MARC/VRE Inauguration Day Service

As this service was not anticipated in the original schedule/budget for FY 2009, VRE has requested financial assistance to help offset operating costs

VRE's Inaugration plans are now posted here:
http://www.vre.org/Inauguration09/main.html

They plan to run a full schedule, however Inauguration Day trains will not make stops at Franconia/Springfield, Alexandria or Crystal City. Trains will stop at L'Enfant and Union Station

Tickets will go on sale December 16 and will be by mail order ONLY.

NOTE: Any walk-in attempts to purchase tickets will be denied

Tickets will be $25 per round-trip ticket (only round-trip tickets will be sold).

Payments must be included with ticket request and must be check or money order made payable to VRE.

davinp wrote:VRE's Inaugration plans are now posted here:
http://www.vre.org/Inauguration09/main.html

They plan to run a full schedule, however Inauguration Day trains will not make stops at Franconia/Springfield, Alexandria or Crystal City. Trains will stop at L'Enfant and Union Station

Tickets will go on sale December 16 and will be by mail order ONLY.

NOTE: Any walk-in attempts to purchase tickets will be denied

Tickets will be $25 per round-trip ticket (only round-trip tickets will be sold).

Payments must be included with ticket request and must be check or money order made payable to VRE.

The last morning trains leave at 7:50!?! Is that a joke? I thought MARC was cutting service to short by stopping inbound trains at 9am. At least they have a decent amount of trains, not as much as any of the MARC lines, but they'll probably be longer. It seems they leave outbound pretty early as well, while MARC leaves too late...

It sounds like their saying in effect that the best bet is 'Stay home and watch it on TV.'

But maybe that's not bad advice. Friends of a friend plan on going to DC for the events. I've been warning them to plan in advance. You guys in DC may not realize this, but the whole thing is very exciting for people in other parts of the country.

I too am surprised that VRE won't be running, say half-hourly shuttles up until 9 or 10 AM, but maybe the higher ups don't want to encourage too many people to come into the city that day.

Let's just keep our fingers crossed the weather cooperates!

Or they didn't get any additional slots from CSX and NS. It looks like the train times are the normal ones, unlike on MARC where the train times are in fact different just for January 20.

Tommy Meehan wrote:....maybe the higher ups don't want to encourage too many people to come into the city that day.

When I wrote "higher ups" I didn't mean the officials at VRE or CSX and NS. I'm sure the people pulling the strings are a lot "higher up" the food chain than the rail bosses. I was thinking more along the lines of DC police, Secret Service and Homeland Security. I'm sure they're the ones running the show.

I wonder on the trains arriving if there will be spot bag checks? Not a bad idea.

realtype wrote:

cpontani wrote:So if the First Street Tunnel is a security issue, can you just truncate VRE trains at L'Enfant Plaza, and create a special schedule for Inauguration Day? I'd assume most people would be headed toward The Mall, and Union Station would be backtracking past the Capitol. I think it would be a good way to separate the MD and VA crowds.

I think the security problem with L'Enfant is that it's too close to the mall. There was also a big issue earlier this year about CSX hazmats that use the line.

This may have already been discussed on Page 2 or the first half of Page 3, but I think the problem isn't L'Enfant Station itself, it's that the line between L'Enfant Station and Union Station runs underground very close to the U.S. Capitol. Some wackos might want to take advantage of that fact.

(On a only slightly related, non-railroad note, I was at the U.S. Capitol yesterday and the new visitors' center is very nice.)

cpontani wrote:If you have crush capacity, you won't be able to collect fares. Even with special fares/reservations bought in advance, how do you make sure everybody is on the up-and-up, unless you have a clear aisle?

Spoken like (another) person who saw first-hand what happened with SEPTA on the day of the Phillies' championship parade.

CHIP72 wrote: (On a only slightly related, non-railroad note, I was at the U.S. Capitol yesterday and the new visitors' center is very nice.)

It should be, its $621 million of your tax dollars at work (up from an estimated $265mil) lol. I wonder if it will be open for Inauguration Day, I may take a look-see myself.

The reason their are no more trains is that VRE can't afford to run more trains. According to VRE's CEO:
As this service was not anticipated in the original schedule/budget for FY 2009, VRE has requested financial assistance to help offset operating costs

The only trains that VRE isn't operating that day are 3 Manassas turn-around trains.

