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Virginia Railway Express is on track to launch Saturday service next year, marking the first major expansion in the system’s 31-year history.
The Northern Virginia commuter rail system is also proposing a 5 percent fare increase to keep up with rising costs. The fare hike and weekend service are included in the agency’s proposed fiscal 2025 budget, which begins July 1, 2024. It would be the system’s first fare increase in five years.
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The proposed changes come as ridership on the commuter rail system continues to lag while it faces new financial challenges from increased fuel costs, materials and contractual agreements, partly attributed to inflation. A fare increase would mirror moves at other transit systems in the Washington region and across the country in recent months.
“It is always a question of how to balance the budget and we think [this increase] is a reasonable way to balance the different needs,” said Mark Schofield, VRE’s chief financial officer.
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VRE officials say the 5 percent fare increase would yield about $1 million in additional revenue annually, necessary to keep up with rising costs — including a nearly 20 percent increase in inflation since the system last updated fares in 2019.
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The agency’s proposed budget of $120 million, expected to be finalized next year, also would allow passengers 18 and younger to ride free as part of an effort to lure families to the train system.
Less than a quarter of VRE’s operating costs are covered by fares — a significant drop from pre-pandemic years, when fare revenue paid for about half of operating costs.
VRE is averaging about 6,400 riders daily, about one-third of pre-pandemic levels. VRE data shows no significant month-over-month improvement this year, even as the agency promoted fare-free Fridays this past summer. A projection to serve 10,000 daily riders this year fell short partly because of federal workers’ slow return to offices. Nearly 70 percent of VRE riders work for the federal government.
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Officials are being more conservative in their estimates next year, projecting 8,500 daily riders, still well below the roughly 19,000 daily passengers the system served before the pandemic.
Like other transit systems across the country, VRE has relied on federal pandemic relief money in recent years to make up for fare revenue losses and to support operations during a shift to telework. Officials said as the federal money runs out in the coming years, VRE needs to ask passengers to pay more and the jurisdictions it serves to increase their contributions.
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For some rail users, the increase would be up to 45 cents more per ride. Riders who travel from Woodbridge to Crystal City in Arlington would see their fare rise from $8.55 to $9. A monthly pass on the Fredericksburg line would go from $336.80 to $354.80.
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The addition of Saturday service is likely to go into effect next summer on the system’s two lines, which connect Manassas and Fredericksburg to Washington.
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Agency leaders say they are negotiating service slots with CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern and Amtrak, which own the tracks VRE uses. The plan calls for three round-trips on each line on Saturdays, with trips northbound in the morning and southbound in the afternoon and evening.
The three host railroads did not respond to questions about whether they plan to grant access to VRE. CSX, which has agreements with Virginia to expand passenger service in the Interstate 95 corridor, said in a statement it plans to continue to work with the state and VRE to improve operations, but didn’t address the request for Saturday service.
In 2021, CSX entered into an agreement with Virginia to advance the state’s multibillion-dollar Transforming Rail program, which will allow for significant expansion of Amtrak and VRE service, as well as the expansion of the Long Bridge over the Potomac River.
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“We are committed to continuing these positive partnerships to enhance the safety and efficiency of rail service in this vital transportation corridor,” CSX spokesperson Sheriee Bowman said.
Under the Virginia rail program, VRE, which runs eight round-trips each weekday on the Fredericksburg line, is expected to add five new round-trip trains during the rush hour and introduce three round-trips on Saturday and Sunday by 2030. The agreement, officials said, also will allow VRE to add Friday evening trains to give Virginians the option to use VRE after-hours.
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Schofield said after years of planning, the agency is eager to start Saturday service to expand VRE’s profile. The weekend option would open opportunities to lure families for leisure travel in the corridor and grow weekend ridership, he said.
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Weekend operations are expected to cost between $3 million and $4 million annually, he said. To save on costs, the agency plans to reduce the number of rail cars on each train from eight to six on weekdays, which would result in shifting one conductor to work Saturdays.
“If Saturday is successful, we will look at Sunday as well,” he said.
VRE is a partnership between the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission. Like other transit systems, it depends heavily on local, state and federal subsidies. Both commissions will need to approve the fare increase and Saturday operations.
The VRE operations board is expected to vote on the proposal at its December meeting and will send the spending plan to the commissions in January for approval.
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