Politics & Government
VRE Postpones Price Adjustment on 'Step-Up' Tickets
VRE staff said they are waiting on Commonwealth officials to sign off on the agreement to lower the amount customers pay for "step-up" tickets.
A fee reduction for Virginia Railway Express riders who use their tickets to ride Amtrak is postponed until January, at the earliest, commuter train officials said this week.
VRE monthly or 10-trip tickets holders now pay $5 for a step-up ticket that allows them to ride select Amtrak trains.
The price of a step-up ticket was supposed to be reduced to $3 at the beginning of this month, but that has been pushed into next year, VRE staff said.
Find out what's happening in Manassaswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The delay is because VRE is still waiting for funding agreements to be finalized by the Commonwealth, hopefully by January.
Virginia officials are required to sign off on the final agreement on the fare reduction because the Commonwealth is contributing funds from the Interstate 95 High Occupancy/Toll (HOT) lanes, VRE spokesman Mark Roeber said.
Find out what's happening in Manassaswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
VRE staff were expecting the sign-off several weeks ago and announced in October that the agreement would be in place by December.
The step-up ticket is a part of the cross honor agreement between the two train services. Between 400 and 430 VRE customers per day use a step-up ticket, he said.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
