VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS IEEE Vehicular Technology Society National Capital Chapter September 11, 2018 VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 1 1 TODAY’S REMARKS . Introduction . VRE Overview . VRE Capital Program − Program Overview − Long Bridge “The 12-Mile Bridge” − Midday Storage − L’Enfant Improvements − Crystal City Improvements − Other Fredericksburg Line Improvements − Other Manassas Line Improvements . Questions − Perhaps answers... VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 2 WHO WE ARE A commuter rail system Running on existing railroad tracks Serving Washington DC and Northern Virginia Carrying long-distance commuters to DC, Arlington & Alexandria Two lines, 96 miles Adding peak capacity to I-95, I-395 & I-66 corridors* 19,000 weekday trips Commuters that would otherwise drive alone in cars* VIRGINIAVIRGINIA RAILWAY RAILWAY EXPRESS EXPRESS * Source: Texas Transportation Institute, Virginia Railway Express Congestion Relief Contribution; 2014 3 WHO WE ARE VRE is a “joint project” of two Transportation Commissions Northern Virginia Potomac & Rappahannock Transportation Commission Transportation Commission VRE Master Agreement Northern Jurisdictions: Southern Jurisdictions: Two VA Counties Three VA Counties One VA City Three VA Cities VRE VRE Operations Operations Board Board VRE Staff VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 4 WHERE WE OPERATE . VRE operates on tracks owned and controlled by its three “host railroads”: ‒ CSX Transportation (CSXT) ‒ Norfolk Southern (NS) ‒ National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 5 WHAT WE ARE KNOWN FOR Safe Operations High Customer Satisfaction Quality Service Reliable Service Strong Partnerships with Host Railroads VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 6 Peak Hour Trips from Virginia to DC across the 14th Street Bridges (6:30 to 7:30 AM) OTHER 11% 1% VRE 13% BUS AUTOMOBILE METRORAIL 58% 17% 21,934 TOTAL TRIPS VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS Source: MWCOG Transportation Planning Board 2013 Central Employment Core Cordon Count 7 On a typical weekday VRE draws ridership from 39 Virginia Jurisdictions Washington DC * VIRGINIA RAILWAY RAILWAY EXPRESS EXPRESS * Source: 2015 Master Agreement Survey 8 VRE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN Six-Year Roadmap for Investment (FY2019- FY2024) . Asset Management/SOGR 9 projects – $85 million . Passenger Stations 18 projects – $345 million . Passenger Station Parking 4 projects – $65 million . Track & Signal Infrastructure 2 projects – $77 million Total Six-Year Program: $2.3 billion . Maintenance/Storage Facilities including capital reserve, rolling stock, asset 8 projects – $280 million management & state-of-good-repair projects . New Locomotive & Coaches 6 projects – $349 million . Long Bridge & Add’l Tracks VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 4 projects – $1.1 billion 9 STATE-OF-GOOD-REPAIR PROJECTS . First priority of the Capital Program . Lifecycle maintenance philosophy – Replace/repair components before service failures . Sample projects: – Elevator modernization – Canopy reroofing – Station lighting upgrades – Pavement repair/renewal – Locomotives & railcars VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 10 SYSTEM PLAN 2040 . Adopted in January 2014 . Outlines a phased approach to system improvement . Adapts VRE to the challenges of a rapidly growing region – Move from commuter rail towards “Regional Rail” • Bidirectional and more frequent peak service • More midday and evening service – Nearly doubling ridership by 2040 VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 11 VRE SYSTEM PLAN 2040 Add rail capacity to grow to 50,000+ daily riders PHASE 1: Run Longer Trains . More railcars . More station parking . More train storage tracks . Second & longer platforms PHASE 2 & 3: Run More Trains . Earn additional slots through capacity improvements ‒ Additional CSXT tracks ‒ Long Bridge Expansion ‒ More parking, railcars, yards ‒ Broad Run Expansion was “Gainesville-Haymarket Extension” VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 12 ACTIVE CAPITAL PROJECTS . Stations & Parking 12 projects in NEPA/PE 4 projects in Engineering . Additional (3rd/4th )Tracks* 39 miles in NEPA/PE 9 miles in Engineering 9 miles in Construction . Maintenance/Storage Facilities 2 projects in NEPA/PE 1 project ready for Construction VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS * Includes track projects led wholly or in part by the Virginia Department of Rail & Public Transportation 13 MIDDAY STORAGE . VRE has “temporarily” used Ivy City Coach Yard since 1992 – Insufficient for today – Could go to zero by 2022 . Washington Terminal Yard Master Plan reconfiguration – Current VRE storage area needed for new Amtrak High Speed trainsets – Amtrak “Hecht Yard” site along New York Avenue NW suggested for VRE storage VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 14 NEW YORK AVENUE STORAGE FACILITY . Long, narrow site (5200 x 60 ft) ‒ 8.9 acres owned by Amtrak ‒ 0.8 acres privately owned . Sufficient capacity for VRE immediate needs ‒ 13 trains (9 to 10 cars each) . Only Practical Site Location ‒ Superior access to/from WUS via Union Market Track Removes 24 peak VRE movements Union across the NEC under New York Av Market Track bridge between Ivy City and the lower level WUS platforms VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 15 NEW YORK AVENUE STORAGE FACILITY SCHEMATIC LAYOUT . 