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The Purple Line is a light rail line being built to link several
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
suburbs of Washington, D.C.: Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton. Slated to open in 2026, the line will also enable riders to move between the Maryland branches of the Red,
Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...
,
Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In th ...
, and
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
lines of the
Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview
without riding into central Washington, and between all three lines of the
MARC Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system of ...
commuter rail system. The project is administered by the
Maryland Transit Administration The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is a state-operated mass transit administration in Maryland, and is part of the Maryland Department of Transportation. The MTA operates a comprehensive transit system throughout the Baltimore-Washingt ...
(MTA), an agency of the
Maryland Department of Transportation The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) is an organization comprising five business units and one Authority: * Maryland Transportation Authority (Transportation Secretary serves as chairman of the Maryland Transportation Authority) * ...
(MDOT), and not the
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States C ...
(WMATA), which operates Metro. Throughout its decades-long planning process, the project was dogged by resistance, particularly from residents of the upscale community of
Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of '' Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
. From 2003 to 2006, Maryland Governor
Robert Ehrlich Robert Leroy Ehrlich Jr. (born November 25, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 60th Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007. A Republican, Ehrlich represented Maryland's 2nd Congressional district in the U.S. House ...
changed the proposed mode of transportation from light rail to
bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
. Legal attempts to thwart the line continued even after construction had begun; but in December 2017, the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...
ruled that Purple Line construction could continue despite these objections. In 2016, a
consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources ...
headed by Fluor Enterprises won the contract to design and build the Purple Line, then to operate and maintain it for 36 years. Construction began in August 2017. Work halted in September 2020, when the consortium withdrew from the contract, citing mounting delays and disputes with the state government. The project had already consumed $1.1 billion of the anticipated $2 billion construction cost. A new
general contractor A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...
was selected in November 2021 and a new contract was signed in April 2022. This new agreement added $3.7 billion to the total cost of building, running, and maintaining the Purple Line for 30 years, bringing it to $9.3 billion. Construction costs alone rose $1.46 billion, bringing the total to $3.4 billion. Full-scale construction activity resumed in summer 2022. Train service is scheduled to begin in fall 2026.


