Recent Blog Posts
VRE is committed to social distancing to the extent possible. The decals we are using on our trains and platforms support six feet of separation. Under our current plan, roughly a third of our seats are available to passengers. While we have three different railcar configurations, the average car holds 130 passengers. With our social distancing measures, only 45 of those seats are available. Take a close look at a railcar with our interactive tour.
Currently, we're averaging a small percentage of typical ridership. Social distancing is easy to accomplish now and we're actively preparing for the return of more riders as they start returning to their offices. We're looking into various tools riders may be able to use for crowding alerts as soon as the fall, but for now, we recommend checking average ridership by train on our website.
We expect in the near term that our trains can provide socially-distanced transportation to those returning to their places of employment. We are monitoring ridership and announcements from the region’s major employers as to their reopening plans and using the information to guide our decision-making.
As ridership grows, we can lengthen and add trains. Before increasing service we might, for example, take our six-car train sets to eight cars. We estimate that when daily ridership exceeds 3,000 riders, additional trains may be needed, though ridership patterns could affect that calculation.
While very little about this pandemic is predictable, one thing our riders can count on in these challenging times is our commitment to their health and safety.
- Feet on the Floor
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The next time you’re out walking, pay attention to what you are walking on. You just might notice that the ground isn’t exactly clean, with the mud, grass, wet leaves, gum, glass, and general yuck.
- Station Histories
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Railroad and Civil War history surround you as you wait for your train.