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| Tue, Nov. 10 - - Mobile - RSS | |
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VRE fares in line with other commuter lines
Survey finds Virginia Railway Express charges aren't out of line with fees in other commuter rail systems
Date published: 10/17/2004
THE FARES CHARGED by Virginia Railway Express are about average for commuter rail lines, I discovered after checking on the fare structures of 15 commuter rail systems nationwide. I looked for routes of 54 miles or thereabouts--the same as the distance from Fredericksburg to Washington's Union Station. Some commuter rail systems don't have any lines that long--Trinity Rail between Dallas and Fort Worth is only about 34 miles long, for example. Others, notably the Long Island Rail Road in New York state, have routes that run much longer--in the case of the Long Island, upward of 100 miles. For a one-way ticket, VRE charges $8.10, or 15 cents a mile. This put VRE in seventh place, with the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro North system in New York and Connecticut (operated by the same transit authority) charging a whopping 27 cents a mile for a 54-mile ride. At the low end is the Trinity system, which charges only $2.25, or less than 7 cents a mile, for a trip over the whole line. The average fare per mile for the 15 systems I investigated is 14.5 cents, making VRE just about 3 percent above average. Interestingly, the Trinity system is captained by Pete Sklannik, lately of VRE, and he worked at the Long Island Rail Road before coming to Virginia. In monthly tickets, VRE fares are also right about in the middle. A monthly ticket between Washington and Fredericksburg costs $227.90, or 9.5 cents per mile, based on 20 working days in October--or rather 20 days on which VRE operates. VRE ranked eighth-highest out of 15, with the New York state and Connecticut services again the most expensive, charging $315, or 14.5 cents a mile, for a monthly ticket. Cheapest is the Tri-Rail service between West Palm Beach and Miami, charging only $80 for a monthly ticket, or 3.7 cents a mile.
Date published: 10/17/2004
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