From: gurd@next04wor.wam.umd.edu (Daffy Duck)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: VRE rolls out test train
Date: 16 Apr 92 06:05:18 GMT
Reply-To: gurd@wam.umd.edu

The following article appeared in the Monday, April 13, 1992 Washington  
Post, Copyright The Washington Post Co.

Reproduced without permission

"Va. Express Rolls Out on 1st. Run"
"Test Trip Carries 400 to Fredericksburg"

By Carolos Sanchez
Washington Post Staff Writer

   The arrival of commuter rail service in Northern Virginia may come  
eight months late, but officials of the Virginia Railway Express were  
elated when it's maiden voyage departed on schedule from Union Station at  
noon yesterday.
   The one-hour test run to Fredericksburg, 50 miles south of Washington,  
carried more than 400 local officials, their families and several industry  
specialist who in the District for a commuter rail convention of the the  
American Public Transit Association.
   "This gives us a chance ot show the train of to people," said Prince  
William County Superviser Terrence Spellane (I-Coles.)
   "With the convention in town, we can get national attention out of this  
and show people that commuter rail is a viable option," said Spellane, who  
also is chairman of the board of the Potomac and Rappanhannock  
Transporation Commission, one of the agencies overseeing the creation of  
commuter rail in Northern Virginia.
   The commuter rail service, which is being called the Express, is  
scheduled to begin passenger service to Washington from Manassas on June  
22, and from Fredericksburg on July 20, said Leo P. auger, executive  
director of the commission.  Officials had hoped to start service last  
October, and have blamed problems in getting rail cars form a Brazilian  
manufacturer for the delay.
   Industry analyst on board yesterday were eager to discuss what is said  
is only the second cummuter rail system to start up in the United States  
in almost 50 years.
   "A lot of people are looking at how this is going to do," said Richard  
K. Hurst, who works with Amtrak in Boston.  "I believe in a very short  
time this system will become phenomaenally popular."
   Auger said commuter rail is seen as the biggest future growth area in  
mass transit and the Express is a model system hat uses existing tracks  
and station to cut cost.
   "A lot of [industry officials] are envious of the fact that we're able  
to build something form the ground up and incorporate state-of-the-art  
technology," said Thomas R. Waldron, director of the Virginia Railway  
Express.
   Five train cars carried the buoyand passengers through the picturesque  
Virginia countryside that included spectacular view of the Potomac River.
   "It was nice.  You saw everything form the big city to the  
countryside," said Mike Layne, a train buff from Front Royal, Va.
   Aside from a haze of diesel smoke that wafted through the train cars  
shortly after departure, and the fact that some of the air conditioners  
were turned off, passengers had few complaints about the excursion.
   "It looks somebody took an awful lot of time planning this," said one.
   That planning extended to a crowd of several hundred people who  
gathered in Fredericksburg to give the train a big welcome.
   Decorative palm trees lining the commuter station, along with signs of  
welcome were testimony to the hope that the Express will boost local  
business.
   "We look at this as a dry run fo us too," said Jo Love Willis, head of  
the Fredericksburg Department of Tourism.
   Willis said officials in the city of 20,000 hope the Express will make  
Fredericksburg a more popular side trip for Washington vistitors.
   "We look at it as a wonderful thing for Fredericksburg," said Lura  
Gordan, who was helping put the guest on one of the eight shuttle buses  
bound for the city's historic district.
   The passengers spent the afternoon in Fredericksburg, which was  
celebrating its annual Pear Blossom Festiveal, before returning to Union  
Station.
   "Rail is really on the move in this country," Said Charles Simpson, who  
works with Morrison Knudsen the company that rebuilt the locomotives for  
the Express.  "It's environmentally sound, It's energy-efficient,  This is  
just the beginning."
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My comments:
1.  Tom Waldron is on top of the world.
2.  Charles Simpson should be happy Morrison-Knudsen is on top of the  
world.
3.  The Express will replace MARC as the fastest growing commuter rail  
system in North America.
Newsgroups: rec.railroad