October

• Walter from Manassas, VA asks
  The station is Manassas Park for my previous question.

  VRE Response
  Thanks for the follow-up Walter. 

• Dave from Manassas asks
  re: my question about announcements: I'm talking about those automated announcements at Union station in the afternoon. For example, it's common to hear the Fredericksburg train-arrival notification at about 3:05 while we are waiting for the Manassas 327 (which is scheduled to depart at 3:20).

  VRE Response
  Same answer Dave.  The trains trigger the announcements based on GPS.  In the case of Union Station, the trains may depart the yard out of sequence and arrive at the platform, but will still depart at the scheduled time.

   

• Dave from Madden asks
  regarding Lin's question and concern about child care...there's always the "Security Blanket": https://www.vre.org/service/accessibility/security-blanket/

  VRE Response
  Thanks for posting the reminder Dave.

   

   

• Alan from Burke VA asks
  Just wanted to circle back to the status of the opening of the platform extension at Rolling Road. Did it open last month as indicated in the September chat?

  VRE Response
  It opened on 9/28.

• Tom from Manassas asks
  Any thought about putting cameras in the stairwells of the Manassas parking garage? It would be a "good thing" to have the stairwells there regularly washed-down; the odor can be overwhelming at times. Also, one of the exit doors needs to be worked on; zipties to hold the handle down may work, but are just a workaround that could be removed really easily.

  VRE Response
  Thanks Tom. We will pass along your comments/concerns to our Facility Maintenance team. 

   

   

• Ray from Gainesville, VA asks
  Is there an estimated time when the VRE mobile app will be able to interface with SmartTrip in order to allow purchase of tickets using the federal subsidy?

  VRE Response
  You can allocate your SmartBenefits funds to VRE Mobile currently.  Please call our office at 703-684-1001 and we will have someone walk you through the process.  We are also working with WMATA to be able to access funds directly from our app through an API, but we have no date on a potential solution.

   

• David from Stafford asks
  What is required to access the Quantico train station on a regular basis? Also can entrance be at either Fuller Rd or Russell Rd?

  VRE Response
  Hi David, anyone entering the base needs a DBIDS ID.  Please check the Quantico Base website for details.

   

• Tom from Woodbridge, VA asks
  10/4/22 you cancelled my train with only 22 minutes to leave work early and catch the earlier train (wasn't enough time). Will you commit to at least an hour notice before a cancelled train and/or holding the earlier train so riders can make arrangements and get there?

  VRE Response
  Unfortunately, situations do not always give us the ability to know that far in advance.  We do always try to give as much notice as possible.

   

   

• Anthony from Spotsylvania Va asks
  Yes i would like to ask why we sit at Alexandra till 6:05 when no one gets on the train! I realize its scheduled and i also know one person complained because they miss the train. But ever since i have been riding no gets on the train there that early. Now with that being said we all that ride from Spotsylvania up are on the deck 15 minutes early! So my point to all this is get there wait like everyone else or catch the next train and stop making 200 people late because one cant get out of bed. We all have a time schedule so let the people off if no one is there shuts the doors and roll on

  VRE Response
  With the Metro shutdown and many more riders originating from Alexandria, local bus services have timed their schedules to meet our trains.  We have asked all trains to hold until their scheduled departure time.  For potential passengers who miss 300 because it departs early, they will have to wait until 324 departs at 6:15.

• Bill from Fredericksburg VA asks
  The engineer of the 310 on M and Tu of this week performed a crawl into LEnfant that took over 5 minutes from the 12th st tunnel to the platform. The train was barley moving during the approach to the station. This caused many passengers to sprint to catch shuttle buses or wait an extended time for the next. Many were taking risks crossing in the middle of the street with traffic. Today there was no issue and the train approached the station as any other. Only M and Tu and only at LEnfant did the 310 engineer do this

  VRE Response
  The engineers have to abide by the signals they are given, so if 310 was coming in to the station slowly it means there was probably a train still just ahead of 310 causing the 310 to get slow signals.

   

• Ethan from Springfield, VA asks
  Are travels between Franconia/Springfield and L'enfant station still free during the month of October?

