Thunderstorm Snarls Evening Commute for VRE Riders

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Fallen trees on the railroad tracks led to a long, arduous ride home Tuesday night for about 200 commuters on the Virginia Railway Express (VRE).

Riders on VRE Train 337 left Union Station in Washington, D.C., at 6:50 p.m., but they didn’t reach their stops until around 10 p.m. VRE officials had to summon buses after Tuesday night’s thunderstorms knocked down trees along VRE’s Manassas Line, leaving riders stranded at a station in Springfield.

VRE officials issued an apology Wednesday morning for the delay.

The delays began at 7:35 p.m., when Train 337 was stopped just short of the Rolling Road station platform in Burke due to a large tree blocking both tracks and part of the platform itself, VRE said. Norfolk Southern, which owns the tracks, was notified and the company dispatched a track maintainer to assess the situation.

“By 7:55 p.m., it was determined that removing the tree and inspecting potential damage to the track was going to be a lengthy process, so we made the decision to have train 337 reverse to the Backlick Road platform,” VRE said.

VRE officials contacted the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC) and requested buses to transport the 200 passengers to their destination stations.

But at 8:23 p.m., Train 337 encountered another tree blocking the track as it moved back to the station in Springfield. “That tree was small enough to be removed without much delay, and 337 was able to reach Backlick Road,” VRE said.

Once they arrived at the Backlick Road stop, the riders waited until 9:34 p.m., when the PRTC buses arrived, VRE said. Staff members with the commuter railroad were on hand to help transfer passengers to the buses.

“It is important to note that bus companies do not have a reserve fleet of buses or drivers on standby at all times, so, as is usually the case, these buses were ones that had just completed their normal routes and were asked to extend their shifts to assist us,” VRE said.

At 10:47 p.m., VRE said it was notified by PRTC that all buses had dropped off the passengers at their destination stations.