Additional description to be included soon.  The version described in these pages is a modified version of that which appeared in the Washington Post on October 20th.  The accompanying graphic describes the new Trans-Potomac segment as the “Silver Line” on the assumption that a new Tysons “Silver” line, and not the existing Springfield Blue line, would be routed via M Street and Georgetown.  The current plan calls for untangling the Blue line from the Orange and routing Springfield trains via the new M Street tunnel; the line described as “Silver” should, therefore, be read as Blue.

The primary distinguishing feature of the version depicted here is not the color of the trains coming in from Virginia but, rather, the idea of running Red Line trains express and local between Tenleytown and the new Georgetown tunnel, with a three-way junction in Georgetown.  These Red Line trains might ultimately run southeast of the Anacostia as a new “Gold line” sharing the proposed new Crosstown M Street tunnel.

The crucial point to understand about this version is that it’s proposing a very specific modification of the current Crosstown proposal:  That the express I-66 track be dropped, and an express-local instead be added through the more populous Wisconsin Ave. NW Corridor.  The idea of running a Trans-Potomac line as an express-local through DC as it can be used by suburban commuters in not one or two, but FOUR directions during a given rush hour period!  If built as an integral part of the initial Blue line tunnel segment through Georgetown, such an alignment would alleviate the need for either an I-66 express track into town or an extension of the proposed Purple Line into Virginia .