  VRE Response
  Yes, trips which originate and terminate within Zones 1-3 are free for the month of October.  This is an effort to work with the regional transportation network to assist those who have had their commute disrupted by the scheduled Metro shutdown.

• Joann from Triangle, Virginia asks
  Can you please provide an update on when the VRE Mobile App, Smart Benefits issue will be resolved? We were notified on Monday of the system wide issue of Smart Benefits not loading to the VRE App. The last update was provided yesterday morning (10/4) just stating that the issue is still being worked on. Although the VRE notification states that conductors were informed of the VRE App issue, I was still asked for my ticket yesterday morning (10/4 ).

  VRE Response
  There was an issue loading the SmartBenefits list into VRE Mobile so in some cases the accounts did not update properly.  Our contractor is working on the fix.  In the meantime, you will still probably be asked to show your ticket on every trip, but the conductors know there are some passengers who have been affected by the SmartBenefits issue.  No one will be cited for fare evasion as a result of this issue and we will keep everyone posted once a fix is implemented.

   

   

• Jessica from Arlington, VA asks
  Can Metro workers ride the VRE for free?

  VRE Response
  Sorry Jessica, no free rides (except within Zones 1 - 3 in October)

   

• Jordan from Richmond, VA asks
  Is there an update on the Amtrak Cross Agreement coming back into existence? Would also love for the VRE to serve Richmond, VA

  VRE Response
  Great question Jordan. We are working with Amtrak on bringing back the Step-Up program.  There are some new requirements to have VRE riders added to the manifest on the Amtrak trains, so we are working through the technical details of meeting those requirements.  No timeline yet for completion.

   

• Dave from Manassas asks
  Can we get the afternoon train-arrival announcements fixed or at least turned off? They seem to be on a timer reflecting the schedule before it changed last October. Although those of us who have been regular riders over the past couple of years are used to them (but still shake our heads we we hear them played), it really does confuse the folks who are returnining from a long period out-of-office or are new riders. Thanks!

  VRE Response
  Thanks for the question Dave, 

  The train arrival announcements at the station platforms are activated automatically by the gps unit on that specific train.  They will activate when the train hits a waypoint just before arriving at the station.  If the train is approaching the station at slower than their normal speed, it may seem like the announcement plays too early, but it is still activated when the train reaches the same spot.

   

• Lin from Fairfax 22032 asks
  Can anything be done to improve reliability of on time service? You all have had many multi-hour delays caused by rain, track congestion, trees, and now the PTC system seems to be breaking down. It's especially problematic when you need to pickup children. Thanks

  VRE Response
  Thanks for the comment Lin.  We certainly appreciate the challenges faced by all when reliability is an issue.  To your point, the reasons for delays are varied. For the things we can control, we meet daily with our host railroads and contractors to discuss the root causes for delays, and any lessons learned.  For those issues which are outside our control, we focus on the recovery effort and look for ways to be more effective in the recovery should a similar issue arise at a future time.

  We are committed to continuous improvement and look forward to getting On Time Performance back to the levels we expect and you all deserve.

   

   

• Walter from Manassas, VA asks
  I have two questions: (1) The third step on the center stairway where the ticket machines are tends to flood with the rain and puddle up. Other stairs may as well, but this is the one I notice. Can you have facilities look at this? (2) Is there a way you get the ticket application to display over a locked screen? Google maps can do this, and this would allow us who want to sleep on the train the ability to do so and show our ticket still without having our phone being at risk while unlocked? Thanks

  VRE Response
  Thanks for asking Walter, 1. Not sure which station you are referencing (maybe L'Enfant?) but we will have our Facilities Manager take a look.  If not L'Enfant, just drop us a note at gotrains@vre.org with the specific station. 2. We have asked our developer to take a look at your request and let us know what the feasibility is or whether it would create other challenges within the app.

   

Good afternoon and welcome to the October edition of the Online Forum.  Joining us in the studio today are representatives from VRE, Keolis, Amtrak, and CSX. 
September was a busy month with “Fare-Free September.”  We hope you were able to enjoy riding for free.  For October, in support of the Metro shutdown all rides within Zones 1 – 3 are free. 
Now, let’s get to the questions.