May

• Ann from Burke, VA asks
  Please talk with Amtrak about cleaning the stairs leading to the train platform. There are piles of dirt in every corner of every stair.

  VRE Response
  Thanks Ann, we'll be at Union Station this afternoon and will let them know.

• Courtney from Spotsylvania asks
  I love VRE and would recommend your service to anyone. With that being said, my only major complaint is about the unreliability of your ticket vending machines. It's not unusual to see a group of people huddled around the one working machine out of four. The touchscreens are often miscalibrated and seem to be affected by extreme temperatures and moisture in the air. Is there any plan to address the frequent issues with these ticket machines? Thanks!

  VRE Response
  Thanks Courtney.  The ticket vending machine are being upgraded to include new technology on the touch screens which will not be affected by dust and weather, new pin pads to accept chipped cards, and all new internal components.  Installation should begin this summer.

• Dave from L'Enfant asks
  When will the "Meet the Management" day be at the L'Enfant station?

  VRE Response
  Next Wednesday, 5/8.  See you there Dave.

• Dave from 300 Express asks
  Some mornings the 300 Express is ahead of the 1st Manassas train. When that occurs you all make the 300 wait until that 1st Manassas train passes between Alexandria and Crystal City and then cause the 300 to be late. Why can't the 300 just go before the Manassas train?

  VRE Response
  Manassas Line train 322 is lined past Alexandria because it is scheduled to arrive first.  In the event 322 is delayed, we will ask the CSX dispatcher to release Fredericksburg Line train 300 first.  The process of timing down a signal, however, could take 10 minutes, so there may be times when the first train in waits, if the delay is less than 10 minutes.

• Abe from Dumfries, VA asks
  Can we get a a realistic date as to when the stop in Potomac Shores will be open? It has dragged on for years due to understandable circumstances, but the communication has been terrible.

  VRE Response
  Abe: We continue to ask folks to keep in touch with Potomac Shores for updates. We have included a link to their web page where they are keeping the public informed of their progress. https://potomacshores.com/lifestyle/train-station/

• Mike from Leeland Station asks
  Any plans to pave the upper, "overflow" lot at Leeland Station? A lot of people enter and exit that way, and it is very bumpy and dusty. More people would consider parking up there if it were paved, and it might lessen congestion leaving in the evening.

  VRE Response
  The lot belongs to a developer and is leased on our behalf by Stafford County.  We can work to keep it level and free of potholes, but there are currently no plans to pave.

• Michael from Fredericksburg asks
  Is there a way to quickly search past online forum questions, or maybe to add a sort/filter option? It would be nice to be able to quickly see what past questions and answers relate only to my line or stations. Thanks!

  VRE Response
  Michael, please send your question with contact information to GoTrains@vre.org, put Online Forum in the subject line and we'll have someone contact you to see what can be done.

• Sean from Spotsylvania, VA asks
  Why hasn't a fence been installed at Fredericksburg between Track 2 & Track 3? People regularly ignore the posted signs about the danger of crossing the tracks. It's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.

  VRE Response
  The track centers are too close to allow proper clearance for an inter-track fence like you see at Woodbridge and Springfield.  There are signs posted which say "Do Not Cross The Tracks".

• Bob from Woodbridge asks
  How is the Metro station work going to impact access to the VRE station (it looks like they are going to close all of the sidewalks around Alex Metro station including the sidewalk under the bridge that connects Metro and VRE)

  VRE Response
  Most of the sidewalks around the King Street Station are already closed, but access to the VRE station can be gained from the north side of King Street to a new crosswalk, or if you are coming from the Carlyle area you can walk down Callahan to the front side of the station.

• Walter from Manassas asks
  Your conductors on trains 326/328 and on 327/329 barely check tickets. I understand the trains get full, but if you don't check tickets frequently enough, people stop validating tickets. Then your conductors give warnings and because it's so crowded, I doubt they would remember the person. Can you have conductors check tickets more often on these trains? Also, can you implement a written warning system for conductors to be able to check when a person has received a warning (which, is fair, provided continued issues result in tickets).

  VRE Response
  Thank you for that info. The train crew managers will look into the situation to solve this problem.

• Andrew from Fredericksburg va asks
  You havent updated your on time performance since April 18th. Why us that. The VREs overall lack of communication seems troubling with its constant delays.

  VRE Response
  See previously answered question.

• gwen from spotsylvania asks
  Greetings. I am wondering if there has been any progress to placing a ticket machine on the Amtrak side in Union Station? Thanks wen from spotsylvania asks PLEASE, is it possible for you to come to an agreement with Amtrak to place just one ticket machine on the Amtrak side of the station? It would be very beneficial to your senior riders and those with disabilities when the escalators are not operational, or when we may be running a tad late to go to the VRE side to validate and then get over to the Amtrak side to ride the elevator or escalator down. If there is such a thing as a VRE side and an Amtrak side, why is Amtrak allowed to utilize the VRE side? When Amtrak passengers disembark on the VRE side and reach the station, they are in full force coming through both automated doors which adds to the difficulty of trying to get to the VRE side. Again, having just one vending machine on the Amtrak side would be so helpful. THANKS VRE Response Great question Gwen. We will bring this up with Amtrak and see if we can at least relocate one of the three existing machines there.

