Virginia Railway Express
A VRE train atManassas station
Overview
Owner	NVTC andPRTC
Locale	Northern Virginia, U.S.
Transit type	Commuter rail
Number of lines	2
Number of stations	19 year-round, 1 seasonal, 1 planned
Daily ridership	11,000 (weekdays, Q2 2025)[1]
Annual ridership	1,605,300 (2024)[2]
Website	vre.org
Operation
Began operation	June 22, 1992
Operator(s)	Keolis (under contract)
Reporting marks	VREX
Technical
System length	90 mi (145 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge
System map Show interactive map Legend MARC Amtrak Union Station First Street Tunnel L'Enfant Potomac River Washington, D.C. Virginia Crystal City Alexandria Backlick Road Franconia–Springfield Rolling Road Lorton Burke Centre Woodbridge (events only) Clifton Rippon Manassas Park Potomac Shores(planned) Manassas Quantico Broad Run Brooke Amtrak Leeland Road  Manassas Line  Fredericksburg Spotsylvania Amtrak  Fredericksburg Line  Key Manassas Line Fredericksburg Line Both services All stations are accessible This diagram: view talk edit Show route diagram

Virginia Railway Express (VRE) (reporting markVREX) is acommuter rail service that connects outlying small cities ofNorthern Virginia toWashington Union Station inWashington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekdayrush hour only: theFredericksburg Line fromSpotsylvania, Virginia, and theManassas Line fromBroad Run station inBristow, Virginia. In 2024, the system had a ridership of 1,605,300, or about 11,000 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2025.

Service to Manassas began on June 22, 1992; the Fredericksburg service started on July 20, 1992.^[3]

VRE is owned by theNorthern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) and thePotomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC). The NVTC and PRTC are governmental entities that were created by theCommonwealth of Virginia. Local governments (such as counties and cities) within each commission's geographic area are members of each commission. The service will undergo expansion as the result of a December 19, 2019 deal brokered between former Virginia governorRalph Northam and rail companyCSX Transportation.^[4]

Discussions about commuter rail service in Northern Virginia had occurred as early as 1964 at theNorthern Virginia Transportation Commission, but died in the face of opposition by the freight railroads whose tracks offered ready access to core employment areas. TheMetropolitan Washington Council of Governments eventually commissioned a regional feasibility study by R.L. Banks and Associates, Inc., and planning began in earnest for VRE in 1984.^[5] In the meantime,Washington Metro extended its service to much of the inner ring of Northern Virginia, including the independent cities ofAlexandria,Fairfax andFalls Church andArlington andFairfax counties, which are members of the NVTC.

By 1986, it became apparent thatPrince William andStafford counties and the cities of Manassas andManassas Park could not reach agreement on how to support VRE by joining NVTC, so thePotomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission was created for them. Legislation established a 2% motor fuels tax to support VRE expenses and other transportation investments.

By 1988, NVTC and PRTC established a VRE Operations Board, consisting of three voting members plus alternates from each of the two commissions, plus a voting representative of the Commonwealth of Virginia (currently a representative of the Director of theVirginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation). The following year, the jurisdictions participating in the VRE project agreed to fund it according to a formula that weighted ridership by jurisdiction of residence with a factor of 90% and population with a factor of 10%. Arlington and Alexandria agreed to contribute to the project and have paid each year approximately what their formula share would be. The cities of Fredericksburg and Manassas Park joined PRTC in 1990 and signed the VRE Master Agreement and became participating jurisdictions in 1992.^[5]

Spotsylvania County joined in February 2010 to allow construction ofSpotsylvania station, which opened in November 2015.^[6][7]

Rail service operates Monday through Friday during rush hour in the peak direction, with trains traveling toward Washington in the morning and toward either Manassas or Fredericksburg in the afternoon. Service is suspended or reduced on some holidays.^[8]

Through a cross-honoring agreement, VRE and theMARC Train allow passengers to transfer to trains on the other system that are going in the opposite direction of the rush-hour commuters.^[9]

VRE operates on lines owned and maintained byAmtrak,Norfolk Southern, andCSX Transportation. In December 2019, the state of Virginia agreed to purchase large portions of the right-of-way and track on the CSX line, as well as theLong Bridge into the District of Columbia. The state will add parallel tracks and make other improvements for increased service on the VRE.^[10] Most of the Fredericksburg Line is on CSX tracks, while the portion of the Manassas Line west of Alexandria is mostly on Norfolk Southern tracks.Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C., the northern terminus for most VRE trains, is owned and operated by Amtrak, including the station tracks.

VRE's trains were initially run by Amtrak. On November 5, 2009, VRE awarded a five-year, $85 million operating and maintenance contract toKeolis.^[11][12] The change in operations took place on July 12, 2010, two weeks later than planned, to allow Keolis employees to learn how to run VRE trains.^[13]

Ridership on VRE increased an average of 13% each year from 2000 to 2005, but fell 2% in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005. VRE said passengers affected by track maintenance and heat restrictions were taking other forms of transportation.^[14] The trend reversed in the summer of 2007, with ridership up nearly 2% in June and 4% in July compared with the corresponding months in 2006.^[15] As of October 2016, VRE transports an average of 19,400 passengers per day.^[16]

In 2015, VRE extended its contract with Keolis for five years, with an additional option for another five-year extension in 2020.^[17] That option was exercised in 2020, so Keolis will continue to provide operational and maintenance services through June 2025.^[18]

Starting in 2015, VRE began a study of extending service toHaymarket via a short branch line from the Manassas Line, but found that ridership would not sufficiently increase to justify the estimated $660 million cost and ended further consideration of the line.^[19]

VRE's fares are based on distance, with the 19 stations grouped into zones. The two lines diverge atAlexandria Union Station inAlexandria.

