Many residents who commute by train into the District are already inconvenienced by the temporary suspension of Metro rail service. Now, the Virginia Railway Express train service in the region could shut down, too.
As of Thursday morning, there was hope that negotiations were going in the right direction between freight rail carriers and their workers, averting a shutdown of thousands of miles of railroad tracks nationwide.
If negotiations fall apart, however, rail service like the VRE, which uses primarily freight rail lines, would stop operations at 12:01 a.m. Friday.
When Metro trains suspended Alexandria service temporarily (to connect the new Potomac Yard station and to complete bridge repairs), officials suggested that commuters switch to the Virginia Railway Express. VRE offered commuters a free ride in September to help out, and has offered Alexandria riders free trips in October, too.
VRE will keep commuters advised Thursday about the status of the ongoing negotiations.
In addition to VRE rail service being unavailable, some Amtrak services will be available due to freight rail tracks shutting down. Most of the Northeast Corridor service will remain unaffected (including Acela), but the autotrain from Lorton to Florida may be canceled, as would many long-distance services. Read more about the possible Amtrak disruptions here.
There's always the bus...
