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December

Thanks for all the great questions. We see there is lots of unanswered questions and partly due to getting used to this new system as a result of the new website. We promise to answer more questions next month.

If there is a question that we have missed and you cannot wait until next month, please re-submit to gotrains@vre.org where we answer most inquiries within one business day.

Winter is coming and we would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to be careful stepping on and off trains due to slippery platforms. If inclement weather does occur, we will update riders via Train Talk, facebook, twitter, etc. about any service modifications.

Have a happy holiday season!

Rich, Chris, et al.

  • Kevin from Burke asks
    Your new schedule is fine in theory however for the third day in a row the train came at old schedule, leaving folks stranded and others running for the train.

    VRE Response
    Times listed on the schedule are departure times.

  • Long Time Fred Rider from Leeland asks
    I have gotten on at several different stations and L'Enfant is the only stop where the Manassas riders crowd the yellow stripe well before their train arrival. How about a courtesy announcement for the Manassas riders to stay back until after the Fredericksburg train arrives and departs so the Fredericksburg riders are able to get on the train without encountering someone who is not getting on the train. Very Rude.

    VRE Response
    Courtesy Reminder.

  • Lee from Burke asks
    Could you please do something about the pothole that has developed near the speed bump as you enter the Burke Centre VRE station? With winter coming, the pothole is going to grow, and we're not going to be able to avoid shredded tires because the bollards don't leave us any room to avoid it.

    VRE Response
    We will pass this along to Fairfax County.

  • matt from lorton asks
    what happned to the 3:35 Union Station departure? Moving it to 3:25 has made it impossible to make for many folks and now teh 4:10 is a like riding a train in India.

    VRE Response
    As mentioned earlier, train 335 departure was moved to get seperation from Amtrak 125. We will continue to monitor the new schedule and consist, and if necessary make changes to the train lengths in January.

  • Josh from Stafford, VA asks
    I'm a monthly pass holder who sometimes has to extend my trip for the occasional meeting. Why can't I validate my ticket extension at my boarding station? It is a pain in the neck to get off the train and re-board just to validate ticket. There are not conductors always at every door and I almost get left on platform about half the time. :-( Please help!

    VRE Response
    You can not validate a paper ticket out of zone. However, VRE mobile is a good option especially for the occasional out of zone rides.

  • Ross from Rippon asks
    the map i access on my phone to check train GPS still lists Spotsy as a future station...

    VRE Response
    That has been changed. Please check again.

  • Connie Dutton from Dumfries VA asks
    I heard the Transportation bill is supposed to be signed on Friday. Does this mean the Transit Subsidy Benefits will be increased? From: $130 to $245??? Thank you.

    VRE Response
    This year, the “Commuter Parity Act of 2015” has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives with bipartisan support. It separate from the Transportation Bill.  The “Commuter Parity Act of 2015” would establish parity between the parking and transit benefit by setting the monthly caps for both at $235 per month. VRE is working with members of Congress to support this legislation and we hope to permanently make transit benefits equal to parking benefits so transit riders can enjoy the same benefit as automobile users for their commute to work. We know this is an important issue to VRE riders and we’ll keep you apprised of future developments.

  • Tom from Manassas asks
    It appears that the early dropping of leaves this year may have prevented a lot of the "leaf oil" problems we have every Fall on the Manassas line....do you agree?

    VRE Response
    Yes.

  • Sara from spotsy asks
    Thank you for the new afternoon schedule! Working good for my family in the last 2 days. on another note, would the conductor on the 303 please try to keep his words to a minimum? Or let someone else make announcements? I am sure he is a very nice person, but gee whiz !

    VRE Response
    Thank you for the comments, we will pass your thoughts on to Keolis Management.

  • Charity from Lorton, VA asks
    1) It's concerning that the VRE office can not contact staff on the trains. Unfortunately, I just lost my cell phone last night on train 311 that was still in route when I called the VRE office for help. I was told that the VRE office had no way of reaching the train staff?!? What if this was a security issue? Just want to bring this to your attention. 2) The Lorton station really needs a path made (lots of passenger exit towards the back of the train and have to climb through the woods to exit). Thanks for this opportunity.

    VRE Response
    There is a process and proceedure for how we handle lost and found items http://vre.org/about/contact/lost-items-form/

  • Dave from Va asks
    I wanted to thank you all for adding the additional train to the Fredricksburg line. Do you all plan to add a new train to the Manassas line in the near future? Or even swaping the times of the 305 and 327?

    VRE Response
    There are no immediate plans.

  • Confused from Burke asks
    Why are so many of the policy questions answered with "curtesy Reminder" Do you really think most riders come online or even read the archives. Curtesy reminder as you call them should be automated given on the train so all can hear and maybe understand.

