Metro could be looking at some big cuts if the federal government doesn’t bring another round of transit-related stimulus, but the 11.5-mile extension of the Silver Line shouldn’t be stalled, several transit leaders said during a Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce meeting Monday.

Delaying the extension further would hurt the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and the regional post-Covid-19 recovery more than it would help, said Matt Letourneau, a Metro board member and member of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, where three of the six new stations are located.

“If we are trying to recover — if we want to be part of that recovery — we know the highest growth part of the system is the Silver Line. It is the Dulles corridor,” he said during the virtual meeting. “We have employers who have moved in and are banking on Metro. Fairfax and Loudoun have made years of land-use decisions based on this.”

The system is facing historically low rail ridership due…