Virginia Railway Express Surveys Riders On Commuting Plans

BURKE, VA — As Virginia Railway Express continues reduced service during the COVID-19 pandemic, the commuter rail service is surveying riders on when they'd return.

The commuter train service, which operates weekdays from Northern Virginia suburbs to Washington, DC, is implementing reduced service until further notice. The Fredericksburg Line is currently operating with five northbound trains and five southbound trains, compared to eight in each direction under a normal schedule. The Manassas Line has four northbound and four southbound trains, compared to eight under a normal schedule. The Amtrak Step-Up program also remains suspended until further notice.

But when riders may return to work and begin commuting again, VRE acknowledged that its reduced service may prompt some riders to choose other travel methods. That's why VRE is surveying riders on whether they would ride if VRE returned to full service.

The survey gives riders the option of saying they would ride under full service, they would not ride under full service, or they would ride when called back to work in person. If a respondent chooses the third answer, they are asked when they could return to in-person work.

Riders are also provided with information on health and safety measures, including a mask requirement, enhanced cleaning, hand sanitizer dispensers, temperature checks for staff, social distancing markers at trains and stations, and socially-distanced seating on trains. On average, a VRE car has 130 seats, but only 45 seats are available under the current social distancing measures.

Here are the latest ridership levels with social distancing measures as of April 23:

Fredericksburg Line, northbound

• Train 300: 36 percent utilization
• Train 302: 25 percent utilization
• Train 306: 37 percent utilization
• Train 310: 43 percent utilization
• Train 314: 26 percent utilization

Fredericksburg Line, southbound

• Train 301: 19 percent utilization
• Train 305: 59 percent utilization
• Train 307: 28 percent utilization
• Train 309: 36 percent utilization
• Train 313: 30 percent utilization

Manassas Line, northbound

• Train 324: 34 percent utilization
• Train 328: 29 percent utilization
• Train 330: 15 percent utilization
• Train 332: 12 percent utilization

Manassas Line, southbound

• Train 325: 8 percent utilization
• Train 327: 26 percent utilization
• Train 331: 39 percent utilization
• Train 335: 11 percent utilization

To take the survey, visit www.vre.org/service/schedule-regular-schedule/schedule-survey.