The spending plan attempts to increase lagging ridership and includes Saturday service to Washington, D.C., for the first time since the railroad began operations in 1992. Three round-trip trains will operate on the system's Fredericksburg and Manassas lines. Trains will travel northbound to the capital city in the morning and return south in the evening.
The board also approved VRE’s fare structure changes at its December 15, 2023, meeting at the OmniRide headquarters in Woodbridge. Base fares for FY 2025 will increase by five percent.
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During the VRE Operations Board meeting on Friday, November 17, 2023, in Woodbridge, the state’s only commuter railway, presented the results of an internal survey showing 94 percent of respondents favor Saturday service and a majority are willing to pay higher fares to get it.
VRE CFO Mark Schofield said that implementing Saturday service would lead to an additional $1 million in operating costs in FY2025. However, the railway’s overall operating costs are expected to decrease by $1.4 million due to other reductions.