    VRE Response
    Some of the questions are specific to passenger behavior not a specific policy issue. We also alert our staff and place it in the Ride Magazine as reminders to our passengers to be courteous to one another.

  • Ernest from Manassass, VA asks
    Is loud talking and dancing permitted on the trains? Just yesterday on the 324 train several people 1 car ahead of the quiet car were carrying on very loudly like they were in a bar, dancing in the aisle for a about 30 seconds as if nothing was the matter with it. How does VRE tell LOUD mouth people to respect others and keep quiet?

    VRE Response
    Dancing is not currently banned on our trains. Courtesy Reminder.

  • Tom from Triangle asks
    Is there any truth to the rumors that the new schedule that was effective 11/30/15 isn't the final one and may change again soon?

    VRE Response
    We are not currently contemplating a schedule change.

  • Alfred from Bristow, VA asks
    No verbal judo answers please, give me the truth. Why is that the train now runs on a 10 minute earlier schedule, but arrives at the destinations at the previous scheduled time or later. If you leave 10 minutes sooner than before, shouldn't you arrive 10 minutes earlier? What's going on?

    VRE Response
    The schedules were adjusted to reflect actual running times.

  • Donny from Dale City, VA asks
    Why has train 302 been consistently 5 minutes late getting to/leaving from Quantico and Rippon stations for past few weeks?

    VRE Response
    Our new schedule started on Moday, hopefuly this will have addressed your issue.

  • Kevin from Manassas, Virginia asks
    I understand that the addition of trains to the Fredericksburg line impacts the Manassas schedule, but the delayed arrivals (particularly in the morning) are problematic. I'd much rather be early than "late" - could you change the departure times from Broad Run, etc. five minutes early (or whatever) so that we could arrive at L'Enfant/Union Station more like the times we had previously?

    VRE Response
    3 to 5 mins was added to the trip time to help improve on-time performance at the midline stations.

  • Step child from Burke asks
    Why is it that the Fredericksburg line seems to get all the perks. They get an extra train as well as earlier schedule times while Manassas has to leave later messing up our work arrival times.

    VRE Response
    There are currently 16 revenue trains on both lines.

  • Mark from Manassas asks
    How do the rail cars and locomotives get what sounds like small flat spots on the wheels, do they occur from hard braking? It seems like we go through periods when there are none/very few of them and the ride is relatively quiet. I have noticed an increased number of them lately. How do you get rid of them or do you just let them wear down? Thanks.

    VRE Response
    Flats spots may occur under normal operations. A wheel truing machine is used to remove the flat spots.

  • Scott from Spotsylvania, VA asks
    I rode in this AM on a legacy consist. Will this be phased out or will you continue to use it for the long term?

    VRE Response
    Five new railcars should arive early spring of 2016 to replace one of the legacy consists.

  • Scott from Spotsylvania, VA asks
    How are the ridership numbers out of the new Spotsylvania Station? Are the as expected? Higher? Lower?

    VRE Response
    Ridership is strong out of the Spotsylvania station.

  • Carol from Woodbridge asks
    On 11/24 I sent an email to 'gotrains' regarding the schedule change for the Fred line. I still have not received a reply. The confirmation email I received said I would receive a reply in 24 hours. On 12/2 I'm still waiting....

    VRE Response
    Please submitt your question and put On-Line Forum in the subject heading.

  • Tom from Centreville VA asks
    When will internet access be offered on VRE? This service would definitely be welcomed, and likely would increase your ridership.

    VRE Response
    We will not offer wifi until we can guarantee connectivity throughout our entire system.

  • Diana from Nokesville VA asks
    Wed before TG holiday, an email re the early trains was sent letting riders know that due to expected crowding, quiet car rules would be suspended. I wonder why too many people in the quiet car would change the rule? Perhaps it wouldn't be as quiet as usual, but doesn't it make sense that all the people who usually ride in the quiet car have to give up their preference, so that the few additional riders in the quiet car due to trains being over capacity (is that safe, btw?) could simply not talk to each other or on their phone for an hour or less?

    VRE Response
    Quiet car rules were supended to make all seats available to all passengers. 

  • Shernell from Woodbridge, VA asks
    When incorporating another time slot. Why didn't someone consider a 2:30 train time? The gap between 1 and 3:18 is a bit much.

    VRE Response
    We did consider a train at 2:30, however a slot in that time period was not available.

  • Mary from Fredericksburg, Va asks
    Is there going to be a rate increase to fund the new (303) train. Adding a train that comes 15 mins. prior to the 305 is a waste of money. That does nothing to help the early riders or anyone needing to get home earlier than the 305.

