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The Dulles Corridor rail project is back on track. Yesterday, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced it gave the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) the green light to begin final design as part of the federal New Starts process for the Dulles Corridor rail line.

In January, the FTA raised some technical, financial and institutional concerns about the project, which would extend the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Metrorail service from the East Falls Church station to Tysons Corner, Reston, Herndon, Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County in Virginia. MWAA since has “substantially improved” its proposal, FTA said.

The administration will provide $158.7 million toward the completion of a financial plan, construction plans, detailed engineering specifications, cost estimates and  other technical requirements.

However, FTA still has a few concerns about the project and will not commit any funds for construction until the issues are resolved. Among the administration’s concerns: ensuring MWAA has sufficient funds to cover project risks, can keep the project on schedule and on budget and oversee the largest design-build contract in the history of the New Starts program. FTA also wants to ensure that state-of-good-repair needs for the entire WMATA system will be addressed.