History


Early studies, public debate, design

The "Purple Line" has been the name of two different transit proposals. In 1994, John J. Corley Jr., an architect with
Harry Weese Harry Mohr Weese (June 30, 1915 – October 29, 1998) was an American architect who had an important role in 20th century modernism and historic preservation. His brother, Ben Weese, is also a renowned architect. Early life and education Harry ...
Associates (which designed the Washington Metro system) proposed a multibillion-dollar Metro line around the
Capital Beltway The Capital Beltway is a Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area that surrounds Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. It is the basis of the phrase " inside ...
. This would have served as a "ring" line, connecting suburb to suburb and complementing the existing Metro lines, which radiate from Washington. (''See'' Rapid transit#Network topologies.) In 1998, the Beltway Purple Line received considerable political support from Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan and Governor Parris Glendening, which was a $10 billion, line from
National Harbor National Harbor is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located along the Potomac River near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and just south of Washington, D.C. It originated as a multi-use waterfront deve ...
to Montgomery Mall. In 1987, after
CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of trac ...
expressed a desire to abandon the
Georgetown Branch Georgetown or George Town may refer to: Places Africa * George, South Africa, formerly known as Georgetown * Janjanbureh, Gambia, formerly known as Georgetown *Georgetown, Ascension Island, main settlement of the British territory of Ascension Is ...
rail line, Maryland leaders immediately started planning to repurpose it for transit and a hiking trail. The idea of adapting the railroad for a transit line dated back at least as far as 1970, when such a use was included in the October 1970 Master Plan for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Planning Area. Montgomery County purchased its portion of the railroad right-of-way from CSX in 1988 and in 1989 budgeted $107 million to build a trolley between Bethesda and Silver Spring and a pair of trails between Silver Spring and the District. Eventually, this proposal came known as the "Inner Purple Line" to distinguish it from the "Beltway Purple Line". By 2001, the "Beltway Purple Line" proposal had been abandoned as too costly and the name was attached to the Bethesda to line. Robert Flanagan, the Maryland State Secretary of Transportation under Governor
Robert Ehrlich Robert Leroy Ehrlich Jr. (born November 25, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 60th Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007. A Republican, Ehrlich represented Maryland's 2nd Congressional district in the U.S. House ...
, merged the Purple Line proposal with the Georgetown Branch Light Rail Transit (GBLRT) line. The GBLRT was proposed as a light rail transit line from westward, following the former Georgetown Branch of the
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
(now a short CSX siding and the
Capital Crescent Trail The Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) is a , shared-use rail trail that runs from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Bethesda, Maryland. An extension of the trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring along a route formerly known as the Georgetown Branch ...
) to . In March 2003, the Ehrlich administration renamed the project the "Bi-County Transitway", reflecting a proposal by Ehrlich and Flanagan to use
bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
instead of light rail, and because the name "Purple Line" seemed to suggest a new heavy-rail system like the color-named lines of the Washington Metro system. The new name did not catch on; several media outlets and most citizens continued to refer to the "Purple Line". In 2007, Governor
Martin O'Malley Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as the 61st Governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. O'Malley ...
and Secretary of Transportation
John Porcari John Davis Porcari (born December 14, 1958) is an American government official who served as United States deputy secretary of transportation and is currently serving as the Port Envoy to the White House Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force. He was ...
reverted to "Purple Line". 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 projected that the Purple Line would have 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 Isiah "Ike" Leggett (born July 25, 1944) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Maryland and former executive of Montgomery County, Maryland. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Born in Deweyville, Texas, Leggett attended South ...
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 proposed to use existing Washington Metro stations and to accept the WMATA's
SmarTrip SmarTrip is a contactless stored-value smart card payment system managed by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) uses a compatible payment system called CharmCard. A reciprocity ag ...
farecard. Metro's 2008 annual report envisioned that the Purple Line would be fully integrated with the existing Washington Metro transit system by 2030. The proposed project drew support and opposition in the community: ;Support for Purple Line * Purple Line Now is a non-profit organization that advocated for a Purple Line light rail line from Bethesda to New Carrollton to be integrated with a hiker/biker trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring. * The Action Committee for Transit is a community group that supports the Purple Line. * ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' editorial board endorsed the Purple Line light rail option in 2008. * The Montgomery County Council and Prince George's County Council voted unanimously in favor of the light rail option for the Purple Line in January 2009. * Maryland state officials (including former Governor Martin O'Malley) are also strong Purple Line advocates. State officials say that a Purple Line, which is to run primarily above ground, "would provide better east–west transit service, particularly for lower-income workers who cannot afford cars." * The development firm Chevy Chase Land Co. is a strong proponent of the construction of the Purple Line. The website for the pro-Purple umbrella group Purple Line NOW! lists Edward Asher as a member of its board of directors. ''The Washington Post'' stated that the development firm would "no doubt profit from property it owns near at least one of the proposed stations." * The
Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who b ...
advocates a larger-scale rail system to parallel the
Capital Beltway The Capital Beltway is a Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area that surrounds Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. It is the basis of the phrase " inside ...
and link all existing Metro lines at their peripheries. This environmental group advocates rail transit over car use because
carbon emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and l ...
are a major cause of
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
. * Some student leaders (the Student Government Association and Graduate Student Government) at the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of ...
support transit alternatives to campus. * On January 27, 2009, the Montgomery County Council voted to support the light rail option. Governor O'Malley announced his own approval on August 4, 2009. * The vice president of trail development for the
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is an American nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works with communities to preserve unused rail corridors by transforming them into rail trails within the United States. RTC's purpose is to c ...
has said that with proper design, the trail-Purple Line combination can be "among the best in the nation." *Members of the
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group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...
New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens were "irrationally excited for the forthcoming Maryland purple line." ;Support for bus * A 2008 study by
Sam Schwartz Samuel I. Schwartz, a.k.a. Gridlock Sam, is an American transportation engineer, formerly the New York City Traffic Commissioner, notable for popularizing the phrase "gridlock". Life and career Schartz was educated at Brooklyn College (BS Physi ...
Engineering for the Town of Chevy Chase supported
bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
using an alternate Jones Bridge Road alignment. The Chevy Chase study expressed concerns about the expected ridership numbers,
carbon footprint A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carbo ...
, interruptions in recreation pathways, and the cost of bus and light rail proposals by the MTA involving a
Capital Crescent Trail The Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) is a , shared-use rail trail that runs from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Bethesda, Maryland. An extension of the trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring along a route formerly known as the Georgetown Branch ...
alignment. Although a Jones Bridge Road alignment was also proposed by the MTA, the study noted that features typical of bus rapid transit that were missing from the MTA proposal. ;Opposition to rail * A not-for-profit local organization, Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail, began collecting signatures on a petition opposing the MTA's Purple Line proposals in 2003; in 2014, it filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia asserting that the Federal Transit Administration had not complied with federal environmental laws when it approved a grant to help build the Purple Line. In 2008, the organization's website asserted that the MTA's light rail and bus rapid transit proposals would undermine the environment and safety on the
Capital Crescent Trail The Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) is a , shared-use rail trail that runs from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Bethesda, Maryland. An extension of the trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring along a route formerly known as the Georgetown Branch ...
, and endorsed running bus rapid transit on Jones Bridge Road, as recommended by the Chevy Chase study. But the petition called for yet a different option because the Jones Bridge Road route would affect the trail.Save the Trail Petition: Alternatives
Studies of alternatives to a Capital Crescent Trail alignment, retrieved December 2, 2009
* A leading opponent of the Purple Line was the
Columbia Country Club The Columbia Country Club, located in Chevy Chase, Maryland, is the successor of the Columbia Golf Club, which was organized on September 29, 1898 by nine men. Originally there were twenty members. The golf course, which opened in 1911, was desig ...
, a private club whose
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...
occupies both sides of the planned route between Bethesda and Silver Spring. Newly elected leaders of the Club signed an agreement not to oppose the Purple Line if its route were adjusted by . * Opponents in the Town of Chevy Chase cited the town's study of bus rapid transit alternatives. The study estimated a cost of less than $1 billion for a bus rapid transit system, compared with an estimated cost of $1.8 billion for light rail. A 2011 news report placed the cost of the rail line at . * In 2010, residents around the Dale Wayne stop worried that doubling the size of the road, along with the county's "smart growth" policy around transit stops, would encourage commercial development in a residential neighborhood. They wondered about the accuracy of the MTA's prediction that the Dale station would see 1,427 daily boardings.