13 trainsets (all tracks for 9 or 10-car consists) . Addresses “Core” State-of-Good-Repair needs . Minimal impact on New York Av NE right-of-way ‒ Subsurface tie-backs for retaining wall ‒ Temporary construction easements . Longer storage tracks supports longer train consists ‒ Support immediate growth in VRE ridership . Anticipate IFB for construction by 2020 VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS Not to Scale 16 TYPICAL CROSS-SECTION WEST OF 9TH STREET NE Project Manager Oscar Gonzalez [email protected] VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS Not to Scale 17 LONG BRIDGE CORRIDOR PROJECT . Expand capacity from two to four tracks ‒ Between LE (L’Enfant) to RO (Rosslyn) interlockings ‒ Six separate bridges spread over 1.4 miles ‒ Benefits commuter (VRE), intercity (Amtrak) and freight (CSXT) ‒ Necessary for more commuter train service (VRE & MARC) . Preliminary Engineering/NEPA funded through USDOT TIGER grant . Engineering funded through Atlantic Gateway FASTLANE grant VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 18 LONG BRIDGE CORRIDOR PROJECT CSXT RF&P SUBDIVISION Virginia (VA) to AF LENGTH: 7.9 miles PRESENT WEEKDAY TRAFFIC: 21 CSXT Freight Trains 34 VRE Commuter Trains 20 Amtrak Trains TRAFFIC SPLIT The “Eight-Mile Bridge” RAILROAD OWNERSHIP CSX Transportation AMTRAK (WTC) Norfolk Southern Passenger Stations Controlled Points VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 19 20 LONG BRIDGE CORRIDOR PROJECT Project Area − 1.4 miles in length − Project Limits: • L’Enfant Interlocking (LE) on the north • RO Interlocking (Rosslyn) on the south − Long Bridge plus five additional bridges − Design challenges • Tight track centers due to constrained ROW • Fixed “overbuild” under Maryland Avenue • Significant adjacent development • Sensitive park/historic resources/NPS property • Security sensitive area VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 20 21 LONG BRIDGE CORRIDOR PROJECT PROJECT MANAGEMENT TEAM Current Project − Funded by TIGER grant • FRA lead federal agency • DDOT is lead local agency/project manger • Host of additional agencies with jurisdiction or special areas of interest − EIS & Preliminary Engineering underway − Inter-Agency Partnership FEDERAL LEAD AGENCY • Project Management Team (PMT) consists of FRA, DDOT, DRPT, VRE, and CSXT • Public meetings scheduled for September 2018 • Draft EIS, PE and Cost Estimates expected in OTHER AGENCIES Summer 2019 VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 21 22 9 PRELIMINARY OPTIONS LONG BRIDGE CORRIDOR PROJECT Current Project − Purpose and Need defined • Railroad capacity • Network connectivity • Railroad resiliency and redundancy − DEIS development proceeding • Draft chapters under development • Section 106 coordination reviews 2 LEADING ALTERNATIVES − Key DEIS Issues • Threat & Vulnerability Analysis Issues • Bicycle/Pedestrian assessment • NPS/Property Issues New bridge New bridge upstream upstream Reuse Replace existing existing bridge bridge VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 22 LONG BRIDGE CORRIDOR PROJECT PROPOSED ACTION ALTERNATIVES FOR DRAFT EIS • New 2-track bridge upstream of • New 2-track bridge upstream of existing bridge existing bridge • Retain existing bridge • Replace existing bridge VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 23 24 LONG BRIDGE CORRIDOR PROJECT Project Context − Long Bridge is key part of a series of corridor improvements • Adding Long Bridge capacity is critical, but does not fully resolve the operational bottlenecks • Need operational ‘fluidity’ for freight and passenger trains between AF (Alexandria) and Virginia ((VA) in DC) interlockings − On-going adjacent corridor projects • New fourth tracks in DC (by VRE), Arlington County and Alexandria (by DRPT) • Reconfigured stations at L’Enfant, Crystal City, and Alexandria (by VRE) • Reconfiguration of Slaters Lane Interlocking (by VRE) VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 24 L’ENFANT STATION & FOURTH TRACK WMATA Main Entrance Eliminate Ramp New WMATA Elevators (2) New VRE Elevator Sixth St SW St Sixth New Bridge New VRE Elevator Fourth ST SW Access N StSeventh SW D St SW . Existing CSXT tracks Expand and extend the existing platform . Existing platform Add fourth track between VA and LE interlockings ‒ A second track serving L’Enfant Station platform New fourth track . Improve ADA accessibility/connectivity to Metro New platform construction . Key design issues to be resolved: Entrances Elevators ‒ Avoiding encroaching on Hancock Park (Reservation #113) ‒ Possible pedestrian access to Fourth St SW VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS 25 CRYSTAL CITY STATION & FOURTH TRACK This project is funded in