Metro Pulls Herndon Metro Renaming From Agenda: Report

HERNDON, VA — A move by Metro to name an upcoming Herndon station after a major corporation that would pay for sponsorship rights appears to be on hold after public backlash, according to a report.

NBC Washington's Adam Tuss reports that Metro has pulled the station naming rights item from the agenda for Thursday's meeting "following pushback from Fairfax County leaders."

Patch readers themselves appeared largely negative about the proposed renaming.

WTOP reported earlier this week that the Metro Board was considering allowing a Fortune Global 500 Company to sponsor and rename the new Innovation Center Metro station, citing documents prepared for the board.

NEW: Metro pulls station naming rights item from the agenda for tomorrow following pushback from Fairfax County leaders. We’ll have reaction tonight on @nbcwashington #wmata pic.twitter.com/9jodhYMils
— Adam Tuss (@AdamTuss) November 20, 2019

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 were 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.