Procurement

The Purple Line was procured as a full design-build-finance-operate-maintain
public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Adminis ...
. On December 7, 2015, four teams composed of major American and international firms submitted their bids to realize the project: * "Maryland Purple Line Partners" composed of Vinci Concessions, Walsh Investors, InfraRed Capital,
Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational corporation, multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the A ...
and
Keolis Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services. ...
* "Maryland Transit Connectors" composed of John Laing Investments, Kiewit Development Company, Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate and
RATP Dev RATP may refer to: Transportation: * RATP Group, or ', a public transport operator based in Paris, France * RATP Iași (), a transit operator responsible for public transportation in Iași, Romania * RATP Ploiești (), a transit operator respons ...
* "Purple Line Transit Partners" composed of
Meridiam Meridiam is a global investor and asset manager based in Paris specialized in developing, financing and managing long-term public infrastructure projects. Founded in 2005, Meridiam invests in public infrastructure in Europe, North America and Af ...
,
Fluor Corporation Fluor Corporation is an American multinational engineering and construction firm headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a holding company that provides services through its subsidiaries in the following areas: oil and gas, industrial and infrastruc ...
, Star America, CAF and Alternate Concepts * "Purple Plus Alliance" composed of Macquarie Capital Group,
Skanska Skanska AB () is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden. Skanska is the fifth-largest construction company in the world according to ''Construction Global'' magazine. Notable Skanska projects include renovation of t ...
,
Kinki Sharyo is a Japanese manufacturer of railroad vehicles based in Osaka. It is an affiliate company of Kintetsu Corporation. In business since 1920 (as Tanaka Rolling Stock Works) and renamed The Kinki Sharyo Co., Ltd in 1945. They have produced light r ...
and
Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a French-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. History The group was formed by the merger of ...
.


