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VRE's Santa Train tickets go on sale Monday, Nov. 30, and online for the first time Date published: 11/20/2009
By KELLY HANNON For the first time, Virginia Railway Express will sell tickets to the seasonal Santa Trains online. Tickets for the one-day-only Saturday, Dec. 12, trains go on sale Monday, Nov 30. Each ride lasts about an hour and gives children a chance to experience what their parents see on the train Monday through Friday, with a bonus visit from a North Pole resident. The tickets are popular and have sold out in a single day in past years. A limited number of tickets for each train were set aside this year for online purchases. VRE wanted to accommodate customers who couldn't be at the walk-up locations when tickets went on sale. "There's always a number of people who simply tell us 'I can't get there,'" said Mark Roeber, VRE's manager of government relations and public affairs. Customers can buy tickets online at vre.org for $6 each, using credit cards only. Tickets are $5 each at walk-in locations around the Washington area. Tickets for Fredericksburg Line Santa Trains can be purchased at the Fredericksburg Visitor Center at 706 Caroline St. The center opens at 9 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 30. Tickets can be bought in person with cash or checks made out to Virginia Railway Express. Four Santa Trains will leave and return from the downtown Fredericksburg train station this year. Dasher Express: 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Vixen Express: 10:30 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. Blitzen Express: 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. Rudolph Express: 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. No trains depart from Stafford's Leeland Road station this year. Other Santa Trains will depart and return to VRE's Burke, Manassas and Woodbridge stations. The Fredericksburg Visitor Center will sell tickets only for Santa Trains departing from Fredericksburg. Tickets for Burke, Manassas or Woodbridge Santa Trains must be purchased online or from retailers listed at vre.org near those stations. Customers will be limited to six tickets for most trains. On the Fredericksburg Line, the only train accommodating groups larger than six people is the Rudolph Express, leaving at 3:30 p.m. All passengers must have tickets to ride the train, regardless of age. Regular VRE tickets for Monday through Friday service will not be honored. Profits from ticket sales will go to Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit organization that promotes rail safety education. Also, VRE invites passengers to bring toys for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. Toy collections will be held at the Santa Train stations on Dec. 12. Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
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