    VRE Response
    There is no fare increase proposed for Fiscal Year 2017. Currently we are seeing approximately 500 riders on new train 303.

  • George from Bristow asks
    For the first 2 days of the new schedule, the 2nd train out of Manassas left 10 minutes earlier as planned and arrived at L'Enfant basically the same time as it used to. Can we expect better timeliness in the future?

    VRE Response
    Average trip time on the Manassas line has increased 3-5 minutes with the new schedule. The new schedule has improved on-time performance for the mid-line stations.

  • David from Manassas, VA asks
    Will you be selling the older cars and replacing them with the newer ones? If so, do you have any buyers, yet?

    VRE Response
    The legacy cars are being sold, if interested please visit:

    http://vre.org/about/procurement/rfp-ifb-rfi/rfi-013-011-sale-of-gallery-style-passenger-cars/

  • Everton from Fredericksburg, va asks
    I would like to know your policy or stand on the new vaping on the train and on the train platforms?

    VRE Response
    Vaping falls under the “no e-cigarettes allowed” policy.

  • Erik from Spotsylvania Va asks
    It seems that the 302 train is consistently 2-3 minutes late, which gives me no time to make my bus that leaves at 0615. Why is this, and what is VRE doing to fix the problem? Thank you

    VRE Response
    Please send in more details with the station information to gotrains@vre.org and we will look into this issue.

  • Christine from Stafford, VA asks
    Just a suggestion...I think it would be fabulous if the VRE didn't limit its drives to just Toys for Tots at Christmas. Please consider trying seasonal drives like a summer school supply drive, spring animal shelter supplies drive and fall food drive. You could be very specific in what you want to collect, if needed, (e.g., Coordinate with the Fredericksburg SPCA and ask them what is on their immediate wish list). If it is too hard to collect on the train, have morning drop off locations at Alexandria, Crystal City, L'Enf and Union Station. What a difference VRE could make to smaller, local charities all year round!

    VRE Response
    Thank you for the suggestion but will look into more opportunities.

  • Norm from Haymarket asks
    Ten years ago we started the Gainesville haymaket study, now we're in 2015 and we need another 10 year study. Can you hurry up and study and let's get this station built?

    VRE Response
    The study currently underway is updating the work done in the previous study. We are anxious as everyone else to get this moving.

  • Lost from Somewhere between Leeland and Lorton asks
    When will you fix the station announcement problems and erect signage that can be read by more than the crows? I missed the Lorton stop Monday because of no station announcements -- verbal or digital. I could use GPS to figure out where I was if there was better cell phone service between Leeland and Rippon. Can't you string up a few tin cans to boost the cell tower reception. Hard to believe you can't get a line of sight system.

    VRE Response
    Please send in more details about which train you were riding into gotrains@vre.org and we will address the automated station announcement failure.

  • Tom from Burke, VA asks
    Any plans to expand Rolling Road parking? The current lot is often overflowed with cars.

    VRE Response
    Fairfax County has initiated a study for a parking expansion at Rolling Rd. We will provide more information once it is available.

  • Carl from Lorton, VA asks
    I'm a data analysis guy, and hopefully with the new VRE Mobile ticketing you're able to gather and analyze data. My question - are you able to track the tickets that have been validated which also have been scanned by the conductors? How many are validated and not checked by a conductor? The app is great when I board and forget to validate my paper ten trip. I just pull out my phone and validate online.

    VRE Response
    Primarily, we rely on visual validation of the ticket, but we do have data for those tickets that were scanned. Keep in mind that your mobile ticket needs to be validated before you board the train just like a paper ticket. 

  • Shaun from Stafford, VA asks
    Can the eight (8) car train be moved from the 306 to 308 train? By moving the Fredericksburg line schedule roughly six (6) minutes to the right, more people are now riding the 308 train and it was standing room only today starting at Rippon.

    VRE Response
    We are going to be evaluating the ridership pattern over the next few weeks and if consist changes need to occur, they will occur after the first of the year.

  • Gerald from Fredericksburg asks
    I understand that Metro will discontinue all paper tickets in Jan 2017. Will the VRE TLC monthly's still be available? If so how will the change to Metro cards affect the TLC? Thank you.

    VRE Response
    Effective January 16, 2016, TLCs will only be available through commuterdirect.com or the Commuter Stores taht sell VRE tickets. The new TLC will consist of a SmarTrip card for Metro use and a stricker applied to the card for VRE use.