Approval

Governor
Larry Hogan Lawrence Joseph Hogan Jr. (born May 25, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 62nd governor of Maryland since 2015. A moderate member of the Republican Party, he was secretary of appointments under Maryland governor Bo ...
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, putting the difference toward 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 had chosen a team of private companies to build, operate, and maintain the Purple Line for $3.3 billion over 36 years. The contract was won by the Purple Line Transit Partners, led by construction giant
Fluor Corporation Fluor Corporation is an American multinational engineering and construction firm headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a holding company that provides services through its subsidiaries in the following areas: oil and gas, industrial and infrastruc ...
. MTA officials forecasted that service would begin by late 2022. On April 6, 2016, the
Maryland Board of Public Works The Board of Public Works is a three-member body consisting of the Governor of Maryland, Governor, Comptroller of Maryland, Comptroller, and Treasurer of Maryland, Treasurer of the state of Maryland in the United States. It oversees many aspects o ...
(composed of Hogan, State Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp, and State Comptroller
Peter Franchot Peter Van Rensselaer Franchot (born November 25, 1947) is an American politician who is the 33rd Comptroller of Maryland. A member of the Democratic Party, Franchot served for 20 years in the Maryland House of Delegates representing Takoma Park ...
) 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 allowed the MTA to finalize $900 million in federal construction grants. In August 2016, U.S. District Court
Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
Richard J. Leon found that the MTA and the
Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administratio ...
did not study whether Metro's maintenance issues and ridership decline would affect the Purple Line. Judge Leon decided to
vacate A vacated judgment (also known as vacatur relief) makes a previous legal judgment legally void. A vacated judgment is usually the result of the judgment of an appellate court, which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgment of a lower court. ...
the Purple Line's federal approval. A federal funding agreement cannot be signed without the reinstatement of the environmental approval, and Maryland had said it could not afford to build the Purple Line without sufficient federal funding. On August 21, 2017, despite the ongoing court case over the environmental analysis, $900 million of federal funding was granted for the light rail project. On December 19, 2017, the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...
ruled in favor of the Purple Line, specifically stating that declining ridership on the Washington Metro system does not require Maryland to complete a new environmental study for the Purple Line. This federal appeals court ruling allowed for construction to continue and effectively ended the three-year legal battle surrounding the light-rail line project. In 2019, the Purple Line Transit Partners said the opening date would slip to 2023 or 2024. On April 13, 2020, U.S. District Judge James Bredar dismissed the third and final lawsuit brought by opponents of the Purple Line.


Builder consortium quits

By 2020, the project had accrued over $800 million in change orders from Purple Line Transit Partners and the opening date had slipped 32 months. On May 1, the consortium declared their intent to cease work on the line and withdraw from their contract. A
temporary restraining order An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in par ...
halted the company from quitting work, but it was lifted in September, and PLTP began packing up construction sites the following week. In November, MDOT announced that MTA had assumed many of the Purple Line's contracts, including the manufacturing of light-rail cars, operations, and maintenance, as well as design and construction contracts. On November 24, MDOT agreed to pay $250 million to settle the costs of overruns that caused the contractor to quit and to resume construction of the Purple Line. In mid-December, Maryland's Board of Public Works (BPW) unanimously approved the $250 million legal settlement to PLTP to resolve the contract disputes. Officials aimed to restart construction within nine months.


New contractor selected

On November 5, 2021, Purple Line officials announced that Maryland Transit Solutions would receive the contract to finish construction and operate the line. The BPW approved the $3.4 billion contract on January 26, 2022. In June 2022, MTA said that 77% of the necessary utility relocations had been completed, and that the Glenridge Operations and Maintenance Facility was complete and in operation. Extensive construction activity resumed in summer 2022. MTA expects the line to open in fall 2026.


Route and station locations

The planned rail line will connect the existing Metro, MARC commuter rail, and
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
stations at: * (
Metro Red Line The Metro Red Line is a bus rapid transit line between the Twin Cities suburbs of Bloomington, Minnesota and Apple Valley, Minnesota. The Red Line travels primarily on Minnesota State Highway 77 and Cedar Avenue from the Apple Valley station in ...
) * (
Metro Red Line The Metro Red Line is a bus rapid transit line between the Twin Cities suburbs of Bloomington, Minnesota and Apple Valley, Minnesota. The Red Line travels primarily on Minnesota State Highway 77 and Cedar Avenue from the Apple Valley station in ...
, MARC Brunswick Line) * (
Metro Green Line The Metro Green Line (formerly called the Central Corridor) is an light rail line that connects the central business districts of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in Minnesota as well as the University of Minnesota. An extension is under constructi ...
, Metro Yellow Line, MARC Camden Line) * ( Metro Orange Line, MARC Penn Line, Amtrak ''Northeast Regional'', Amtrak ''Vermonter'') The following stations are part of the "Locally Preferred Alternative" route approved by Governor Martin O'Malley on August 9, 2009:


Potential expansion

Although the Purple Line is usually described 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 The Capital Beltway is a Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area that surrounds Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. It is the basis of the phrase " inside ...
as a loop around the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The
Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who b ...
has argued for a Purple Line that would "encircle Washington, D.C." and "connect existing suburban metro lines." Maryland Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown, while campaigning in 2006, similarly stated that he would "like to see the Purple Line go from Bethesda to across the
Woodrow Wilson Bridge The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge (also known as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge or the Wilson Bridge) is a bascule bridge that spans the Potomac River between the independent city of Alexandria, Virginia, and Oxon Hill in Prince George's County, ...
," 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" proposed that the Purple Line be extended westward to
Tysons Corner Tysons, also known as Tysons Corner, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, developed from the corner of Chain Bridge Road ( SR 123) and the Leesburg Pike ( SR 7). Located in Northern Virginia between the c ...
and eastward to Largo, and that it could eventually cross the new Wilson Bridge from
Suitland Suitland is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, approximately one mile (1.6 km) southeast of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 census, its population was 25,839. Prio ...
through Oxon Hill to
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
, eventually forming a rail line that encircles the city.What is the Purple Line?
''The Inner Purple Line Campaign'', a project of the Action Committee for Transit (ACT), retrieved December 4, 2009.
The new
Woodrow Wilson Bridge The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge (also known as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge or the Wilson Bridge) is a bascule bridge that spans the Potomac River between the independent city of Alexandria, Virginia, and Oxon Hill in Prince George's County, ...
(I-495's southern crossing over the
Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...
) is built to carry a heavy or light rail line. Suggested stops along this proposed Purple Line expansion include: * * * Oxon Hill (potentially near
Rosecroft Raceway Rosecroft Raceway, nicknamed the "Raceway by the Beltway" for being close to Interstate 495, is a harness racing track in Fort Washington, Maryland. It first opened in 1949 and was owned by William E. Miller, a horse trainer and breeder. Rosec ...
, at which Metro has at times had plans to build a stop since 1980) *
National Harbor National Harbor is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located along the Potomac River near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and just south of Washington, D.C. It originated as a multi-use waterfront deve ...
*
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
, potentially the Metro station * Springfield * Annandale * *
Tysons Corner Tysons, also known as Tysons Corner, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, developed from the corner of Chain Bridge Road ( SR 123) and the Leesburg Pike ( SR 7). Located in Northern Virginia between the c ...


Rolling stock

The light rail vehicles designed to run on the Purple Line are being built by CAF at their
Elmira, New York Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 censu ...
, facility. Each train is long, consists of 5 modules, and can carry up to 431 passengers (seated plus standing). CAF began testing the cars in 2020. Fabrication of all 130 modular car shells at the CAF facility in Spain was completed in June 2021. 22 of the 26 trains have been assembled as of June 2022.


See also

* Southern Maryland Rapid Transit * Silver Line (Washington Metro) *
Talbot Avenue bridge The Talbot Avenue bridge in Montgomery County, Maryland, was a historic one-lane metal girder bridge that connected the neighborhood of Lyttonsville to downtown Silver Spring. Built in 1918 and dismantled in 2019, the bridge had historic valu ...


References


External links


Purple Line
Montgomery County Planning Department {{Transit In DC Transportation in Montgomery County, Maryland Transportation in Prince George's County, Maryland Light rail in Maryland Streetcars in Maryland Proposed public transportation in Maryland Maryland Transit Administration Buildings and structures under construction in the United States Tram and light rail transit systems under construction 1500 V DC railway electrification Proposed railway lines in Maryland 2026 in rail transport