February

• Paul from Manassas Park asks
  When will VRE submit an application to NVTA for second platforms on the Manassas Line (Manassas Park, Burke Centre, Rolling Road, Backlick Road)? It would be the same cost as a highway interchange.... We need service similar to MARC Penn Line on the Manassas Line.

  VRE Response
  Improvements to the Manassas line, including infrastructure improvements, are being evaluated and in some cases, such as platform extensions, are being executed. We are also working on service plans to improve reliability and frequency. 

• Jake from Burke asks
  When will the new 2020 service on the Fredericksburg Line and Manassas Line be implemented? I would assume VRE was aware of the additional service well before the December 2019 announcement. Is a draft plan available?

  VRE Response
  We are currently working on updated service plans and this effort will continue throughout the year. No draft plans are available right now. 

• Mark from Manassas asks
  It their anyway to adjust the time of Manassas 328. It is also being delayed into Alexandria....

  VRE Response
  Thanks Mark.  We'll be looking at all schedules where congestion is creating consistent delays and make the effort to minimize those delays.

• Richard from Fredericksburg, VA. asks
  Have tried this several times...keep getting a spam message. What is the deal with Amtrak 95? It's inability to operate on a schedule negatively reflects on your ability to operate an efficient commuter rail service. Thanks.

  VRE Response
  Sorry Richard, Amtrak 95 is an Amtrak train, not operated by VRE.

• J from MP asks
  Can you please answer all the questions that you do not answer during the online forum and post the answers to the website? This may help riders receive even more information and promote transparency from VRE.

  VRE Response
  Thanks J.  There are some questions we do not post because of inappropriate language or personal information.  If a question does not get answered online, it may be sent to gotrains@vre.org with Online Forum in the subject line and we'll get a response to you.

• Jack from Leeland asks
  You own the tracks now so does that mean we can get wifi on the trains now?

  VRE Response
  According to Robert, our Director of IT, the potential to add WiFi has improved, but the timing is still up in the air.  Once we have any specific updates, we'll let everyone know.

• Craig from Stafford, VA asks
  Hi, I'm a new rider and enjoy your service. I've been looking at your website and it seems the FAQ is out of date. Am I wrong?

  VRE Response
  The FAQ gets changed frequently as information changes, however if you see anything specifically that needs to be addressed, please let us know at gotrains@vre.org.

• Jamie from Fairfax Station asks
  Realistically, when do you expect to have the first service enhancements as a result of the CSX deal? And I know it's probably too soon to know for sure, but what will be the first changes, if you had to guess? (Obviously not holding anyone to this since there are a lot of unknowns)

  VRE Response
  Thanks for asking Jamie.  The first thing we will probably see is schedule adjustments to help relieve some of the persistent congestion issues.  Those details are currently being worked on with CSX, Norfolk Southern, Amtrak, and Virginia's Department of Rail and Public Transportation.  We hope to see some of those changes in the next few months.  As soon as we have projected dates on any of the other changes, we'll let everyone know.

• Anne from Fairfax asks
  I guess everyone is excited about the possibility of service enhancements as a result of the Long Bridge project and the other improvements that were announced, but I'm worried about the impact more trains and riders will have on the already bleak parking situation. Does VRE have a plan to address parking capacity, and if so, could you share it? Many thanks for the excellent service you provide.

  VRE Response
  Thanks Anne.  Parking cars is just one aspect of the challenges to providing additional capacity.  We need to have additional train equipment, we need to have maintenance and storage facilities large enough to store the additional equipment, and we need the additional parking at stations to support the increased ridership.  All three issues are being addressed as we move forward with the expansion plans.  We will keep everyone posted as we make progress on each one.

• Andrew from Burke Va asks
  I wanted to know if there was a possibility to have a southbound manassas train at a time between the 1:20 and 3:50 train. It is hard for me to commute back home as I get off around 2:00. If this is unavailable, please let me know why. I appreciate your time and I love the VRE service!

  VRE Response
  At this time, the slot available to operate a train during that time frame is already occupied by an Amtrak train, but we will be considering multiple options once we can make schedule adjustments.

• H from Fairfax VA asks
  VRE mobile, after the last major update, has had the following significant issues: (1) an inordinate amount of time to open the app (up to 7 minutes); (2) disappearance of activated tickets if the app is closed; (3) incorrect count of remaining tickets. These have led to issues when conductors do their rounds to check the tickets, and reduced our trust in the app so much that many consider abandoning the mobile app and returning to paper tickets (which is a major inconvenience). VRE just recently issued an update to the app, but we as users are afraid to update because it is not clear if the updated version addressed any of these significant issues and whether it is safe to update without losing our existing tickets. VRE does not seem to appreciate the severity these issues (many riders noted that their feedback through the VRE mobile webpage did not receive any response or even an acknowledgement that the report was received). What will VRE do to ensure that we as riders can use the mobile app safely and without issues?

