July

• Thomas from Manassas, VA asks
  Any plans to refill the hand-sanitizer dispensers on the Manassas platforms? They've been empty for awhile.

  VRE Response
  The dispensers should be checked daily. We'll follow-up with our facilities contractors.

• Dave from Manassas, VA asks
  It's the simple things: is it possible to get the escalators set to go "down" at Union station in the afternoon on the commonly-used-by VRE tracks 23 and 24 platform?

  VRE Response
  Thanks Dave, since Union Station is an Amtrak facility, we rely on Amtrak personnel to make those changes. Kim, the Amtrak Station Manager who works with the VRE service will continue to keep this as a focus. If all trains are operating on time, we can coordinate the escalator direction properly. The challenges come when some arriving trains come in for example from the Northeast Corridor off schedule, or their arrivals are affected by heat restrictions.  

  Thanks again for the feedback.

• Lauren from Burke, VA asks
  Can you update us on the Rolling Road platform extension? What's the current timeline for the project?

  VRE Response
  Thanks for the question Lauren. Some work has already begun at Rolling Road. You can check the latest schedule on our website here. Also scroll down to the bottom of the page and you'll be able to see the feed from the construction camera, including the progress in time lapse video.

• John from Fredericksburg asks
  I enjoy sleeping in the AM as I head north. Is there any reason why the train has been leaving the Alexandria Station prior to its scheduled departure time? I set my alarm so I have plenty of time to jump off there, and have almost missed the stop on a few occasions. It seems to leave as early as 4 minutes before it's scheduled departure. Has Alexandria been removed from the list of stations it's not supposed to leave by list?

  VRE Response
  Thanks for the question John. Alexandria is not an "L" station which would allow the trains to depart as soon as station work is complete. This is to allow passengers wishing to board at Alexandria to coordinate their arrival at the station with their connecting transit providers. North of Alexandria, all of our stations are on number 3 track, so to keep the network moving if we have two trains arriving at about the same time, we will allow one to depart ahead of schedule, since the other one will be there to accommodate the northbound riders.

• Julie from Stafford asks
  How long do you expect that we will continue to wear face masks?

  VRE Response
  The federal mandate through TSA is scheduled to be in effect until September 13th. We will follow the federal mandate as long as it is in place.  

• Brenda Fernandez from Woodbridge, VA asks
  1. Who is responsible for the maintenance of the stairs on the side of L'Enfant Plaza Station closest to the Holiday Inn? Each year the stairs become more dangerous to the passengers using VRE and other trains that stop at L'Enfant. The cement is crumbling and the metal edging has become detached from the cement making it easy to catch a shoe and fall down about twenty cement steps. There has to be some organization that is responsible for stairs that lead to train stations that are hazardous to the folks that use them. 2. Additionally, the upkeep of stations' landscaping has deteriorated. Both the Woodbridge and L'Enfant stations have overgrown grass, hedges, bushes, etc. with weeds are popping up thru the mulch. They used to be neat and attractive to the eye. Now they have become eyesores. Thank you for your attention to these matters.

  VRE Response
  Thanks for the comments Brenda.  We shared them with our Facilities Manager.  He said they have made some minor repairs to the stairs but will revisit and make more significant fixes based on your comments.  He will also address the landscaping concerns with our Contractors.

  Thank you again for the feedback.

• Robert from Fredericksburg, VA asks
  This might have been asked before but during the hours between the Northbound runs and the Southbound runs what do our conductors do? Thanks!

  VRE Response
  Good question Robert. Due to hours of service rules to accommodate both service windows, the crews have a mandatory rest period prior to coming back on for the afternoon service.

• David from Lieberman asks
  Will CSX complete installation of the third track before the island platform and pedestrian bridge are constructed?

  VRE Response
  Hi David, we have several station improvement projects underway and/or in planning. Which location?  The most immediate project is at Quantico where the platform and overhead walkway will be completed prior to the third track due to track alignment adjustments needed once the structures are in place.

• Ric from Woodbridge, VA asks
  My office in DC closed in March 2020 and will be reopening next week. I plan to commute as always via VRE. But I have several 10-trip tickets that I purchased in 2020 that have expired. How do I go about exchanging these?

