Service Change Update

Back in December, we presented a service expansion proposal designed to mitigate crowding on trains, fully utilize VRE equipment, provide expanded service, and increase ridership.

The proposal included lengthening trains and adding an express train which required two morning trains (one on each line) and two evening trains (one on each line) to terminate and originate at the L’Enfant VRE station in February and March. A public outreach campaign seeking comments on the proposal followed.

Nearly 45% of the official comments received, expressed concern regarding the origin and termination of trains at L’Enfant. The consensus from these passengers was that reducing the amount of service available to them in order to provide seats to other passengers was unjust. The majority of passengers attending the hearings stated that they would prefer overcrowding to terminating or originating any trains from the L’Enfant station. They felt that the delay in their schedules and inconvenience would far outweigh the benefits received.  It is estimated that at least 400 to 600 of the current VRE riders would be disadvantaged or inconvenienced by terminating and originating VRE at L’Enfant

While we found that the majority of all riders completing online survey supported the concept of adding railcars, it was not surprising that the support was predominantly passengers not traveling to Union Station.

After presenting riders with several options and evaluating the collective comments made, we recommended to our Operations Board to only add a morning Express train on the Fredericksburg line beginning July 19, 2010 (there will not be an afternoon or evening Express train) and to not store any train sets at the L’Enfant station. The Operations Board approved this recommendation.

The express train will depart Fredericksburg at 5:05AM and make stops at Fredericksburg, Leeland Road, Brooke, Woodbridge, Alexandria, Crystal City, L’Enfant and Union Station beginning July 19, 2010. The final schedule with departure times at other stations is being evaluated. Once we have that schedule, we will be sure to share it.