  VRE Response
  Thanks for the question H.  We have released several updates in the past two weeks, specifically working to speed up the app's performance.  The upgrade, coupled with a change in fare types resulted in the need to have the app access two separate fare catalogs, each on a different system creating the lag.  This will improve dramatically once the old platform is completely shut down, hopefully by the end of the month.

  Any update coming out in the next few weeks will be solely focused on addressing the issues experienced since the initial launch.

• Barbara from Fredericksburg, VA asks
  What is VRE's procedure for checking train tickets? It seems unfair for passengers to ride from L'Enfant to Quantico without having tickets checked, and the conductors check tickets late into the trip. At a minimum, tickets should be checked after Alexandria.

  VRE Response
  Tickets should be checked randomly throughout the trip.  The conductors' primary responsibility is the safe operation of the train, so 100% fare inspection may not be possible, but they should be checking at multiple locations throughout the trip.

• Raymond from Fredericksburg VA asks
  The new 7 day pass did not behave as expected over the MLK holiday. The five day pass that it replaced would skip over holidays. The 7 day pass did not do that, so I got 4 uses out of it. Is this how it is supposed to work? If so, please bring back the 5 day pass.

  VRE Response
  The 7 day pass replaced the 5 day pass. It was renamed because it expires 7 days from the date of validation. By setting up the tickets in this format, it allows us to standardize ticket types with other regional transportation ticket types. This standardization is necessary in order for us to begin the next step of offering joint-regional passes that can be used with multiple agencies for multiple types of public transport.  While it does allow for the skipping of weekends to make sure you can get 5 service days, it no longer skips holidays or "S" schedule days.  We suggest switching to a 10-ride ticket on those particular weeks to improve the flexibility.

• Jeff from Manassas, VA asks
  Can you please explain... how SmartBenefits option works? I am a contractor and use my money to purchase the VRE ticket. Is there a way to compare vendors and reduce the complexity associated with the allocation of funds?

  VRE Response
  The allocation of SmartBenefits funds is a bit of a challenge, but our Communications staff will be happy to walk you through the process.  Just give us a call at 703-684-1001.  Ask for Brenda, Jen, or Annalee but anyone else should also be able to assist.

• Paul from Spotsy asks
  I'm feeling football withdrawals. Any recommendations to get over my blues?

  VRE Response
  Ice cream and Nascar...

• Dick from Wilderness asks
  So y'all ran through a switch at Union Station? You report this to your board that rubber stamps everything you do but not to the riders who make your service possible? Hopefully the new CEO knows to be accountable both to those above you and the those below you.

  VRE Response
  We sent out an alert message to our riders back in December when the issue occurred: https://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/VAVRE-270e50d?fbclid=IwAR2L9A4y_IZtXEh0mLLjK8xwmhsmAhz0B3RUu4G5qmpt-6j74ofw88g8GDA

  Sorry you may have missed it. To sign up for Train Talk alerts, please go here: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAVRE/subscriber/new

• Wish List from VRE Line Improvements asks
  Wish List item #1 - VRE and CSX would work together to start the 300 Express 15 minutes earlier each morning. Wish list item #2 - Add an additional train to each line in which they would both head south about 2:00-2:30pm each afternoon. Wish list item #3 - Flip the departure times of trains 327 and 305 leaving Union Station.

  VRE Response
  No plans to have 300 depart earlier.

  There will be additional trains though the timing of when we are in a position to add those trains is still not determined.  The schedules will be made based on multiple factors, demand in a specific time slot will be one of those factors.

  As mentioned earlier, there will be some schedule adjustments to help relieve congestion, so we will consider item #3 in the evaluation of those changes.

   

• David from Fredericksburg, VA asks
  Has VRE considered having a Club Car. If not that then perhaps the sale of coffee, soft drinks, and snacks in: - small designated areas on-board a fraction the size of a full car. - or sales via small, portable carts or portable carrying devices

  VRE Response
  Unfortunately, no plans for a club car. Our focus is on capacity and using all available space for seating.

• Michael from Annandale asks
  It seems like the regularity of the "Ride" newsletter has fallen off the rails a little in the past several months. Just wondering if you could share what's going on, and what the plan is going forward (like changing it to quarterly or whatever if monthly is too frequent). Thanks in advance for any info.

  VRE Response
  We have scaled back the frequency simply to help improve the amount and quality of content available for each issue.  We are also exploring multiple ways of distributing the final versions so it is not simply a hard copy available onboard the trains.

• CB from Manassas, VA asks
  Can you please ask your conductors to treat your customers with courtesy and respect? There are a few individuals who I have seen really make some of the riders unnecessarily uncomfortable. There is no reason to treat your paying customers like criminals.

