Virginia Railway Express Approved Budget Includes Saturday Service

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Saturday service and increased fares will be coming to the Virginia Railway Express commuter rail after budget approval last Thursday.

A proposal to introduce Saturday service for the first time was included with the fiscal year 2025 budget. VRE would introduce 12 one-way trains running on Saturdays: three northbound and three southbound each on the Manassas and Fredericksburg lines. The commuter rail service currently only runs weekdays on its lines between Manassas and DC and Fredericksburg and DC with 32 one-way trips on weekdays.

The rail service on Saturdays could start as soon as July 1, 2024. The new service is dependent on which VRE reaching agreement with its host railroads — Amtrak, CSX Transportation, and Norfolk Southern — and its operations and maintenance contractor.

Fare increases will also begin on July 1, 2024, and the underutilized seven-day pass will be eliminated. In zones 1 to 3, a $5 flat fare will become permanent. Zone 1 stations include Union Station and L'Enfant Plaza, Zone 2 stations include Crystal City and Alexandria, and Zone 3 stations include Backlick Road and Franconia-Springfield.

In addition, children 18 and under can ride free with a paying adult. Currently, children under 11 can ride free with a paying adult.

VRE will also bring back its Amtrak Step-Up ticket program through I-395/95 Commuter Choice funding. The program will work on VRE Mobile only due to Amtrak's requirements. Final details of the program will be set through ongoing discussions with Amtrak and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The $119.9 million operations budget, which includes maintenance and existing debt service is a 10 percent increase over the current fiscal year's budget. A six-year capital improvement program was approved with the operations budget. The $1.3 billion budget is two-thirds funded and includes the parking garage project at Manassas Park and Leeland Road parking improvements. There's also a plan for improvements as 12 stations, including Alexandria, Backlick Road, Brooke, Crystal City, Franconia-Springfield, Fredericksburg, Leeland Road, L-Enfant Plaza (with a fourth track), Manassas, Quantico, Woodbridge and Washington Union Station (terminal projects).