Fredericksburg Line

Fredericksburg Line
VRE train outside of Fredericksburg.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail line
System	Virginia Railway Express
Locale	Washington, D.C., Alexandria, Fairfax County, Prince William County, Stafford County, and Fredericksburg, Virginia
Termini	Union Station (Washington, D.C.) Fredericksburg, VA
Stations	12
Operation
Opened	July 20, 1992
Owner	CSX Transportation
Operator(s)	Virginia Railway Express
Character	2 track main line
Technical
Line length	54 miles
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Route map Legend Northeast Corridor to New York, and Boston Washington First Street Tunnel L'Enfant Plaza Long Bridge Potomac River Crystal City Alexandria Manassas Line & Amtrak to Broad Run, Lynchburg, New Orleans Franconia/Springfield Lorton Occoquan River Woodbridge Rippon Quantico Brooke Leeland Rappahannock River Fredericksburg Spotsylvania Amtrak to Richmond, The Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida

The Fredericksburg Line is a commuter rail line operated by Virginia Railway Express between Washington, D.C. and Fredericksburg, VA. Virginia Railway Express operates 7 weekday trains,^[1] and Amtrak trains serve a few of the stations on the line. Trackage is owned by CSX as part of their RF&P Subdivision.

History

RF&P

What is today the Fredericksburg Line was originally part of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad (or RF&P), a connector railroad between the Pennsylvania and Baltimore and Ohio Railroads in Washington, D.C., and the Seaboard Air Line and Atlantic Coast Line Railroads in Richmond. In 1991 CSX absorbed the RF&P and the line is now their RF&P Subdivision.

Virginia Railway Express

In 1992 Virginia Railway Express (or VRE) was formed to serve the former RF&P between Washington's Union Station and Fredericksburg, VA as well as stations between Washington and Manassas, VA on Norfolk Southern's Piedmont Division. In 2015, the route was extended to Spotsylvania.

Amtrak

Along with VRE, many Amtrak trains also utilize this line. Their Northeast Regional trains stop at 6 of the 12 stations on the line and Alexandria is a major stop for 6 of their long distance trains.

Expansion

Work was completed on a third track between Alexandria and Franconia-Springfield in 2010. This track enables VRE and Amtrak trains to bypass slow freight trains over Franconia Hill. VRE would also like to add another third track between Powell's Creek in Prince William County and Arkendale Road in Stafford County in the near future.^[2]

Stations list

State	Town/City	Station	Connections
District of Columbia	Washington	Union Station	Amtrak, MARC, VRE Manassas Line, Washington Metro Metrobus, Loudoun County Commuter Bus, OmniRide, MTA Commuter Bus
		L'Enfant	Washington Metro, VRE Manassas Line Metrobus, Loudoun County Commuter Bus. OmniRide Commuter, MTA Commuter Bus
Virginia	Arlington	Crystal City	Washington Metro, VRE Manassas Line Metrobus, Arlington Transit, Fairfax Connector, Loudoun County Commuter Bus, OmniRide Commuter
	Alexandria	Union Station	Amtrak, VRE Manassas Line, Washington Metro Metrobus, DASH Bus
	Springfield	Franconia Springfield	Washington Metro Metrobus, Fairfax Connector, OmniRide Commuter
	Lorton	Lorton	Fairfax Connector
	Woodbridge	Woodbridge	OmniRide, OmniLink
		Rippon
	Quantico	Quantico	OmniRide
	Stafford	Brooke
	Falmouth	Leeland
	Fredericksburg	Fredericksburg	Amtrak Fredericksburg Regional Transit
	Spotsylvania	Spotsylvania

References

1. "VRE schedule".
2. "VRE's Fredericksburg Line is getting more triple track".

See also

RF&P Subdivision