Commuter Train System Eyes Expansion, Part of Virginia’s Evolving Rail Trends

While 2050 is more than a quarter century away, The Virginia Railway Express wants to start transforming its commuter rail operations much sooner by offering Saturday services as it considers its System Plan 2050, part of holistic, multi-agency efforts to transform rail services in the commonwealth.

Last year, the VRE Operations Board — which is represented by the nine jurisdictions that fund the commuter rail service — backed the agency’s budget that included a 5% fare hike, or 50 cents more, due to the increase in services since 2020. The budget also included a plan to, for the first time, operate Saturday train service on tracks shared with Amtrak, CSX and Norfolk Southern.

The next step is for the board to endorse the agency’s System Plan 2050, designed to help officials address the public’s changing travel patterns, including those of commuting office workers, which have shifted over the past decade. The board is scheduled to vote on the plan June 21.

The plan is built around four goals: safety and reliability; market growth and financial stability; regional system integration and equitable service; and sustainability and resiliency. The goals of market growth and equitable service focus on maximizing daily riders and expanding daily service offering non-peak and weekend service.

“We have four system plan goals for the 2050 plan and each goal is important. However I believe goal #2 is the most important because we must grow our market for VRE service while maintaining financial stability; provide service for a full range of travel given the changing needs of the regions,” said Meg Bohmke, chair of the VRE Operations Board.

Board member James Walkinshaw added that while the board is considering expanding service, it intends to continue meeting commuters’ demands as well.

The plan

Overall, VRE’s plan will accommodate commuters, but also families and travelers who want to tour Washington D.C., and historic areas and battlefields in Virginia through expanded Saturday services, and potentially more daily weekday trips and an express service.

VRE operates two rail lines originating from Washington D.C. The first rail line runs to Spotsylvania and the second to Broad Run in Prince William County.

By surveying passengers, officials learned that telework rates are higher than before the pandemic, and passengers believe it’s faster to drive than take public transit.

Respondents also asked for more schedule flexibility, better connections to VRE stations, and more support for non-commuters.

“I know a lot of folks who live in Richmond and work for the federal government, who utilize VRE, and they would certainly like to do it more with later trains, earlier trains, and maybe trains that don’t fit that normal pre-pandemic commuting pattern,” said Danny Plaugher, executive director of Virginians for High Speed Rail.

Plaugher said he’s also excited about the VRE’s emphasis on reducing environmental impacts.

“I think there’s going to be a tremendous opportunity for VRE in the future, and it is exciting that they’re beginning that process now for how they can continue to evolve on that front,” Plaugher said.

To meet the goals of the proposed plan, Walkinshaw said VRE’s plan would require additional locomotives, passenger railcars and personnel to upgrade its rail commuter services, which they’ve offered since 1992.

Walkinshaw said VRE already has the railroad tracks to make the 2050 plan work, but there are more components that will be needed, including funds to help increase the rail capacity of the Long Bridge from Washington D.C. to Virginia. In December, Virginia leaders announced the state received $729 million in federal funds to help pay for the expansion of the bridge that crosses over the Potomac River.

Virginia nets $729 million for Long Bridge expansion 

Further investments will be used to extend platforms, improve stations and add parking at key stations.

The past chair said the plan creates a transit system that he believes the region “needs and deserves.”

“VRE is going to be a key piece of the overall region’s transit network between now and 2050 in a much more substantial way than it is even now,” Walkinshaw said.

Transforming rail

Simultaneously, as VRE’s System Plan 2050 is being finalized, the Transforming Rail in Virginia program is enacting a more wide ranging effort to improve passenger and rail service along the Interstates 64, 85 and 95 corridors.

According to the Virginia Department of Transportation, the program would allow Virginia to double Amtrak’s state-supported service and increase VRE services over the next decade.

The program would also build the foundation for higher-speed passenger rail service to the Southeast by acquiring the abandoned S-Line, running from Petersburg into North Carolina.

Plaugher said having more rail options for travelers is essential, and VRE’s plan is also beneficial because it helps get more cars off the road as the leaders seek to reduce carbon emissions.

“Commuter rail is a huge component of transforming rail,” Plaugher said. “Having alternatives is very important, and so this proposal, I think, fits perfectly within the Transforming Rail [in Virginia].”

While he’s uncertain what future capacity will look like by 2050, Plaugher said it’s good that VRE has started to plan for the future.

“And one thing I’ve heard from our transit agencies, especially the commuter-based ones, is that even though the ridership is lower than pre-pandemic, more people are actually using the service overall.”

According to data from the Department of Rail and Public Transportation, VRE recorded 20,036 passengers in 2021. Ridership increased in the following two years: 37,487 passengers in 2022 and 120,228 in 2023.

This story was updated to add Bohmke’s remarks and to correct the terminal location of the VRE’s Broad Run line.

by Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury

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