Our University of Mary Washington community has a story to tell, a story about students who study abroad in Spain; about alumni who join the Peace Corps and launch businesses; about faculty who bring Think Labs – and the imagination that comes with them – to middle schools.
Thank you Maxime for putting this idea out there. This is something that I’ve wanted since VRE’s inception.
I would also like the VRE to run on the weekends. It would be much easier to hop on the train to get to DC than to drive up to Springfield to catch the metro on the weekends. Also, I wonder if you could change that pie-chart infographic to include staff as well as faculty.
Hi Michelle,
Thank you for your comment. The statistics for employees were not available at the time of publication. I will look into getting that information for you. Thanks for reading!
Hi Michelle,
The second graphic now includes faculty and staff numbers at UMW. Thanks!
You can use VRE 10-ride tickets on Amtrak trains w/ a step-up ticket. Using that method, I pay about $12 each way on the NE Regional. Also, Amtrak does allow it to be used on reverse flow trains. Getting the VRE to run on the weekend or extending the step-ups to the weekends would be nice though.
This is an idea that is long overdue! I also think it would help the public get to and from Fredericksburg , which would help tourism on both ends to have the train on weekends. My daughter commuted to American University and my other daughter went to George Washington University, both in DC, from Fredericksburg, so the community goes both ways. It would be great in fact if it ran to Richmond there are a lot of commuters and students from and to there also. We have the rails, let’s use them! I would like to sign your petition. We have a problem in this country, and we do not understand how much we pay for resurfacing and building more and more highway lanes ands roads as opposed to using the rails already in place. Thank you for your efforts.! As someone aptly put it, it is like solving an overweight problem by buying bigger and bigger pants.
I love this idea, but being a daily commuter to DC, I’ve heard the well reasoned arguments by VRE for not having the trains run on weekends and more return trips during the day. One of the problems is that VRE doesn’t own the tracks, and must give way to all the other train traffic that runs. Also, the expense of running the trains versus the ridership is another big issue. I don’t think there would be enough ridership for VRE to bear the expense of the extra trains. Again, I think it’s a great idea, I just don’t know how feasible it will be in the near future.
I would also like to see the VRE train have weekend trips to DC and back. It truly would be way easier than the alternatives.
I was born and raised on Long Island, NY. I moved here in 2001 and life is different here (duh). but it’s not a big deal because I think I’m fairly adaptable. But what an unpleasant surprise to learn that the VRE does not run on weekends. and then having to buy an Amtrak ticket last minute because you and your friends (also newly moved from NY at the time) made plans to do the DC thing. What a horrible day that was!
When visiting Long Island. I don’t like driving to NYC or in NYC-unless it’s very late at night when it’s slightly easier to control my panic attacks when I’m lost. And yes, I get lost every time I’m in DC-even with GPS because, well, 1-way streets and construction. As a result, I really haven’t explored DC all that much because, well, 1 way streets, construction AND affordable parking for a day trip. I’ve always said there needs to be a LIRR train type system system here-it’s BEGGING for it. I think it would pay for itself. And lastly, you haven’t experienced life until you’ve been on a late night LIRR “party train”. I’m not trying to turn this area into NY or anything because I wouldn’t get all these “snow days”, but what an lost opportunity for this region to make money off of me-again.
I think there are a lot of people in the general public that would love to take the train vice fight ever worsening traffic on I-95. i think this is a great idea. What is the status of getting a 3rd track from Richmond to DC? I have previously heard that this is one thing that will help with the railroad congestion on the current rails.