VRE offers free parking at most of our stations. To view station amenities, including parking information, please visit our station page and click on the station of your choice.

Special Parking Information:

• Parking is not available at Alexandria, Crystal City or L'Enfant.
• Union Station has a large parking garage available for a fee.
• A Metro parking facility is available at Franconia/Springfield. A SmarTrip card is required. For more information, please call WMATA at (202) 637-7000.
• Parking at the VRE Quantico station may require security checks.
• If you plan to park at Manassas, you will need a permit. Please visit the Manassas Parking Page for more information.
• Fredericksburg station has 644 free parking spaces available in different lots located within a few blocks of the station. Restrictions apply to some of the lots according to residency. See our Fredericksburg Station parking page for detailed information and restrictions.

All of our trains have at least one restroom, which is located in the car at the opposite end of the train from the locomotive. Several trains have more than one restroom. If you have trouble locating a rest room, please feel free to speak to a conductor or fellow passenger.

VRE trains are not equipped with cafe cars. However, VRE passengers are allowed to bring their own food and drink (non-alcoholic) aboard our trains to enjoy while they commute.

Most VRE trains are not equipped with power outlets. If you find an available outlet on the train, please use caution. Do not drape the cord across an available seat or across the aisle.

Wireless Internet (WIFI) is not currently available on our trains. We know that there is interest in having WIFI on our trains and it is an idea that we would like to put into effect. Through a number of different tests and studies, we have discovered several areas along the tracks we use where a signal cannot be received. Until a provider is able to offer continuous service, we will not offer WIFI on our trains.

Weekend service is not available. Amtrak does offer weekend service at some stations, but the VRE cross honor agreement does not apply to weekends.

Children 10 and younger may ride free when accompanied by a fare paying adult. Passengers between the ages of 11 and 18 may take advantage of VRE's Youth Fare program which provides a discount of 50% of the regular fare. Discounted tickets can only be purchased at one of our vendors with a Youth Reduced Fare ID.

Literally, it means "special". These trains operate every VRE service day. However, they are the only trains that operate when VRE is on its "S" Schedule. "S" schedule days typically occur during times of inclement weather or around certain holidays. The decision to run an "S" schedule is typically made the evening prior, or very early in the morning, before service starts. Service updates are passed to our riders via Train Talk emails, website updates, and alerts to local media outlets.

On occasion, delays do happen.  Delay information can be found through several different means:

1. Call our information hotline at (703) 684-0400 or 1-800-RIDE-VRE. Our automated system will keep you updated on any delays that are occurring.
2. Our "Rail Time" tool is a web based program that allows passengers to get up-to-date information on where their train is located. To view your train's status, simply place your mouse over the train and you will get a "pop-up" box indicating the train's position.
3. Finally, riders may subscribe to Train Talk to receive automatic updates customized especially for their travel needs on any computer or mobile device.
4. If you have already reached the station, listen for station platform announcements.

Collapsible bicycles are permitted on all of our trains. Also, with the addition of our new railcars, VRE is currently revisiting this policy.

VRE does not allow any sales of goods or services on its platforms. However, one day or short-term sales of goods are permitted at certain stations in the parking lot or on the sidewalk adjacent to the parking lot.

If you are interested in participating in this program, you must fill out and submit a Right of Entry form. The mailing address is listed at the top of the form.

Some passengers have expressed concerns about individuals who loiter and attempt to solicit from passengers at our L'Enfant station. These individuals have been removed from our platform by VRE staff, Amtrak police and the Metropolitan Police Department on numerous occasions. However, they have continued to return.

The bad news is that the City of Fredericksburg has made it clear that they will not support further expansion. Their decision was based on feedback they have received from residents in the neighborhood surrounding the Fredericksburg station and the congestion that the current parking lots cause.

Although our policy states that tickets are non-refundable, we do make exceptions from time to time on a case-by-case basis. To receive consideration, simply send in your tickets along with your name, home address, day-time telephone number, and a brief written request explaining why you could not use your tickets. If your tickets were purchased prior to the most recent fare increase, you will need to remit the difference in the fare before any consideration is made. Requests can be made to:

Virginia Railway Express
Attn: Expired Ticket Exchange
1500 King Street, Suite 202
Alexandria, VA 22314

You should receive a response to your request within 10 to 14 business days.

VRE Ten-Ride tickets are non-refundable. However, we do make exceptions from time to time on a case-by-case basis. To receive consideration, simply send in your tickets along with the Refund Request Form to:

Virginia Railway Express
Attn: Ticket Refunds
1500 King Street
Suite 202
Alexandria, VA 22314

You should receive a response to your request within 10 to 14 business days.

