State takeover of VRE among Va.'s transportation ideas

Unlike MARC, VRE is not operated by state transportation.

Virginia transportation officials are seeking public feedback on several transportation ideas, including one that would make Virginia Railway Express a state-run operation

Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean T. Connaughton said the state has gathered more than 100 transportation ideas from various agencies, government officials and the public

Connaughton said he didn't know who made that suggestion and added that the state isn't necessarily advocating any of the ideas. VRE spokesman Mark Roeber said the idea did not come from the commuter rail service, which has reservations about it. VRE was founded and is supported by jurisdictions in Northern Virginia, with Prince William County providing the largest subsidy last year, he said

The public can provide feedback through the end of the month by e-mailing [email protected].

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 04537.html

My guess is that this proposal came about because of the food fight between Amtrak and VRE over the new contract and the intense lobbying of Commonwealth Officials by Amtrak Officials to reverse the competitive bid results
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My crystal ball says this will go nowhere unless Keolis has a total melt down....

FWIW - VRE OTP has been terrible the last couple of days - The speculation I've heard on the train and the platform is that this is a good bye kiss from Amtrak or Keolis has started early - personally I believe that if anything it is due to all the extra board people I've seen the last 2 weeks as our regular crews burn some vaca prior to going off to qualify on new jobs and just tired old engines in an environment of protracted 90/100 degree days...

chucksc wrote:My guess is that this proposal came about because of the food fight between Amtrak and VRE over the new contract and the intense lobbying of Commonwealth Officials by Amtrak Officials to reverse the competitive bid results
.
My crystal ball says this will go nowhere unless Keolis has a total melt down....

FWIW - VRE OTP has been terrible the last couple of days - The speculation I've heard on the train and the platform is that this is a good bye kiss from Amtrak or Keolis has started early - personally I believe that if anything it is due to all the extra board people I've seen the last 2 weeks as our regular crews burn some vaca prior to going off to qualify on new jobs and just tired old engines in an environment of protracted 90/100 degree days...

Keolis will start operating the trains Monday, July 12. Yesterday afternoon's delay was due to a broken CSX equipment in the tunnel. Of course their have been Heat Restictions and other CSX speed restrictions

And 330 was almost 10 mins late getting out of the yard at Broad Run yesterday.....
Never saw the conductor before and I'm guessing he was pretty junior on the extra board....