ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Virginia Railway Express is in discussions with its host railroads over plans to launch Saturday service for the first time in the commuter operator’s 31-year history, the Washington Post reports.
The move is part of VRE’s effort to lure riders back to the system in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The service is currently averaging about 6,400 daily riders, about one-third of pre-pandemic levels, in part because of the slow return of federal workers to offices. About 70% of VRE riders work for the federal government, the Post reports.
VRE hopes to launch the Saturday service next summer on both its lines, which serve Manassas and Fredericksburg, Va., and is currently negotiating for service slots with hosts CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Amtrak. The host companies did not respond to inquiries from the Post about whether they would grant those slots.
The commuter operator is also seeking a 5% fare increase that would be effective for the 2025 fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2024. The increase would bring about $1 million in additional revenue. Currently fares cover less than 25% of VRE operating costs, down from nearly half prior to the pandemic.
VRE currently offers eight round trips on weekdays on each of its two lines.
Clearly the former VRE business model of serving commute trips for federal workers Monday/Friday to/from Washington DC isn’t viable going forward, post-pandemic, given the new ‘Hybrid’ work-environment (esp. for federal workers). So it’s good they’re considering Saturday commute services as a new possible option to revive ridership and serve different travel markets. I’m not familiar with the VRE system and so don’t know how much it could shift focus to serve other markets beyond the traditional commuter trips.
The Kalmbach/Trains recently re-published special on Chicago Railroads had an interesting article about the Metra commuter rail system and how they are revamping their business model in the post-pandemic world to move beyond just serving the commuter markets. It will be interesting to see how this works out …..
How about the Commonwealth make its regular service more reliable before adding anything else?