VRE does have 2 tracks in front of the L'Enfant Plaza station where they can park 2 train sets, however they've not use them yet.

VRE's CEO wrote:As this service was not anticipated in the original schedule/budget for FY 2009, VRE has requested financial assistance to help offset operating costs

That doesn't really prove VRE is running all the service it can afford to run, does it? Just that it's getting financial assistance for the trains it has chosen to run.

Is MARC getting extra subsidy to cover its Inauguration Day operating costs?

You would think with the size trains VRE runs, if they can fill every seat on Inauguration Day they might come pretty close to covering their out-of-pocket costs, wouldn't you?

With MARC getting twelve-fifty each way, if they load up fairly long trains they oughta cover their incremental costs too.

Tommy Meehan wrote:

VRE's CEO wrote:As this service was not anticipated in the original schedule/budget for FY 2009, VRE has requested financial assistance to help offset operating costs

That doesn't really prove VRE is running all the service it can afford to run, does it? Just that it's getting financial assistance for the trains it has chosen to run.

Is MARC getting extra subsidy to cover its Inauguration Day operating costs?

You would think with the size trains VRE runs, if they can fill every seat on Inauguration Day they might come pretty close to covering their out-of-pocket costs, wouldn't you?

With MARC getting twelve-fifty each way, if they load up fairly long trains they oughta cover their incremental costs too.

The biggest problem I see with the VRE service is their terrible schedule. The last train (nbound) leaves at 7:50am. I really doubt VRE can fill those trains with people actually willing to go in that early. And here I thought MARC was cutting it too early by ending service at 9am. It's also interesting that VRE has "requested" financial assitance. I wonder what happens when that assistance doesn't come (as has happened in the past), especially when the state is pinching pennies to cut the deficit.

MARC already recaptures over 50% of of its operating costs at the farebox. With the $25 per ticket they're charging on I'day (the normal roundtrip fare Martinsburg, WV-DC is $20), they'll probably make a profit, although they wouldn't tell you that...

Does anyone ever look at the VRE Forum on the VRE website? Where a VRE person answers questions emailed to VRE?

The reason they "might" be ending service so early (and I agree that's pretty early) is they may think the VRE parking lots will be filled by then.

This is based on previous information I've read in the 'official' VRE forum. Once most of the lots are full they feel there is no reason to keep running trains.

Most of their stations are not set up for 'walk up' ridership.

Tommy Meehan wrote:Does anyone ever look at the VRE Forum on the VRE website? Where a VRE person answers questions emailed to VRE?

The reason they "might" be ending service so early (and I agree that's pretty early) is they may think the VRE parking lots will be filled by then.

This is based on previous information I've read in the 'official' VRE forum. Once most of the lots are full they feel there is no reason to keep running trains.

Most of their stations are not set up for 'walk up' ridership.

Yeah, I usually check once in a while or so but haven't gotten around to it yet. However, I fail to understand how the lots will be full so early. If of course the trains are sold out, the lots will obviously be full early, because that's when the trains come. If the trains came later the lots would fill up later, unless of course VRE shares its parking lots. MARC has generally the same parking constraints (on a larger scale), but manage to run service until 9.

btw Could you point me to which forum that was in? I looked at the DEC'08 archive and didn't see anything about that.

Tommy Meehan wrote:The reason they "might" be ending service so early (and I agree that's pretty early) is they may think the VRE parking lots will be filled by then. This is based on previous information I've read in the 'official' VRE forum.

realtype wrote:btw Could you point me to which forum that was in? I looked at the DEC'08 archive and didn't see anything about that.

Please reread my statement. I wrote that they "might" be ending service when they feel the lots will be full "based on previous information..."

They might, not that they are or will be.

I said "previous information" meaning, they have answered people that ask for later morning trains that by then the parking lots are full and, once that happens, the trains usually don't draw much ridership. So they don't schedule trains.

realtype wrote:

CHIP72 wrote: (On a only slightly related, non-railroad note, I was at the U.S. Capitol yesterday and the new visitors' center is very nice.)

It should be, its $621 million of your tax dollars at work (up from an estimated $265mil) lol. I wonder if it will be open for Inauguration Day, I may take a look-see myself.

It won't be, the Capitol will be closed to the general public that day.

From http://www.aoc.gov/cc/visit/index.cfm:

Visitors: The Visitor Center is open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday. It is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and Inauguration Day.