Instead, the agency is shifting its efforts on a rehabilitation of its Broad Run station in Bristow, Va., on the Manassas Line. Earlier this month, the agency’s operations board decided to use $750,000 to help fund a revised study that would improve the station facilities while also adding more trains.
The $2.8 million study lays the groundwork for a significant expansion of storage space at the Broad Run facility that would allow the agency to add six trains per day to its Manassas line.
In July 2015, the agency started exploring different ways it could expand commuter service, including an extension to Gainesville and Haymarket. Upon further review, project leaders determined that extending commuter rail service to those additional communities would result in only a minor increase in ridership, but a price tag as high as $660 million.
The agency will now focus on a more conservative expansion plan to overhaul its Broad Run facilities and add service. Preliminary figures suggest the Broad Run project could cost about $345 million in construction expenses.
A revised study will take about one year to complete.
Why not commuter service to Front Royal?
Martin, that’s how I understand it as well.
“$750,000 to help fund a revised study that would improve the station facilities while also adding more trains.” Thats a waste. A small station could be built for that.
It’s striking that the cost to rebuild the existing station facilities is more than half the cost of service expansion.
I’d be interested in hearing what ridership VRE gets by rebuilding broad run. I’d be interested if there are lower cost options to expand service. $600 million seems a high price for lines that are already in service and don’t need rebuilding.
With the exception of a small number of reverse-express trains, VRE service on the Manassas line is all inbound morning and outbound evening. So, it seems that most of the cost of rebuilding the Broad Run facility is not related to the station itself so much as adding additional storage tracks and expanding facilities to service the trains overnight. This would permit more frequent rush hour service. I believe expanding service to Gainesville & Haymarket would require double tracking parts of that line and building a completely new storage facility at what would be the new end of the line.