| Loudoun Gateway | |||||||||||
| Style: | WMATA | ||||||||||
| Symbol: | silver | ||||||||||
| Symbol Location: | washington | ||||||||||
| Address: | 22505 Lockridge Road | ||||||||||
| Borough: | Sterling, Virginia | ||||||||||
| Coordinates: | 38.9928°N 77.4617°W | ||||||||||
| Owned: | Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority | ||||||||||
| Platform: | 1 island platform | ||||||||||
| Tracks: | 2 | ||||||||||
| Connections: | Loudoun County Transit: 333, 381, 382 | ||||||||||
| Structure: | At-grade | ||||||||||
| Parking: | 2,000 spaces[1] | ||||||||||
| Bicycle: | 113 racks, 10 lockers | ||||||||||
| Accessible: | Yes | ||||||||||
| Code: | N11 | ||||||||||
| Passengers: | 214 daily[2] | ||||||||||
| Pass Year: | 2023 | ||||||||||
| Pass Rank: | 98 out of 98 | ||||||||||
| Mapframe: | yes | ||||||||||
| Mapframe-Custom: |
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Loudoun Gateway station is a Washington Metro station in Loudoun County, Virginia, on the Silver Line. It is located at SR 606 (Old Ox Road) and the ramps to SR 267. Originally planned to begin operations in 2016,[3] the station opened on November 15, 2022. Loudoun Gateway averaged just 214 daily riders in 2023, replacing Cheverly as the least busy station in the entire Metro system.
The station has a pedestrian bridge crossing to the north side of SR 267, leading to bus bays, a kiss and ride lot, as well as an expanded 2,750-space parking facility at the Dulles North Transit Center.[4]
The Silver Line was developed in the 21st century to link Washington, D.C., by rail to Washington Dulles International Airport and the edge cities of Tysons, Reston, Herndon, and Ashburn.[5] It was built in two phases; the first phase, linking Washington, D.C., to, opened in 2014.[6] The funding and planning of Phase 2 through Dulles Airport continued while Phase 1 was being constructed. In 2012, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted 5 to 4 to extend the line to Dulles Airport and into the county.[7] On April 25, 2013, the Phase 2 contract was issued at a cost of $1.177 billion.[8]
In April 2015, project officials pushed back the opening date for the station to late 2019, stating that stricter requirements for stormwater management caused much of the delay. Per officials, the line also had to incorporate improvements to the system's automated train controls that were a late addition to the project's first phase.[9] Around the same time as this announcement, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) approved the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors' name for the stop. The station was previously referred to as Route 606 in planning documents.[10]
In August 2019, project officials reported that they expected construction on the second phase of the Silver Line to be completed by mid-2020.[11] The opening date was postponed to early 2021,[12] then to late 2021.[13] In February 2021, Metro announced that it would need five months to test the Phase 2 extension.[14] [15] The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) then announced that the Phase 2 extension should be substantially complete by Labor Day 2021,[16] although MWAA subsequently missed this deadline.[17]
MWAA declared the work on the rail line to be "substantially complete" in November 2021. However, WMATA estimated that it could take five months of testing and other preparations before passenger service could begin.[18] Simulated service testing began operating along the Phase 2 tracks in October 2022.[19] [20] [21] Phase 2 formally opened on November 15, 2022.[22]