VRE RIDERSHIP FLAT: Commuter railroad needs more riders, employees

WOODBRIDGE — The mission at Virginia Railway Express is clear: Get more people onto its trains.

Ridership on Virginia’s only commuter railroad remains flat over the past eight years, and that has officials inside VRE ringing alarm bells.

At a July 21 meeting of the railroad’s operations board, commissioners were told about the need to increase ridership, which would also increase fare revenue into the system.

Riders make about 19,000 average trips per day on VRE. It’s about the same number of people that rode the system in 2o13. The system has a full capacity of 25,000 trips per day.

VRE officials have long blamed the narrow two-track Long Bridge, used by VRE and CSX freight trains (the company that owns the rail line), which links Arlington and Washington, D.C.

A bottleneck for the commuter rail system that creates congestion along the line, and limits VRE’s ability to run additional trains. The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation recommends placing $129 million over the next six years into the proposed $1.6 billion project to reconstruct a new Long Bridge, but officials say a new bridge is at least a decade away.

VRE officials at a meeting of the commuter railroad’s Operations Board on July 19 also blamed CSX freight trains for slowing down commuter trains to run freight trains at full speed. “VRE has seen a gradual increase in freight traffic during the peak commuting hours on the CSX line over the past few years. The slower freight trains can, on occasion, prevent VRE trains from operating at maximum velocity,” said VRE spokeswoman Karen Finucan Clarkson. “It’s not that our trains come to a stop but that they run at a reduced speed. CSX dispatchers do try to keep the rail network fluid but there are times when trains – be they Amtrak, CSX or VRE – get off schedule and the network backs up.”

CSX declined to speak about the claims, instead opting to email Potomac Local, “CSX values our partnerships with our commuter agencies, including VRE. We continue to meet our contractual obligations with our partners and work to improve on-time performance which minimizes avoidable delays.”

On-time performance

VRE maintains that if congestion delays were the only problem the transit provider had to contend with, on-time performance ratings would be at 90%. Service in recent months has been hampered by delays in both the Fredericksburg and Manassas lines.

In April, overall, the railroad’s on-time performance rating fell 35 points from the previous year to 56%. Delays were the worst on the Manassas line, where the on-time rate fell 53 points over the prior year to 39%.

Earlier this year, the VRE Operations Board authorized the railroad to purchase 21 new rail cars in a joint procurement order with Chicago’s Metra commuter rail system.

The flat ridership numbers come as Metro’s Blue and Yellow lines in Virginia — which run parallel to VRE’s tracks — have shut down for repair since late May. That has left tens of thousands who rely on the subway to find another way to get to work.

Metro shutdown 

Vanpooling, slugging, and taking an OmniRide commuter bus are all commuting alternatives during the shutdown. OmniRide spokeswoman Christine Rodrigo said the transit system’s numbers were up in June. The final bus ridership numbers for the month are still being tabulated.

The higher bus ridership could be attributed to the addition of a new express bus in Haymarket, the rebranding of the entire transit agency, from PRTC to OmniRide, as well as Metro’s summer shutdown.

“Ridership on OmniRide’s Prince William Metro Express route, which connects eastern Prince William County with the Franconia-Springfield Metro Station, has remained steady despite Metro’s summer shutdown,” said Rodrigo. That means OmniRide passengers are riding Metro’s shuttle buses once they reach Franconia-Springfield and/or are connecting there with other services, such as Fairfax Connector.”

In May, the month for which the most recent numbers are available, the on-time rate improved only one percent. The delays are being blamed on efforts to add positive train control (PTC) to the railroad that would help to automatically stop a train in the event of an emergency.

VRE needs people 

VRE also needs more people, according to its risk assessment. The commuter railroad is managing more construction projects like widening station platforms, replacing drainage pipes at stations, and renovations to its own headquarters in Alexandria.

CEO Doug Allen told his operations board, “they’re not high-paying positions.” With a salary of $40,000 a year, the new employees would mostly be responsible for reviewing contracts and assisting with payroll.

Allen is expected to return to the railroad’s operations board in September, following its August recess, with a plan of action to address these challenges.