Rain Forces VRE to Cancel Services Friday

Thousands of people will have to find another way to work today, as the Virginia Railway Express—a main method of transportation for Manassas Park commuters—canceled services because of the rain.

 VRE officials made the announcement just after 11 p.m. Thursday via the VRE Train Talk email service, and said the rain has damaged the rail system in Northern Virginia.

 “Unfortunately, this has done some significant damage to the railroads that we operate over,” a manager said in an Train Talk email. “Portions of both rail lines are currently underwater, and there is at least one area where the track bed has washed out from under the tracks.”

 As VRE officials recently pointed out, rain can be very dangerous for trains and can cause derailments.

 “With more rain expected overnight, we prefer to give the railroads the time they need to ensure that the tracks are fully operational,” according to the Train Talk message.   “In addition, because the track issues happened during service, several of our train sets are currently being housed in our mid-day storage yard in DC, making the logistics even more complicated."

Train 337 usually arrives in Manassas Park at 7:46 p.m. but didn't arrive until almost Midnight because of multiple rain-induced delays on Thursday.

A train whistle announcing the train's arrival into Manassas Park could be heard at 11:50 p.m. Thursday.

 At one point, Train 337 backed up to Alexandria where buses were supposed to meet riders and transport them home, but it is unclear if that plan panned out, because it was later announced the same train was again making its way down the Manassas Line.

Manassas Park resident Pauline Bonilla was on Train 337 when it backed into Alexandria, but she didn't wait around to see what happened.  From there, she took the metro to Springfield, a taxi to Burke and then hitched a ride with someone to Manassas Park, Bonilla said.

She usually gets home shortly after 6 p.m.because she normally takes an earlier train, but made it home at 10:15 p.m. Thursday, Bonilla said. 

She isn't mad, but just tired, Bonilla said Thursday night.

Instead of driving into Washington tomorrow for work, the regular VRE rider said she will work out of her company's offices in Chantilly.

Like Bonilla, several commuters’ arrival home was delayed, this time because a tree fell on the tracks, blocking the path of the train.

Crews from Norfolk Southern, the owner and operator of the actual tracks, had to come out and remove the tree.