Herndon Metro Station To Be Renamed By Major Corporation: Report

HERNDON, VA — A Herndon Metro station set to open as part of the Silver Line extension will be renamed as part of a sponsorship deal with a Fortune 500 company, according to a report.

WTOP reports that the Metro Board plans on Thursday to allow a Fortune Global 500 Company to sponsor and rename the new Innovation Center Metro station, citing documents prepared for the board.

This would be a one-time deal and not a new Metro-wide policy, according to the report.

The documents reportedly described the opportunity as "unique and time-sensitive," and officials are currently in negotiations to lease headquarters to that company adjacent to the new Metro station.

Silver Line Phase 2 would expand the line out past the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station to Reston Town Center, Herndon, Dulles International Airport, and Loudoun County.

The expansion has run into numerous problems in the last year. Concerns about track quality prompted Metro officials to stop test trains from running on the Silver Line rail extension earlier this year, according to the Washington Post.

The contractor, Capital Rail Constructors (CRC), told the Post that it had not been told to stop trains, although the officials explained that it was because no test runs were planned.

Also earlier this year, the Washington Business Journal reported that several critical fixes and repairs need to be made in order for the Ashburn station to open next summer, including issues with track cross-levels and gravel around the tracks.

Metro hopes to open the station by July 2020, but Metro board member Michael Goldman called the list of things that need to be fixed a "dark and foreboding cloud" over that planned opening, WBJ reported.

Tuss reported that the sealant to coat concrete panels at the new Silver Line stations failed in recent tests, meaning the sealant was not always effective.

BREAKING - more bad news for Metro’s Silver Line Phase 2 - News4 has learned that the sealant to coat troubled concrete panels FAILED some recent tests - meaning the sealant as applied was not effective in all cases. @nbcwashington #wmata pic.twitter.com/80V2A6tpwW
— Adam Tuss (@AdamTuss) September 6, 2019

Phase 1 ended up going $220 million over budget, but officials thought the second phase of the project would go smoother thanks to lessons learned from Phase 1 and not nearly as many obstacles, like boring a tunnel in the middle of Tysons, the Post wrote in an earlier report.

However, problems continue to crop up with the project, like cracks in concrete, bad rail ties, and a platform that had to be redone. In one case, a subcontractor was criminally charged.

WTOP reported earlier this year that the contractor responsible for building a new rail yard near Dulles Airport has seen their schedule slip 67 days over the past month, meaning substantial completion of the Silver Line Phase 2 won't happen until late July 2020.

The rail yard and mainline tracks both must be complete for Metro to accept the rail project, which means the soonest the Silver Line Phase 2 Metro stations could open for business would be September or October 2020 if nothing changes.