U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced the closing of a $403 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan for Fairfax County and a $195 million TIFIA loan for Loudoun County to fund construction of Phase Two of the Metrorail Silver Line extension.

When combined with the $1.278 billion TIFIA loan to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) that closed in August, the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) has provided $1.87 billion in TIFIA loans to support the construction of Phase Two, which represents the largest TIFIA assistance for a single project in the program’s history.

Work has begun at the Wiehle-Reston East Metrorail Station, where Phase One work ended and includes construction of 11.4 miles of track from Wiehle Avenue to Route 772 in eastern Loudoun County. Six new stations will also be constructed along the way — Reston Town Center, Herndon, Innovation Center, Washington Dulles International Airport, Route 606 and Route 772, and a new Service and Inspection Yard at Dulles International.

Secretary Foxx joined other U.S. Department of Transportation officials along with state and local elected leaders in July to celebrate the opening of the first phase of the Silver Line, which represented the largest expansion of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (Metro) Metrorail service in 20 years.

The first phase extended Metrorail service from the East Falls Church Metrorail station through the large Tysons Corner employment and retail center to the Wiehle-Reston East Metrorail station in the Reston area of Fairfax County. Metro announced that during its first week of service alone, nearly 220,000 trips were taken.

The Silver Line is being constructed by MWAA and operated by Metro. The new line is expected to serve approximately 85,700 daily riders by 2030.