 💀 it’s been closed for like 3 months.
the bathrooms at the airport station?
This is similar how Honolulu’s SKYline design. Next phase to HNL Airport will take years to establish like how silver line took.
i know the timelines are so slow there
Having primarily travelled between Asia and the US, and living in DC, I will say the metro station *feels* very Asian, including the tunnel to the terminal which really reminds me of a lot of Chinese airport metro connections. However, I will say a couple of things that we *definitely* need to improve on:
1. Extended hours of service - it should at least run between 6am to 11:30pm. I know silver line is very long, but the current hours of service leave a lot to desired.
2. Headways - ehhh this one is more meh for me, because I know ridership on the silver line is not SUPER strong (yet), but I would prefer 8 - 10 min headways.
3. Platform screen doors.
This way, it wouldn't just feel Asian anymore, it would match most Asian cities in every way!
the first time I went down at that station it felt like I was a real modern transit country like many Asian ones!
Bostonians spotted! Yeah, WMATA missing a trick in the early morning there! Note you always give a percentage for fare evasion, may I ask how that's derived, please? Thanks for the look round! \m/
By camera and observations. 2 people can push thru the gate if they move quickly. Or the old fashion way of crawling under or hopping over.
Metro themselves provides the information on their website or the local news channels/publications request that information.
its on the metro ridership page, www.wmata.com/initiatives/ridership-portal/Metrorail-Ridership-Summary.cfm
@@sammymarrco47 fascinating, thank you - in which case, I'd suggest the 'higher than expected' evasion percentage would largely feature people just off the plane who just couldn't be bothered, when faced with so few points of sale - for me the obvious contrast would be the approach walkway for Heathrow Express, a broad tunnel between the 2 tracks with a whole row of machines spread out along it at regular intervals down the centre line, forming central alcoves for stress-free purchase, while not obstructing people who already have tickets \m/
Metro is not bad, and it is not good. As an IBEW member I hole-heartedly support any WMATA expansion. As a DMV resident I would never use it unless I am in the city for a hole day. Driving is still on the whole cheaper especially if you value your time. Even if I am traveling alone, I have family and friends who can drop me off or pick me up from a flight. Security on Metro is abysmal, I do not want to be trapped in a box with someone dealing with a mental health crisis or drugs. From MOCO to Dulles, Metro is effectively unusable. Redline to Chinatown to Silverline is over 2 hours. Just build a damned bridge between the beltway and Point of Rocks. Shame that Whites Ferry closed down. I just want a bridge between MOCO/Frederic and Ashburn instead of diverting all the traffic and clogging up 495 15/7. The problem is not that we are not capable of building it; powerful 'communities' aka. Potomac do not want to see commuter traffic through their multi-million dollar residential enclaves.
yeah unfortunately if you don't live near a station its not as useful unless you're going downtown or to an event like a nats game or protest.
Good news, the last time I saw a mental heath person was May of 2023, its been pretty chill recently. 🤞it says that way!
It’s crazy that Americans will do anything but take transit. Considering that the metro is such a nice train, it’s crazy that people would drive instead.
driving is often faster, even for some trips directly from a station! :(
Almost every family has at least one car, 90%.
Also, there's a stereotype in the US (much less in the DC area) that transit is for the poors™
Oh so i have seen you on opening day. I was wearing the SpongeBob coat. But i utilize this station for flights or getting a rental car
I think we sat on the same seat on the way back! nice to meet u!
check mile's video, at the end I think we're in the shot.
I just met Andy on the way to the zoo. Where I’m at at the time of writing
cool!
I pity any visiting arrivals in finding the train station and then having to decipher METRO's utterly confusing fares and how to work the really confusing vending machines. I always suspected they contracted with a big name tech company to make something easy into a mind numbingly difficult purchase..
I would to see open loop credit card payments soon, they need a big sign saying "everyone needs their card and a trip to downtown is $6.75".
@@sammymarrco47 That is a great idea! Just use a Visa or Master Card with a chip reader and no more tickets needed. EZ pass for cars works well too and never have to stop to pay tolls. On July 4th I was visiting to go to the Nats game in DC. I thought the 4th qualified for holiday price like many other did. Had to get in long line at Navy Yard to use Exit Fare then coming back the $10 I added to the Smart Ticket failed to work. A day of frustration on Metro. DC has large numbers of visitors who are not familiar as the regular commuters.