Virginia Railway Express is one of only a few transit agencies that GUARANTEES its on-time performance. If a VRE train enters a station 30 minutes or more behind schedule, passengers detraining from that point forward are entitled to receive one "Free Ride Certificate" good for a FREE one-way trip on VRE.

"Free Ride Certificates" are only distributed on the affected train the same service day of the delay. Like a Single-Ride or Ten-Ride ticket, FRCs MUST be validated in the platform ticket vending machines prior to boarding. Once validated, FRCs should then be displayed on the train for inspection by a conductor.

I'm a Monthly ticket holder, what good are FRCs to me?

Many monthly riders have told us that they save their FRCs for when they want to take vacations and then use the FRCs along with a Ten-Trip ticket so they do not have to pay for the cost of a full Monthly ticket. Hopefully, this strategy works for some riders.

Can expired FRCs be exchanged for new ones?

No. Be sure to check out your FRCs expiration date. If you don't use them up by this date, they will no longer be valid.

My train was late but I didn't get an FRC, what do I do?

If a train is late and FRCs are not distributed on the train for any reason (often the train is too crowded for crews to get through the cars and distribute FRCs) you are still entitled to a Free Ride. You can request your FRC from our office using an FRC Request Form.

My train was cancelled, am I still entitled to a Free Ride Certificate?

Yes. Please send us an FRC Request Form along with a copy of your valid ticket.

As much as we want to run a perfect service, we know that sometimes delays are going to happen and this is our token of apology. FRCs are just another measure that VRE takes to try to provide our riders with the most pleasant, consistent and reliable service possible.

(P.S. if you know of another transit agency out there that guarantees its on time performance, please let us know...we're curious).