VRE PLAN AWAITS ASSEMBLY ACTION

By KELLY HANNON

WOODBRIDGE

--Virginia Railway Express has a lot riding on a special transportation session looming before the Virginia General Assembly.

The commuter train system lost $25 million when the Virginia Supreme Court recently ruled that giving the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority taxing power was unconstitutional.

The state legislature may discuss the transportation funding dilemma at next week's one-day reconvened session, but Gov. Tim Kaine may have to call a special session later this year to get action.

VRE had plans for the $25 million:

Adding a train on the Fredericksburg line that leaves before 5 a.m.

Adding a later morning train on the Manassas line.

Adding an evening train that would leave Washington after 7 p.m. on the Manassas line.

Supplementing the Manassas evening train with bus service for the Fredericksburg line, satisfying demand for later rides home.

"We can't do that without the $25 million," Dale Zehner, VRE's chief executive officer, said yesterday in an interview.

Some of that money would also be used to replace the commuter rail system's locomotive fleet over three or four years.

Zehner is authorized to buy two new locomotives, but the $25 million would have allowed VRE to purchase another 18, taking advantage of some federal matching funds.

Replacements are needed because some locomotives date to the 1950s.

Three leased locomotives will help VRE avoid mechanical trouble with its fleet over the next three years, but those units are refurbished, not new.

Still, VRE has managed to reduce delays.

Trains on the Fredericksburg line arrived on time 88.6 percent of the time last month.

Systemwide, there where 75 delays, averaging 10 minutes each. Just four of the delays were because of mechanical problems on the trains.

"Things we've done on the mechanical side are starting to pay dividends," Zehner told the VRE operations board at its monthly meeting yesterday.

Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com

VRE fares will increase 3 percent, on average, starting June 30.

The VRE operations board adopted the fares yesterday. The board approved a budget with the fare increase late last year, and VRE held public hearings on the fares.

A single-trip ticket from Fredericksburg to Union Station will increase from $8.80 to $9.10. A monthly pass for the same trip will rise from $243.70 to $252.30.

The fare increase was attributed to rising fuel, insurance and maintenance expenses.

The board also adopted a fare indexing policy, which means that during every budget cycle it will calculate the average fare and subsidy increases needed for a six-year period. This will help operations board members determine whether a fare increase is needed in any given year.

--Kelly Hannon

The operations board asked VRE staff to investigate adding wireless Internet service on its trains.

There are several "black holes" along the line where passengers would lose Internet service, VRE CEO Dale Zehner said.

One is in Stafford; the other is on the Manassas line. Solving that will be paramount to obtaining wireless service, he said.

"There's no question this has been requested by the riders," Zehner said.

--Kelly Hannon

Date published: 4/19/2008

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