Officials Fret Over Dulles Rail Plan

"Our focus is as it has always been, to have the [Dulles] corridor developed and fulfill rail to Dulles," said Edward S. Faggen, the authority's general counsel. "Clearly, the line is going to serve the intervening points -- Tysons being one of them."

Added Bennett: "We're constructing the rail. Fairfax is dealing with the development issues around the rail."

To some, the emphasis on getting the project built implies an impatience for quibbling over details, particularly at Tysons. John McGranahan, an attorney for those in the special tax district, said that if the authority cuts too much from the Tysons part of the project, it could lose the support of the landowners.

That support "assumed not just the route through Tysons but a certain level of design," he said. "As they start changing that design they're putting that revenue at risk. I hope the authority understands and recognizes that.

"I think they do, but they could find themselves with big problems if they don't."

Others at Tysons are more upbeat about the takeover, saying it will benefit Tysons simply because the authority's experience bodes well for the extension actually getting built. The success of Dulles has depended too much on the growth of Tysons for the authority to neglect that part of the line, they say.

"Tysons' future has always been linked to the airport, and vice versa," said John Gerber, a senior vice president with WestGroup, a major Tysons landowner. "I don't see why that would change."

Others are cheering the takeover, though, precisely because they see it reestablishing the rail line as a transportation project, not a land-use one.

"Everyone wants enhancements, but the bottom line is, that adds costs and delays," said Jeffrey J. Fairfield, president of the Committee for Dulles, a business group.

"They want a tool for economic development, which is totally understandable. But the permanent goal is to get a rail line to the airport."