  VRE Response
  We expect the crews to treat all passengers with courtesy and respect. If there are specific incidents that you wish for us to look into, please send that information to gotrains@vre.org.

• Joe from Fredneckburg asks
  Democrats take over the legislature and they start throwing away billions of dollars to private companies so a bunch of rich folks don't have to drive from their McMansions to their cushy jobs in the city? How does running more of your trains help the little guy more than it will line your pockets?

  VRE Response
  Happy you asked. Our blog has an infographic showing some of the benefits of VRE: https://www.vre.org/about/blog/the-benefits-of-vre-infographic/. Reduction in highway traffic and the cost spent on highway widening, less wear and tear on one's vehicle are just a couple ways VRE helps out the little guy.

• Bill from Burke asks
  I'm really just having fun here, but I found a problem with the animation in the mobile app ticket page. There is an animation of two trains on the ticket page. One train is traveling considerably faster than the other. As the trains pass the Washington Monument, it's on the left of the train. That means the trains are traveling north. The trees are also fully in bloom so that means it's summer time. Now since one train is traveling slower, than the other, the slower train must be the Frederiksburg line experiencing heat related speed restrictions . However, the trains are travelling north and the heat restrictions on the Fredericksburg line are on the outbound or southbound trips. Again, just having fun.

  VRE Response
  Well, considering how nice its been lately, the trees could be blooming in February! But let's say it is summer, and as you point out the trains are headed northbound, so there would be no heat restrictions in the morning. Likely, the speed restrictions would be track work related, which means CSX crews are out on the railroad making sure that your trip in to D.C. is 100% safe.

• Davin from Woodbridge, VA asks
  Why does the GPS on VRE trains keep braking down so frequently?

  VRE Response
  We have recently converted to 4G modems and have experienced technical issues with the carrier, primarily. Our staff and the carrier have been working to resolve this issue. 

• Adam from Manassas, VA asks
  I walk everyday to/from the Manassas Park Station. Every morning and evening for months, I have noticed that the same three bikes are locked up on the bike rack there, unmoved, in the same orientation every day. This morning, I saw a biker lock his/her bike up on a nearby signpost, along with a scooter that was already there. Any chance you or Manassas/Manassas Park can look into removing these unused bikes from the bike station, so that the more frequent bikers/riders can lock their bikes in the proper bike rack?

  VRE Response
  Thanks for the feedback. We will look into this. 

• Venise from Fredericksburg, VA asks
  Is it possible to add an additional train car for the regularly scheduled trains where there are no seats? I ride the 309 from Alexandria to Spotsylvania and for the past two weeks there has been no seats for several stops when it arrives at the Alexandria station. If not, is there any consideration given for perhaps providing an FRC to those who are standing. This doesn't seem fair.

  VRE Response
  We are currently going through a procurement to acquire additional cars. Once the procurement is completed, we anticipate delivery within 3-4 years, worst case. This will allow us to extend our train lengths. We do monitor current ridership levels on our trains and try and place our longest train consist on the trains with the higher ridership. 

• Curt from Bristow asks
  How are those 2020 resolutions working out for ya?

  VRE Response
  Other than my promise to stay away from Chipotle, pretty well.

• Justin from Fredericksburg, VA asks
  A train got stuck in an Amtrak tunnel in NY. What plans do you have in place if we get stuck in the Amtrak tunnel in DC?

  VRE Response
  VRE and Amtrak have a coordinated response plan in the event a VRE or Amtrak train gets stuck in the tunnel. We have actually simulated/trained for this on a couple of occasions over the past few years. 

• Tiffany from Brooke asks
  Are we going to get more Amtrak trains we can ride with VRE tickets?

  VRE Response
  We are currently working to finalize the service plan, but we do anticipate more cross-honor trains with Amtrak. 

• Sore Bum from old seats asks
  Any update on the purchasing new seat bottoms?

  VRE Response
  We currently have a solicitation on the street to purchase replacement seat bottoms. We should be able to start the replacement program shortly after receiving the replacements. 

• James from Bristow asks
  Since you are getting an influx of money, are you going to reevaluate the relocation of the Broad Run yard further west again?

  VRE Response
  We are currently expanding the Broad Run/Airport station to include expanded parking capacity for both vehicles and trains. We are not currently reevaluating expanding further west. 

• Alex from Manassas, VA asks
  Lucky you! You get start working longer hours and on weekends as you expand service. Are you up for the challenge?

  VRE Response
  Absolutely! We're excited about it.

   

• Amanda from Manassas Park asks
  Can you please request the conductors do more announcements about queuing too early? At both Crystal City in the morning and Manassas Park in the afternoon people are lining up for L'Enfant/Manassas as we're pulling into Crystal City and Manassas Park. I've almost missed getting off the train several times due to thinking people are lined up for the current stop. Thanks!