  • Dave from Manassas asks
    Monday was the first day of the "new schedule". It was also the first day of the old problem: switches. Welcome to the new day, same as the old day....this time with added trains. Will those switches EVER be reliable?

    VRE Response
    Switches are regularly inspected to make sure they are operating correctly. From time to time they do malfunction as with any mechanical device. 

  • Don from Fredericksburg, Virginia asks
    The gravel parking lot at Leland station is in bad shape from rain. Can VRE on a monthly basis repair the lot depending on weather?

    VRE Response
    We will have our facilities manager look into this with Stafford County.

  • Margaret from Gainesville asks
    Who can explain how the Santa trains can be sold out the minute they pop up for sale. Something doesn't smell right here. This is 3 years in a row this has happened. Yes my clock is correct- how can this be? i look forward to a reply

    VRE Response
    We utilize Amazon Web Services for the sale of the tickets because they could handle the volume that we typically receive.

    Before next year's sale we will give you tips on how to efficiently purchase online tickets.

  • Mike from The new place asks
    Okay, the new station is beautiful. I just have a quick question about the tickets. They expire after 2 hours. If you're riding from Spotsy and get off in DC, and need to catch the bus, the ticket might expire. Can't you make them valid for longer?

    VRE Response
    We will look into adjusting the expiration time.

  • michelle from fredericksburg, va asks
    is the santa train ticket sales page active yet? It said ticket sales start at 9am, but I can't figure out how to purchase them.

    VRE Response
    Tickets were sold on 11/23. All changes were made to show that we are sold out.

  • David from Woodbridge, VA asks
    Any plans to have a north bound early afternoon train on the Fredericksburg line? If not, having Amtrak 94 stop in Woodbridge could fill the gap. Any possibilities?

    VRE Response
    At this time there are no immediate plans that we are aware of to add an early afternoon train, but we will reach out to Amtrak.

  • Kevin from Spotslvania asks
    Will there be motorcycle parking added to the new VRE station. I took a quick ride through there today and didn't see any motorcycle parking

    VRE Response
    There are motorcycle parking spots at the Spotsylvania Station. They are located at the southwest corner of the lot near the bicycle racks.

  • David from Woodbridge, VA asks
    Lat month The Washington Post had an article concering the safety of rusty, crumbling railroad bridges. Does CSX inspect the bridge over the Occoquan and Potomac Rivers regularly to make sure they are safe? https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/report-asks-whether-rusting-crumbling-railroad-bridges-are-safe/2015/11/10/12ecfdae-87ae-11e5-9a07-453018f9a0ec_story.html

    VRE Response
    The bridges are routinely inspected in accordance with federal regulations.

  • Robert from Potomac Shores asks
    New schedule: curious why the afternoon 3:35 train was moved to 3:25. That's only 15 minutes between the new 3:10 train and now 45 minutes to the 4:10. Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

    VRE Response
    Our new schedule had to take into account both freight and Amtrak trains which resulted in some necessary adjustments. In this particular case, we needed to get some separation between the old 303 and Amtrak 125.

  • Bobby from Fredericksburg Virginia asks
    For riders that have tickets from Fredericksburg to Lorton will they be required to buy tickets from Spotsylvania to Fredericksburg? thanks

    VRE Response
    If you have a Fredericksburg to Lorton ticket, if will aso be valid from Sptsylvania. Both stations are in Zone 9.

  • Jeremy from Burke, VA asks
    Could you explain why we have armed guards on the trains every now and again?

    VRE Response
    It is a component of the Regional Multimodal Security Posture.

  • David from Woodbridge, VA asks
    VRE's new website still doesn't have any trip tools. Will VRE be adding them?

    VRE Response
    We are working with Google to get our information on their trip planning system. We hope to get it soon.

  • David from Woodbridge, VA asks
    When will VRE start using the L'Enfant Storage tracks?

    VRE Response
    Possibly middle of next year.

  • David from Woodbridge, VA asks
    Your equipment/consist page hasn't been updated to show the consist of Train 314/315.

    VRE Response
    Thank you for sending this question. It prompted me to edit the webpage.

Thank you for joining us for another edition of the online forum on our new and improved website.

Lots of positive changes have been occuring: we opened Spotsylvania Station on November 16th, a new schedule with a new train started this past Monday.

Santa Trains will take place on Saturday, December 12th. As always, the tickets were very popular and sold out quickly. We sold approximately 5,000 tickets online and took a total of five minutes to get sold. We apologize if you were unable to get the tickets that you wanted but demand continues to be very strong.

On-board collection for Toys for Tots will take place on Wednesday, December 9th. Please leave an unwrapped gift on your seat behind you and we will collect it. Conductors will also collect cash and check donations.

On to the questions!