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January

Thank you for all your great questions.  We have come to the end of the submissions for today.  As always, if we missed your question or you need more detail than we could provide here, please email us at gotrains@vre.org and put “Online Forum” in the Subject line, we’ll get you what you need.

As a service reminder, VRE will not operate on Monday, January 18th in observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

We continue to operate the S+ Schedule, which includes trains 300 and 307.

Let’s make 2021 safe, happy, and heathy. Thank you to everyone who continues to utilize VRE service, and we hope to see more of you as the year progresses.  We’re ready when you are ready to return.

We’ll see you back here on February 3rd.

Rich, Chris, et al.

 

  • Dave from Woodbridge asks
    If the amounts of riders continues to stay down will VRE need to consider any schedule changes in the near future?

    VRE Response
    We have no plans to change the schedules Dave, other than to add back service as increasing ridership warrants doing so.

  • Dave from Woodbridge asks
    Have VRE been able to receive supplemental funds from the State/Federal since ridership has been down for so long?

    VRE Response
    Yes, VRE has been fortunate to receive state and federal support for loss of fare revenue (ridership). 

  • Davin from Woodbridge asks
    This morning I purchased a 31 day ticket in the old VRE mobile, however it does not show in VRE Mobile Beta. How long will VRE continue to accept tickets in the older app?

    VRE Response
    Thanks for working with us as a beta tester Davin. The old VRE Mobile will be pulled from the app stores and disabled later this week. The new app will actually go live and to the general public next Tuesday morning. There could be one or two service days where we have no app as we move all of the user data from the old version to the new version, but any unused tickets will be transferred into the new app.

  • Davin from Woodbridge asks
    The other day on the train, I heard a conductor say monthly tickets have a day grace. That is not exactly true with a 31 day mobile ticket. The 31 day mobile ticket expires one month after the day you validate it.

    VRE Response
    Two different fare types Davin. The monthly ticket still has a grace period which is a holdover because many of the paper monthly tickets are mailed to passengers, so the grace period helped account for potential delays in the mailing process. The 31-day pass can be pre-purchased and validated at any time, so there is no need to have a grace period day on the 31 day passes.

  • Davin from Woodbridge asks
    Inaguration Day is Wednesday, Jan 20 and for federal workers working in Fairfax, Falls Church, Alexandria, Arlington & DC it is considered a federal holiday. Will VRE be operating that day?

    VRE Response
    We still plan to operate on January 20th, (1/20) at the current service level

  • TC from Fredericksburg asks
    Now onto my question regarding mobile ticket - could you please confirm if there's anyway we can select the specific ticket we could use based on the ticket expiration date? I purchased the same type of ticket (and the same zone) from different months. When I used my ticket, it appears the newly-purchased ticket was used first (instead of the ticket I purchased a while back). I don't seem to find a way to specifically select those "older" tickets (I did e-mail gotrains@vre.org couple times but no responses). It's becoming a bit pressing since one of the 7-day ticket will expire in March, while I have two other 7-day tickets that will not expire until Oct and Nov. Could you please provide a few pointers in this case? Thank you!

    VRE Response
    Hi TC, the current VRE Mobile system should use a First in/First out methodology so you can utilize the older tickets first. The new system which will launch next week will do the same and we are currently testing that specific functionality with our beta group.

  • TC from Fredericksburg asks
    Happy new year and thank you for keeping the train running! Very nice to see familiar faces (conductors) on the train which gives me a sense of normalcy. Conductors have been doing a great service and for what - THANK YOU!

    VRE Response
    Thanks TC, Tyreese will share with the crews. We appreciate your acknowledgement of their efforts. We would also like to thank you and the other riders who continue to utilize the service.

  • Marc from Brooke asks
    I have tickets I purchased last year intending to use, but I have not been commuting as of lately. The tickets are getting ready to expire, since I have already purchased them, is VRE swapping them out in the event I go back to commuting later this year?

    VRE Response
    Thanks for the question Marc. Since everyone's circumstances are different, we are asking individuals to contact us at 703-684-1001 so we can assist with their specific needs. You can also reach out to gotrains@vre.org and someone can schedule a time convenient for you.

Happy new year and welcome to 2021’s first installment of the Online Forum.

Joining us in the virtual studio today are representatives from Keolis (both Mechanical and Operations groups are represented), Amtrak, CSX, and quite a few VRE staff members from several departments.

We look forward to 2021 and hope to see many of you in the coming months.

Let’s get on to the questions!