Train to Ashburn!Submitted by albinotuba t3_xw7yd5 in washingtondc
Macrophage87 t1_ir6bxdd wrote
Reply to comment by daedelous in Train to Ashburn! by albinotuba
It's likely to be about maybe 60 minutes or so from Ashburn to say L'Enfant. That's probably less than what it would take to drive to DC in rush hour without taking the toll roads. Google maps would put it at 1hr 15min no toll and 1 hr 5 min with for driving, assuming an 8 am departure on this Thursday. So it's time competitive with the Metro right now. The big difference is that you get to relax and play with your cell phone rather than get stuck in traffic.
Metro time estimate:
https://ggwash.org/view/62151/see-how-long-it-takes-to-get-from-each-metro-station-to-the-downtown-core
daedelous t1_ir6ukd6 wrote
I think it'll be more like 1hr 15 but, regardless, that's just the train portion...
The thing that everyone forgets is that, because this is a surbuban station, basically everyone in Ashburn will have to get in a car (maybe a bus), and drive to Ashburn Station. The amount of time it takes to drive to a train station, drive around finding a parking space, walk through the parking lot, take an elevator/stairs to the right level, possibly even cross over a walkway, to even get into the train station, adds a ton of additional time on top of that 1hr 15min.
Something people also tend to forget is that if people are already in their car driving to a metro stop, many will realize that they can save a lot of time by driving to a Metro drop closer to D.C.
I know this from personal experience back when I lived in Sterling. I was 20 minutes from Wiehle and was excited to use it to go into DC. I ended up using it once in 3 years because it actually took forever.
For weekenders, it's no contest. It's easy to find $10 parking in D.C. and they can cut their travel time in half by driving instead of Metro-ing.
Oh, and don't forget parking $4.50/day or so.
Macrophage87 t1_ir6xvja wrote
There's a lot of personal preference here as well. For me, I'd much rather just relax on a metro than drive in horrendous traffic.
daedelous t1_ir8hour wrote
No one’s going to commute on a metro when it takes 2+ hours each way, regardless of how they feel about driving.
Macrophage87 t1_ir9aamh wrote
People do it on the MARC from Frederick and Martinsburg all the time.
ColonialTransitFan95 t1_ir865lm wrote
They offer $10 parking in DC on weekends? For a city that really want to encourage people to use transit, this is not the answer.
G2-to-Georgetown t1_ir6zgqy wrote
> It's likely to be about maybe 60 minutes or so from Ashburn to say L'Enfant.
The current Silver Line is one hour and 12 minutes. The extension will bring it up to about 90 minutes. That's 45 minutes on the silver part of the Silver Line, and then Ballston to Metro Center is 15 minutes, Metro Center to Stadium-Armory is another 15 minutes, and then Stadium-Armory to Largo is another 15 minutes. So you're looking at about an hour and six to L'Enfant from Ashburn.
Depending, of course, on how quickly your fellow passengers board. I've had Central on my case before asking if I'm having any problems with my train because I'm behind schedule, and I'll respond, "Yes, tell these people to board more quickly."
Macrophage87 t1_ir71cxq wrote
It might be brought down when the 8000 series comes online in a couple years, assuming you can get the speeds up between those.
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