  VRE Response
  Thanks Amanda.  The Keolis managers here today will make sure all train crews get briefed again.  If you see the issue on specific trains, let us know at gotrains.vre.org and we can address it with specific crew members.

   

   

• Sherryl from Woodbridge VA asks
  Why is it so hard to enforce riders not moving bags/personal items from seats on very crowded trains? If a person w/o a ticket is fined why not this hogging seats?

  VRE Response
  Thanks for the feedback. We will address this with our train crews.

   

• David from Manassas asks
  There continues to be differences between what passengers are told on the train and what is reported via social media. Unless "following another VRE train very closely" is the same as Equipment Issues? In a recent Communication Survey this seemed to be another big issue.

  VRE Response
  Great question David, and we'll be discussing this same point in the next issue of RIDE as a part of our follow-up to the Communications Survey.

  The information coming out through Train Talk and social media is based on the most accurate information our communications staff has at the time.  This may differ from what the crews are telling passengers onboard the train.  The crews have limited ability to communicate with anyone other than the railroad dispatcher, The Communications staff has the ability to communicate with the host railroads, Keolis transportation managers and others who may be able to give a better description of the issue.

   

• Victoria from Spotsylvania, VA asks
  I wanted to praise a few of my favorite crew members on the Fredericksburg line: Sean, Cam, and Nick. My first interaction with Sean was when he noticed I'd moved cars in a mostly empty train. He kindly approached me to make sure another passenger hadn't made me uncomfortable, and I truly appreciated his attentiveness and concern for me. Cam and Nick are so much fun to talk to and always make a long, late commute more bearable. They've even introduced me to other passengers on the train who I've really enjoyed getting to know. Thank you for employing such wonderful people!

  VRE Response
  Thank you! We are always happy to receive positive comments about our staff and we are glad to see them taking that extra effort to help out our passengers. 

   

• Bob from Burke asks
  Why did VRE pay to have the ticket machines wrapped with decals and then promptly replace portions of the job with the upgraded equipment. Seems backwards.

  VRE Response
  Timing is everything Bob.  The wraps were originally meant to coincide with the upgrade of the Ticket Vending Machines, but delays in the rollout of the upgraded equipment kept it from happening at the same time.  We decided to go ahead with the wraps understanding a portion of the wrap would change, but the message is still clear.  Despite the upgraded TVMs, we still would like passengers to convert to VRE Mobile, to help keep our operating costs down.

   

• Brett from Manassas VA asks
  I am so sick of this zero tolerance appearance ticket garbage. We want you to not raise ticket prices, but tying the hands of Keolis does not work for us either. Not only are long time riders who left their monthly getting ticketed but now I'm seeing tickets being given for app issues that are no fault of the rider! I watched a woman who just got on get an appearance ticket after telling Keolis she was having a problem validating. Keolis looked at her app it was saying that she had no tickets available. Refresh after refresh it said the same thing, then magically it showed she had like twenty tickets available... But Keolis still had to give her an appearance because they saw her validate in front of them. Then and I know this from experience, you have one person working waivers, and she refuse to respond to emails even an acknowledgement that the email was received. This is frustrating and you got to fix this.

  VRE Response
  Because Virginia Law requires that riders must validate their tickets prior to boarding the train, our conductors are required by us to issue a citation to anyone found without a validated ticket. There are ten thousand riders on our trains and it is often difficult for conductors to determine who is fare evading and who genuinely made a mistake or had a validation issue. As a result, conductors have been asked to treat all situations the same. We do permit passengers to address issues with the conductor prior to boarding, and have asked the conductors to work with passengers if their issues are with VRE Mobile while we address the app performance.That said, we can look at each case on an individual basis and see if that citation can be waived.  

   

• Sean from Spotsylvania, VA asks
  At stations where Amtrak trains stop, can there be more announcements/electronic sign usage to announce track assignments? Amtrak passengers often crowd platforms making it hard for VRE passengers to board/detriment, and are not well versed in where to wait for their trains.

  VRE Response
  Great question Sean. Working with Amtrak, we are currently finishing up a proof of concept for our shared stations which will include additional monitors, change the current screen display to include train and track information, and add other information about connecting transit services including buses and Metrorail.

  If you visit the Fredericksburg station, all of the monitors are in place and operating with the current data and displays while we finish some of the back end work.  We hope to have the joint data and new displays up in the next few weeks.  Once we complete validation testing we will do the same thing in Alexandria, then progress to other shared use stations.

  This is part of a complete communications system upgrade at all VRE stations. 

   

Thank you for joining us this afternoon for the February edition of the Online Forum.  Joining us in the studio today are the entire VRE staff, Brian from CSX, Kim from Amtrak, Tyreese and Paul from Keolis and others.

Let’s just move on to the questions: