Railroad Forums 

  • Survey says: Commuters want Metro into Prince William County over increased VRE service

  • Discussion related to DC area passenger rail services from Northern Virginia to Baltimore, MD. Includes Light Rail and Baltimore Subway.
Discussion related to DC area passenger rail services from Northern Virginia to Baltimore, MD. Includes Light Rail and Baltimore Subway.

Moderators: mtuandrew, therock, Robert Paniagua

 #1576201  by davinp
 
A Metro extension into Prince William County is preferred over increased VRE service or bus rapid transit by residents who responded to a survey conducted by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

When asked to allocate funding for various modes of transit, respondents on average allocated 50% to a Metro extension, 23% to more frequent VRE service in both directions and 8% to additional express bus service using the I-95 toll lanes.

https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/su ... 256fc.html
 #1576214  by KTHW
 
There's a 0% chance that Metro goes into PW within the next 30 years, nor should it. Outside of needing to finish the Silver Line, they still need to fix core capacity issues with a second Rosslyn Station and new Blue Line ROW through DC. After that, it makes more sense to add a line under Columbia Pike through Arlington and then under 7 through Fall Church and into Tysons.

Virginia already has a plan and mechanisms for more frequent and faster VRE trains on the 95 corridor. Add TOD around the RF&P, work on better transit tie in to VRE stations, and figure out how to get more frequent service and decrease running times between Fred and DC. That is cheaper, more feasible, and should have similar impacts on mobility in the region.
 #1576296  by scratchyX1
 
njtmnrrbuff wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 11:22 am Yes WMATA should focus more on the existing system. A second Roslyn Station would be nice. I wonder if it would be nice to add more track capacity beneath the Potomac where the Orange, Blue, and Silver Lines run.
Looking at the route in question, metrorail doesn't make sense. every half hour VRE service , with shuttles to the area towns, and Gold standard BRT that connects to both metrorail and VRE, does.
 #1576324  by Sand Box John
 
KTHW
. . . they still need to fix core capacity issues with a second Rosslyn Station and new Blue Line ROW through DC.


I never liked this argument used in the proposals for expansion in Virginia because it leaves out the fact that WMATA has never had enough rolling stock to exploit the capacity it has now.

It is my opinion that the M Street subway is more about putting stations in Georgetown and other areas of the urban core then about increasing capacity.

That being said. Any schema to expand into Prince William County should be built to make VRE and Metrorail complement each other.