  VRE Response
  Since every individual's situation is different depending on how the tickets were purchased, we have to handle each one individually. Give us a call at 703-684-1001, Brenda, Annalee or one of the other Communications Specialists will do what they can for you.

• Steve from Woodbridge, VA asks
  Is there any consideration being put into adding a canopy that covers the majority of the Rippon Station platform. Seems like most stations have a good bit of their platforms with overhead cover.

  VRE Response
  No immediate plans Steve but the initial plan for the Rippon platform improvements call for a second pedestrian bridge which will include some canopy around the base of the second tower. Stay tuned to our Projects page for information updates as the project advances.

• Lauren from Burke, VA asks
  Could someone take a look at the benches on the Burke Centre platform? (And other VRE platforms.) The supports are completely rusted through on a few of them; looks like they might collapse if someone sits on them!

  VRE Response
  Thanks Lauren, we have shared this with the Facilities Manager and he will have someone check them out and replace benches as necessary.

• Raymond from Fredericksburg asks
  When we will see weekend service in Fredericksburg

  VRE Response
  VRE weekend service is included in the Transforming Rail in Virginia program of projects, specifically as part of Phase 1. There are infrastructure improvements that will need to be completed first. We are currently in the post-acquisition phase which enables VRE to operate additional trains as part of our current weekday service. We will have more information on this enhancement to our service later this year. The Phase 1 enhancements are currently targeted to take place in 2026.

  For more information, please check out https://transformingrailva.com/

• Sam from Manassas, Va asks
  Why isn't mask wearing on the trains enforced? It's a TSA mandate and every day I see more riders not wearing them on the trains and the conductors walking thru completely oblivious. It's especially pervasive on the upper deck. Some may argue that masks are useless but that doesn't matter when Fed & State law require it.

  VRE Response
  Thanks for the feedback Sam.  Masks are still required on VRE trains and will be as long as the mask mandate is in place.  There are exceptions for individuals who have medical conditions, so there will be some riders without masks, but the conductors should be enforcing the mandate.  WE have asked the Keolis Transportation Managers to address this with the crews.  If you see any other issues, please drop us a note at gotrains@vre.org with the train and conductor information and we'll make sure it gets addressed again with the individual crew member.

• Pamela from Woodbridge asks
  Why dont conductors check tickets on fredericksburg line any more? Why has fredericksburg line been late all the time, going in to dc and coming home?

  VRE Response
  Thanks for the questions Pamela.  The conductors should be checking for tickets on every trip, we'll follow-up with the crews.

  On Time Performance (OTP) has been a challenge the past month and a half.  While many of the delays have been outside our control like Heat, High Wind, and Flash Flood speed restrictions, police activity, downed trees, and quite a bit of congestion on the railroad, we continue to meet with our contractors, mechanical crews, and the host railroads daily to work through the delays we can impact.

  For the 12 month period which just ended, we had averaged 93% OTP going into May.  The OTP for May was 87% and June was 81%.  This brought our annual average down to 91%.  VRE strives for consistent dependability and we will get the OTP back to an acceptable level.  

Good afternoon and welcome to the July 2021 edition of VRE’s Online Forum.  Joining us as usual are representatives from Keolis, CSX, Amtrak, and other VRE staff. 

We have now been back at full service for a month and it has been great getting back out there on trains and seeing so many of you coming back to the service.  We want to thank everyone who makes our service possible including the train crews, mechanical team, warehouse operation and the many contractors who contribute daily to the success of the operation.  Thanks also to the host railroads, especially the dispatchers who have had to shake off the cobwebs and get back to managing a lot more trains through their territories.  While our On Time Performance (OTP) has suffered a bit, we expect to be back to our normal standards quickly.

The federal mandate for masks onboard the trains is still in place, but you may have noticed we have removed the social distancing cues so you are welcome to sit wherever you like.

As a reminder, questions for the Online Forum may be submitted as early as 6:00 pm the day before the Forum and if you cannot stay with us for the duration, you can check our archive of answered questions at https://www.vre.org/about/online-forum/

Let’s get on to the questions!