VRE does not currently accept the SmarTrip card as a form of payment for VRE tickets.

However, in conjunction with WMATA and the Commuter Stores of Arlington, we are able to accept electronic SmartBenefits through a special program. For more information visit the SmartBenefits FAQ page.

If you accidentally leave a personal item on a VRE train, please visit Lost Items page (for lost items), or Lost Tickets page (for lost tickets), to complete our customer service form. The information you supply will help us quickly locate your item and return it to you if it is turned in.

If you do not have access to the web, please call us weekdays between 7am and 7pm at (703) 684-1001. We can personally make note of any details that will help us identify and return your lost item(s) if it is located.

Virginia Railway Express is pleased to participate in a special service that can get you home in case of emergency. Commuter Connections "Guaranteed Ride Home" (GRH) is a special service that can get you home in case of emergency. This program is free and available to all VRE passengers. To learn more about how the program works, or to sign up, please visit the Commuter Connections website

If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe your email address, simply visit the Train Talk page and follow the prompts. If you need assistance, contact the VRE office weekdays between 7:00a and 7:00p at (703) 684-1001.

It is no secret that each individual has a different internal temperature setting. Some people are always hot, some are always cold. To accommodate the majority of riders, VRE sets the temperature between 68 and 72 degrees. This is a range that we have found to be comfortable for most of our passengers. If the temperature in a car goes above 72 degrees, the air conditioning is activated and if the car temperature goes below 68 degrees, the heat is activated. Unfortunately, the systems are not designed so that blower speeds can be manually regulated.

If the volume of announcements appears too high or too low, it could be due to a mechanical problem, or it may be due to the manner in which the crew person is making manual announcements. If this continues to be a problem for more than one day, please alert your conductor to the problem.

After you have discussed it with your crew person and you continue to observe a problem, please submit a mechanical concern complaint via the Train Information Form on our website. Information submitted in this manner is automatically sent to our Director of Rail Equipment & Services, allowing for faster review and problem resolution.

Gainesville/Haymarket

Currently, the rail line from Manassas west to Front Royal is a single, unsignaled "dark" track, unlike the dual tracks we normally operate on. Norfolk Southern, who owns the line, has indicated that investment in capacity and signal improvements will be required prior to the operation of commuter service. At least one additional track must be constructed from Manassas to Haymarket, and a modern signaling system installed, before any expansion to these areas is possible. In addition, the at-grade highway crossing at Route 29 would have to be eliminated.

More information on the progress of this project can be found on the Gainesville/Haymarket page.

That said, ridership studies have shown this to represent our most promising near-term expansion opportunity. With growing public support, we are working to make this happen. It will be a number of years, however, until passenger trains begin to operate to Gainesville/Haymarket, and no decisions have yet been made as to what affect this will have on service levels to Broad Run. Service beyond Haymarket is not being considered at this time.

Spotsylvania

We are aware that many of our Fredericksburg Line passengers reside in Spotsylvania County. We would like to open a station there to ease the commute for our Spotsylvania riders while relieving the parking situation in downtown Fredericksburg. Our overnight storage & maintenance facility is in Spotsylvania County off Route 17, which would make an ideal location for a station. We continue our efforts to engage Spotsylvania County and encourage them to bring service to their jurisdiction.

Bealeton

It is in our long range strategic plan to expand service to the Bealeton area. We feel that service to the Bealeton area would be a valuable service to the growing constituency in the Fauquier County/Culpeper region. At this time, our efforts to expand on the Manassas Line are focused on the Gainesville/Haymarket area.

Richmond

The main considerations for expanding the Fredericksburg Line further south to Richmond are similar to those of Spotsylvania, but also include issues of trackage rights, limited equipment, and funding.

We are proud to be one of only three transit organizations in the United States to offer a service guarantee. We are also pleased to offer select Amtrak trains as a supplement to our own service.

Amtrak trains are not strictly limited to our service area. They are long distance trains that pass through our area of service. We are unable to provide any type of guarantee regarding their on time performance.

VRE service is concentrated during peak commuting hours. We do offer one early afternoon departure on each line, timed to allow many of our passengers the ability to work a half day and commute home on the train.

We regularly receive requests for express trains, early trains, late evening trains and weekend service. As much as we would like to add more service, we do not own the tracks we operate on. Therefore, we must receive permission from our host railroads (Norfolk Southern and CSX) to operate additional trains. We are negotiating for additional service, however, this process takes time.