Almost one in five Virginia Railway Express trains on the popular Fredericksburg Line was late last month, driving the commuter rail agency to its worst on-time performance since the summer’s heat restrictions were in effect.
Every afternoon train was late leaving Union Station over a three-day stretch, contributing to a track record well below targets.
Of VRE’s 15,126 daily trips, 8,148 are on the Fredericksburg line.
“It worries me when I see it going in the wrong direction,” VRE board secretary Paul Milde said. “The future of rail depends on safety and on-time performance.”
Overall on-time performance slipped from 91 percent in January 2007 to 86 percent in January 2008, and the Fredericksburg line experienced 15 more delays last month than in December.
The delays are mostly limited to the afternoon commute due to a comprehensivefocus on reducing delays in the morning, Executive Director Dale Zehner said.
“We concentrate on the delays in the morning,” he said. “You’ll find they are in the afternoon when riders prefer to have the delays. They want to get to work on time.”
But Milde cautioned the agency cannot be satisfied by morning on-time performance alone.
“Our ridership is up and I just want to make sure we’re not losing our momentum,” he said.
The agency’s recent decision to replace its locomotives with a new fleet would reduce the potential for troubling mechanical delays, said rider advocate George Billmyer of Annandale. Meanwhile, the Manassas line on-time performance improved to almost 90 percent in January.
The agency is preparing for a 3 percent fare increase in its next fiscal year and is holding a series of hearings starting Wednesday.