The Manassas Line runs east–west along trackage owned by Norfolk Southern. Amtrak'sCrescent andCardinal, as well asNortheast Regional trains bound forRoanoke, also use this line. VRE studied an extension of the Manassas Line west to the communities ofGainesville andHaymarket, but chose instead to pursue added service on the existing line to Broad Run.^[19]

The Fredericksburg Line runs north–south along trackage that was once part of theRichmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad and is now part of CSX. Amtrak service toRichmond, Virginia, and points south (theSilver Service,Palmetto,Carolinian, andNortheast Regional runs toHampton Roads) also uses this line. An extension to Spotsylvania opened in November 2015.^[21]

Virginia Railway Express commenced operations in 1992 with tenEMD RP39-2C diesel locomotives, 38Mafersa coaches, and 21 remanufacturedBudd Rail Diesel Cars from theMBTA.Morrison-Knudsen rebuilt the locomotives fromEMD GP40s at a total cost of $5.9 million. Mafersa built the coaches new at $24.7 million, or $600,000–$700,000 per car.^[22][23] During Summer 1998, SEPTA leased some VRE Boisie Budds for the Regional Rail services. VRE sold 33 of the Mafersa coaches to theConnecticut Department of Transportation in 2004 for itsShore Line East service.^[24]QIT-Fer et Titane, aQuebec mining company, purchased the remaining five cars in 2008.^[5]

VRE operated 13Kawasakibi-level cars between 1999 and 2008, after which they were sold toMARC (these cars were originally procured as an option on MARC's larger order).^[5][25][26] Starting in 2001, VRE also operated a number of second-handPullman-Standardgallery cars fromMetra inChicago.^[27] These were all replaced by newSumitomo/Nippon Sharyogallery cars from 2006 to 2017 as some cars returned toMetra and others went to theNorth Carolina Transportation Museum inSpencer, North Carolina.^[25][28]

As of 2017, trains comprise one and on some occasions two MPI MP36PH-3C locomotives pulling usually at least four Sumitomo/Nippon Sharyo gallery cars to a maximum of eight.^[28]

Numbers	Status	Model	Notes	Photo
V1–V10[29]	retired	EMD RP39-2C	Rebuilt from original units byMorrison-Knudsen. All sold to other operators.[29] Lack the flared radiators of VRE's GP40s.
V20–V21[29]		EMD RP40-2C	Rebuilt from original units byMorrison-Knudsen. V20 sold toRoyal Gorge Route Railroad and renumbered 728. V21 sold to theUS Army.[29]
V22–V24[29]		EMD GP40H-2	V22 and V24 sold to US Army. V23 sold to other another operator.
V30–V36[29]		EMD F40PH-2	All were former Amtrak units. V30 owned by Amtrak(AMTK 403). When lease was up, it was returned to Amtrak and received its original number.V31 sold to another operator.V32 sold to Metra renumbered 217.V33 sold toAMT and then LTEX renumbered 330.V34-V36 sold to LTEX and V35 sold to Webb Rail, LLC (WEBX).[28]
V50–V69[28]	active	MPI MP36PH-3C	Total order of 20.[30][31] The first unit was delivered in June 2010, entered service in August 2010, and all units are currently in service. These are the first new locomotives that VRE purchased. To be overhauled within the next 5 years.[32]

VRE also operated a pair ofEMD F59PHI locomotives and 18 high capacityBombardierBiLevel cars leased fromSound Transit from 2002 to 2008; they have been returned toSounder and replaced by locomotives V50–V69 and theSumitomo bi-level cars.^[29][33]

* with restroom

† Eight cars ordered in February 2012 with options for 42 more.^[32] As of 2018, 21 further cars had been procured from these options.^[28]

On January 5, 2006, at 6:45 am, Fredericksburg line train No. 304 bound forWashington, D.C., derailed atPossum Point, just north ofQuantico. Four people, including the assistant conductor, suffered minor injuries. TheNational Transportation Safety Board determined that the derailment was intimately related toCSX's maintenance practices: a switch point had been repeatedly identified as deteriorating, but CSX failed to replace it. Eventually, the excessively worn and chipped point caused the lead truck of a passenger car to derail—the fourth car on train 304.^[34]

On October 3, 2012,Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell launched a review of "multiple internal control issues", including reports of corruption and favoritism, that "call into question the management of the Virginia Railway Express". For example, VRE managers disregarded warnings by a former employee, later borne out, that trains would hit the new Broad Run platform.^[35]

• List of United States railroads
• List of Washington, D.C., railroads

Wikimedia Commons has media related toVirginia Railway Express.

• Virginia Railway Express – official website

• Virginia Railway Express
• 1992 establishments in Virginia
• Commuter rail in the United States
• Keolis
• Northern Virginia
• Passenger rail transportation in Virginia
• Passenger rail transportation in Washington, D.C.
• Railway companies established in 1992
• Standard-gauge railways in the United States
• Transportation in Alexandria, Virginia
• Transportation in Arlington County, Virginia
• Transportation in Fairfax County, Virginia
• Transportation in Fredericksburg, Virginia
• Transportation in Prince William County, Virginia
• Transportation in Spotsylvania County, Virginia
• Transportation in Stafford County, Virginia
• Virginia railroads
• Washington, D.C., railroads

• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from February 2022
• Articles with permanently dead external links
• Webarchive template wayback links
• CS1 maint: archived copy as title
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from April 2024
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from April 2024
• Commons category link from Wikidata
• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles using KML not from Wikidata
• Pages using the Kartographer extension