Virginia Railway Express trains arrived on time in more than nine out of every 10 trips last month, marking the best monthly performance record for the commuter train service in years.
The improvement came after the system added a few extra minutes into the schedule on the frequently delayed Fredericksburg line, although a train system spokesman downplayed the significance of the schedule change to the system’s on-time performance.
“Clearly it plays into it, but I don’t think it’s a monumental thing,” VRE spokesman Mark Roeber told The Examiner.
The commuter service has been struggling for years to improve the on-time performance of the trains that run from Manassas and Fredericksburg into the District of Columbia.
The system faced dramatic delays in 2006, costing the service a share of its regular riders, who couldn’t depend on the trains to get them to work on time. Although the system improved since then, the Fredericksburg line still faced significant delays in November with one in four trains coming in late.
At the beginning of January, VRE began tacking on a few extra minutes to some of its Fredericksburg schedules to help the commuter rail service stay on time. Trains added one to six minutes to the timetables to account for loading and unloading passengers at busy stations.
For the beleaguered Fredericksburg line, that change may have made the difference in bringing the line’s on-time rate to nearly 92 percent. A train is considered late if it arrives five minutes or later than the posted times, so a few minutes tacked on to the schedule may have helped. The average delay on that line jumped from 15 minutes to 22 minutes, but the number of delays fell by more than half from 47 to 21.
The changed schedule gives the system more flexibility, Roeber said. But he mainly credited the improved performance to good weather, which allowed the signals and operations to run smoothly and on improved maintenance.
Overall, the system’s trains arrived within five minutes of the scheduled arrival 93 percent of the time in January, according to a VRE report, better than the system’s goal of 90 percent. That’s also the best monthly rate since at least 2005, VRE records show.
“It allows your riders to know with some assurance the times posted are going to be the times arriving and departing,” Roeber said. “It’s the reliability factor they’ve come to need and want.”
A VRE report indicates the service is looking to add similar padding to the Manassas line’s schedule in April.
