Virginia Railway Express riders gave the crews running the commuter trains worse reviews than last year, in the first customer service poll since Keolis took over operating the trains from Amtrak. About 5,600 riders surveyed about the train service that links suburban Virginia with the District gave lower marks to crews for being helpful, courteous and knowledgeable than a similar survey conducted last year, according to a summary of the findings. Overall, 85 percent gave the train crews top grades compared with 87 percent for Amtrak workers.
However, riders gave VRE higher marks for cleanliness and on-time performance, and ranked the overall service quality slightly higher than when Amtrak ran the trains. In total, 49 percent of the riders surveyed said that train service had improved since last year, while only 9 percent said it hadn’t improved.
