2) It would replace a number of inefficient lines feeding into current metro stations and increasing speed.

3) Three commuter rail lines, an Amtrak line and four subway spokes already sit along the proposed lines. It becomes possible for medium-distance commuters in the NE suburbs to ditch their commuting cars, or keep them only for a neighborhood jaunt to the commuter rail station, and work in the two biggest urban districts south of Baltimore in Maryland: Bethesda and Silver Spring.

4) There’s nothing selfish about Maryland not wanting to build Virginia a rail system on Maryland’s dime. If Virginia wants a rail system, they can build it themselves and negotiate for a connector to Bethesda, with Maryland then picking up a proportionate share of that spur only. Central and southern Virginia live off the teat of Northern Virginia’s wealth and treat it shabbily; there’s a reason why traffic’s so much worse on the Virginia side. Instead of a sprawl inducing extension past Dulles, Virginia needs Metrorail or its equivalent just from Tysons through Falls Church and down Route 7 and over either to the Pentagon, the airport or King Street (the first of those would be the best.) The commute to Leesburg they can do by converting the WOD trail into commuter rail to Rosslyn or Crystal City to meet the other VRE; the roller bladers will have to cope. But count on Appalachian priorities in Richmond to kill it all.

I’d be more interested in a line that either circles the whole of DC, like the proposed purple route extended to Rosslyn, then paralleling the blue line (but further out) to Alexandria. Have you tried to drive in VA recently? Horrid.

An other option I could get behind would be a line that’s a bit closer in… I bet an stadium armory -> union station -> howard -> columbia heights -> cleveland park route would get even more riders. Heck, make the endpoints anacostia and georgetown, even.

In other words, good idea, but why does maryland get to keep it all to itself? Share the love with the non-downtown bits of DC, and it’ll still save you suburban marylandites a lot of time, but also benefit folks in DC.

Besides, you’ve got lines going out to freaking Martinsburg. Why not asking for more funding on that instead of complaining that someone closer to the district gets a cookie?

Every politician who strongly support this boondoggle is either really stupid or in the developers back pocket(Chevy Chase Land Co. for one).

The Purple Line is a good idea, and I support it, but it would be somewhat wasteful to build it just for the (short) trip between SS & Bethesda.

In addition, I’d like to touch on a third rail… literally. Over time, I believe our system should be rebuilt to include the third track to make express trains possible. This was originally one of the parts of the system but was cut in a ((false) bit of budgetry. The poor bastards who live in Vienna are now paying the price. I believe those in Springfield and the outer reaches of the red line will as well. We need a system sized to haul the whole of the commuter population.