  VRE Response
  Thanks Gwen. We have approached Amtrak but do not have an answer for you yet.

• Miranda from Broad Run, VA asks
  I know it is not in the foreseeable future, understandably. But if demand were to increase in later years, would it be physically possible to extend the Manassas Line further out towards Culpeper, VA?

  VRE Response
  Anything is possible Miranda, but we have no immediate plans to expand beyond Broad Run.

• Joe from Gainesville, VA asks
  There has been a recent trend of Southbound Manassas line trains stopping just short of Manassas while waiting for Northbound trains trains leaving Broad Run to pass. Why are southbound trains with passengers aboard being held up to accommodate an empty Northbound VRE train?

  VRE Response
  Good question Joe.  The northbound afternoon trains need to return to Union Station to make another southbound trip.  The dispatchers are simply trying to keep the entire network moving.  The delays recently with the "turn" trains are making this occurrence more frequent but as mentioned in the opening, you should see this improve.

• Steamed from DC asks
  Have your conductors become so jaded by the constant delays that they've decided to turn rude, or is your leadership worried that people will have enough FRCs to skip buying a monthly pass? I was recently denied an FRC by a conductor who took an attitude about it, insisting we were "only 29 minutes late by my clock". One minute makes a difference? By my phone it was 31 minutes, and in any case it's been unacceptably late more than 50% of the time over the past six weeks. I asked a different conductor om another train if that is standard practice, and he just shrugged and said "it's their prerogative, if they say the clock says 29 then there's not much to do about it" before briskly walking off. VRE used to have pretty good service and excellent staff. Now both are poor. Is this a leadership issue, perhaps?

  VRE Response
  Thank you for the feedback.  We understand everyone is frustrated with the delays, but there is never an excuse for conductors to become rude or indifferent.  Polite professionalism is what we expect of the crews and if your experience is something to the contrary, please send the specifics to us at gotrains@vre.org.

• Kita from Bristow, VA asks
  In light of the frequent delays during the month of April, why hasn't the "Daily Performance" log been updated since April 18?

  VRE Response
  Sorry Kita, this slipped through some recent staffing changes.  We have someone bringing the page up to date right now.

• Doug from Etlan, VA asks
  I rode train #330 on April 29. It was over 45 minutes late to arrive in DC. The conductors only made one brief announcement regarding the the slow speed. No reason for the delay was provided. Nothing. In the past, VRE conductors were much more informative about the delay and the reasons for it. I encourage that VRE return to it past practice of informing riders early and often, as well as the reasons for the delay. This practice makes for informed, and even w a delay, a much better experience. Thanks.

  VRE Response
  Thank you for the feedback Doug.  Anytime there is a delay, conductors should be making frequent announcements to keep passengers informed.  Even in instances where there is no new information to share, we ask announcements to be made at least every 10 minutes.  We'll share with your comments with the crews.

Good afternoon, and welcome to the May 2019 edition of the Online Forum.  Joining us in the studio today are Tyreese and Paul from Keolis, Brian from CSX and Kim from Amtrak. 

 

As we have been going through the questions submitted earlier today, it is clear On Time Performance is on everyone’s mind, so we will address our recent reliability challenges here and focus the remainder of the Forum on other questions and comments related to the service and crews.

 

We recognize the inconvenience placed on our riders when trains do not operate on time, and we empathize with the challenges faced when trying to coordinate work meetings and family schedules and the impact a late train can have on both. 

 

While there are many potential causes for a train to be delayed given the nature of our operating environment, we work daily with the host railroads to minimize delays which can be controlled through dispatching, scheduling, or other means.

 

The majority of the comments received this morning have been questioning the main cause for the recent delays and what we as VRE are doing to resolve the issues and return to the high standard of performance everyone has come to expect.  The early challenges we have been facing with the rollout of Positive Train Control (PTC) have been discussed in a few Train Talks which we post to the PTC page at VRE.org as reference.  In summary, the PTC rollout began on February 14^th on the Fredericksburg line, and was then implemented on the Manassas Line beginning April 1^st.  As with the implementation of any new major system, there will be a break-in period where items not previously experienced in the simulated environment or with the test trains which had been operated, are discovered and addressed.  This has held true for the PTC rollout.  We have worked with train crews, host railroad dispatchers, PTC help desks, system providers, and a host of other groups to get through the learning curve and get more familiar with the system. As familiarity improves, recovery from the incidents which do arise will improve.

 

We have already seen improvements in the system and operating practices involved in “turning” the trains which make multiple trips, but there is still much to be done.  The system provider and everyone involved in the design and development of this important safety overlay system have dedicated teams working around the clock to help VRE, our host railroads and other affected railroads return to reliability levels we experienced prior to the rollout. 

 

The most frequently asked question we have seen is “When do you expect to see improvements in PTC?”  While we cannot give a definite date when everything is resolved, we can say improvements in system reliability, communications and software are being implemented on a daily basis, improving the stability of the system.  With the improved stability, we will experience an improvement with On Time Performance.

 

We expect to see incremental improvements every day, leading to much better performance in May.

 

We will be at Union Station today for Meet The Management beginning at 3:00 PM, and will be happy to discuss in more detail.

 

Again, we apologize for the challenges each of you have faced as a result of the lower On Time Performance.  We understand your frustration and appreciate your patience as we continue to build a safer railroad.