Type Light rail transit Stations 21 (planned) | Status Approved | |
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System Maryland Transit Administration Locale Montgomery County, MD
Prince George's County, MD Daily ridership 64,800 (2030 projection) Owner Maryland Transit Administration Terminis New Carrollton station (East), Bethesda station (West) | ||
The Purple Line, previously designated the Bi-County Transitway, is a planned 16.2 mi (26.1 km) transit line to link the Maryland suburbs of Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton, all in the Washington metropolitan area. The line would allow riders to move between the Red, Green, and Orange lines of the Washington Metro transportation system without needing to ride into central Washington, D.C. The project is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). On October 7, 2011 the proposed light rail line received Federal Transit Administration approval to enter the detailed engineering phase which, according to the Washington Post, is "a significant step forward in its decades-long trek toward construction."
Contents
- Early studies public debate design
- Approval
- Route and station locations
- Potential further expansion
- References
In 2016, the MTA selected the Purple Line Transit Partners, a consortium led by Fluor Enterprises, to design and build the Purple Line and to operate and maintain it for 36 years. Construction began in late 2016, with service projected to begin in 2022, though a legal challenge has stalled work on the new line.
Early studies, public debate, design
The Purple Line started out as one project but the name was transferred to another. It was first conceived in 1994 by John J. Corley Jr., an architect with Harry Weese Associates, which designed Washington's Metro System. It was proposed as a multibillion-dollar Metro line around the 64-mile Capital Beltway. In 1998, the Beltway Purple Line got considerable political support from Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan and Governor Paris Glendening, but then as a $10 billion, 30 mile line from National Harbor to Montgomery Mall.
In 1987, CSX had expressed a desire to abandon the Georgetown Branch rail line and leaders in Maryland immediately began to consider adapting it for transit and a trail. Eventually this became known as the "Inner Purple Line" to distinguish it from the Purple Line. By 2001, the idea of a Beltway Metro had been abandoned as too costly and the name was attached to the Bethesda to New Carrollton line.
Robert Flanagan, the Maryland State Secretary of Transportation under Governor Robert Ehrlich, merged the Purple Line with another transportation project, Georgetown Branch Light Rail Transit (GBLRT). The GBLRT was proposed as a light rail transit line from Silver Spring westward, following the former Georgetown Branch of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (now a short CSX siding and the Capital Crescent Trail) to Bethesda.
Both Governor Ehrlich and Secretary Flanagan introduced an alternative mode – bus rapid transit – that might have been utilized in lieu of light rail transit. To reflect this possibility, the administration changed the name of the project to the "Bi-County Transitway" in March 2003. Another reason that "the Purple Line" was discouraged by the Ehrlich administration was that its associations with the other color-oriented names of the Washington Metro system (which consists of heavy rail) might lead the public to expect a heavy rail option. The new name did not catch on, however, as several media outlets and most citizens continued to refer to the project as the Purple Line. As a result, Governor Martin O'Malley and Secretary of Transportation John Porcari opted to revert to "Purple Line" in 2007.
In January 2008, the O'Malley administration allocated $100 million within a six-year capital budget to complete design documents for state approval and funding of the Purple Line. In May 2008, it was reported that the Purple Line could handle about 68,000 daily trips.
A draft environmental impact study was issued on October 20, 2008. On December 22, 2008, Montgomery County planners endorsed building a light rail line rather than a bus line. On January 15, 2009, the county planning board also endorsed the light rail option, and County Executive Isiah Leggett has also expressed support. On October 21, 2009, members of the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board voted unanimously to approve the Purple Line light rail project for inclusion into the region’s Constrained Long-Range Transportation Plan.
Planners intend to utilize existing Metrorail stations and for the Purple Line to accept WMATA's SmarTrip farecard. Metro's 2008 annual report asks readers to imagine that in 2030 the Purple Line will be integrated with WMATA's existing transit system.
The proposed project prompted support and opposition in the community:
Support for Purple Line
Support for bus
Opposition to rail
Approval
Governor Larry Hogan opposed the Purple Line project while campaigning in 2014 but approved it in June 2015. At the same time, Hogan cancelled its sister project, the Baltimore Red Line, citing excessive costs. Hogan reduced the state's contribution to the project from $700 million to $168 million, with the savings reallocated toward increased highway construction. The budget shortfall is expected to be covered by increased funds from Prince George's and Montgomery counties, as well as lower operational costs due to longer headways.
On March 2, 2016, Hogan announced that the state has chosen a team of private companies to build, operate and maintain a light-rail Purple Line in the Washington suburbs for $3.3 billion over 36 years. Under the winning bid – proposed by the team Purple Line Transit Partners and led by construction giant Fluor Corporation – the six-year construction project would begin late this year, and the 16-mile line would open for service by spring 2022.
On April 6, 2016, the Maryland Board of Public Works — made up of Hogan, State Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp, and State Comptroller Peter Franchot — unanimously approved the contract, as expected. The $5.6 billion contract is 876 pages long and, according to the Washington Post is "believed to be the most expensive government contract ever in Maryland" and "one of the largest public-private partnerships on a U.S. transportation project" ever. The contract approval allows the Maryland Transit Administration to finalize $900 million in federal construction grants.
In August 2016, U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon found that the Maryland Transit Administration and the Federal Transit Administration did not study whether Metro's maintenance issues and ridership decline would affect the Purple Line. Judge Leon decided to vacate the Purple Line's federal approval. A federal funding agreement cannot be signed without the reinstatement of the environmental approval, and Maryland has said it cannot afford to build the Purple Line without sufficient federal funding.
Route and station locations
The planned rail or rapid bus line will connect the existing Metro, MARC commuter rail, and Amtrak stations at:
The following stations are part of the "Locally Preferred Alternative" route approved by Governor Martin O'Malley on August 9, 2009:
Potential further expansion
Although the majority of discussions about the Purple Line describe the project as a 16-mile east-west line between Bethesda and New Carrollton, there have been several proposals to expand the line further into Maryland or to mirror the Capital Beltway as a loop around the entire Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The Sierra Club has argued for a Purple Line which would "encircle Washington, D.C." and "connect existing suburban metro lines." Maryland Lieutenant Governor Anthony G. Brown, while campaigning in 2006, similarly stated that he'd "like to see the Purple Line go from Bethesda to across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge," adding, "Let’s swing that boy all the way around" (a reference to having the Purple Line circle through Virginia and back to the line's point of origin in Bethesda).
An advocacy group known as "The Inner Purple Line Campaign" has stated that the Purple Line could be extended westward to Tysons Corner and eastward to Largo, and that it could eventually cross the new Wilson Bridge from Suitland through Oxon Hill to Alexandria, eventually forming a rail line that encircles the city. The reconstruction of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge (I-495's southern crossing over the Potomac River) provides capacity for the bridge to carry a heavy or light rail line. Suggested stops along this proposed Purple Line expansion include: