Commuter train system eyes expansion, part of Virginia’s evolving rail trends

Virginia Railway Express considers extended service to Saturdays, other updates

BY: NATHANIEL CLINE - APRIL 22, 2024 6:30 AM


(Virginia Railway Express)

While 2050 is more than a quarter century away, The Virginia Railway Express wants to start transforming its commuter rail operations much sooner by offering Saturday services as it considers its System Plan 2050, part of holistic, multi-agency efforts to transform rail services in the commonwealth.

Last year, the VRE Operations Board — which is represented by the nine jurisdictions that fund the commuter rail service — backed the agency’s budget that included a 5% fare hike, or 50 cents more, due to the increase in services since 2020. The budget also included a plan to, for the first time, operate Saturday train service on tracks shared with Amtrak, CSX and Norfolk Southern.

The next step is for the board to endorse the agency’s System Plan 2050, designed to help officials address the public’s changing travel patterns, including those of commuting office workers, which have shifted over the past decade. The board is scheduled to vote on the plan June 21.

The plan is built around four goals: safety and reliability; market growth and financial stability; regional system integration and equitable service; and sustainability and resiliency. The goals of market growth and equitable service focus on maximizing daily riders and expanding daily service offering non-peak and weekend service.

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This story was updated with information from VRE and to correct the terminal location of the VRE’s Broad Run line.

NATHANIEL CLINE
ncline@virginiamercury.com
https://twitter.com/nathanielcline
Nathaniel is an award-winning journalist who's been covering news across the country since 2007, including politics at The Loudoun Times-Mirror and The Northern Neck News in Virginia as well as sports for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. He has also hosted podcasts, worked as a television analyst for Spectrum Sports, and appeared as a panelist for conferences and educational programs. A graduate of Bowie State University, Nathaniel grew up in Hawaii and the United Kingdom as a military brat. Five things he must have before leaving home: his cellphone, Black Panther water bottle, hand sanitizer, wedding ring and Philadelphia Eagles keychain.

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