Rail Services

The figures in this section focus on the recent performance of rail systems operating in Northern Virginia (i.e. Metrorail and VRE).  For WMATA, ridership is shown daily (Figure 7) and annually (Figure 8) by station.  Because of the effects of September 11, 2001 (which was in FY 2002), comparisons of FY 2002 to FY 2001 show a slight drop overall, especially for Sunday ridership. 

Figure 7: FY2001- 2002 Metrorail Ridership Summary

Average Daily Passenger Trips by Station

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Station

 

 

Weekday

Saturday

Sunday

Weekday

Saturday

Sunday

 

 

 

FY 01

FY 01

FY 01

FY 02

FY 02

FY 02

Stations in Alexandria

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue/Yellow Line Stations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Braddock Road

 

3,777

1,274

936

3,804

1,436

867

 

 

Van Dorn Street

 

3,539

1,601

1,211

3,615

1,579

914

 

 

Eisenhower Avenue

 

1,286

340

245

1,500

785

429

 

 

King Street

 

5,678

2,945

2,438

5,576

2,990

1,808

 

 

Total Alexandria:

   14,280

6,160

4,830

14,496

6,790

4,018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stations in Arlington

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orange Line Stations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

East Falls Church

 

4,060

1,798

1,490

4,020

1,820

1,083

 

 

Ballston

 

11,259

4,375

3,233

11,195

4,578

2,741

 

 

Virginia Square

 

2,607

768

581

2,653

855

541

 

 

Clarendon

 

2,914

1,169

838

2,907

1,281

745

 

 

Courthouse

 

7,275

2,548

1,867

6,790

2,663

1,612

 

 

Rosslyn

 

15,633

5,458

4,090

14,900

5,243

3,615

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue/Yellow Line Stations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arlington Cemetery

 

1,905

2,669

4,026

1,555

2,059

2,082

 

 

Pentagon

 

17,401

2,804

2,265

12,772

2,473

1,578

 

 

Pentagon City

 

11,751

10,213

6,911

14,289

10,966

6,481

 

 

Crystal City

 

12,851

4,139

3,140

12,769

3,921

2,474

 

 

National Airport

 

5,506

3,786

5,369

3,906

2,770

3,788

  

Total Arlington:

93,162

39,727

33,810

87,756

38,628

26,738

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stations in Fairfax County

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orange Line Stations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vienna

 

11,607

4,528

4,591

12,087

4,566

2,713

 

 

Dunn Loring

 

4,481

1,790

1,555

4,528

1,847

1,069

 

 

West Falls Church

 

7,279

2,082

1,790

7,669

2,312

1,438

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue/Yellow Line Stations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Huntington

 

8,372

2,662

2,331

8,209

2,826

1,701

 

 

Franconia-Springfield

 

8,194

3,600

3,666

8,602

3,724

2,131

 

 

 

Total Fairfax:

39,933

14,662

13,933

41,095

15,274

9,051

 

 

 TOTAL VIRGINIA:

147,375

60,549

52,573

143,346

60,692

39,807


Figure 8:  FY2001-2002 Metrorail Ridership Summary
Annual Passenger Trips by Station

 

 

 

Weekday

Saturday

Sunday

Weekday

Saturday

Sunday

 

 

Station

FY 01

FY 01

FY 01

FY 02

FY 02

FY 02

Stations in Alexandria

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue/Yellow Line Stations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Braddock Road

1,828,130

139,477

102,473

1,827,052

160,653

94,577

 

 

Van Dorn Street

1,712,934

175,277

132,580

1,736,545

176,478

99,379

 

 

Eisenhower Avenue

622,445

37,223

26,823

721,058

87,663

46,322

 

 

King Street

2,748,245

322,418

266,912

2,680,492

335,441

196,470

 

 

Total Alexandria:

6,911,754

674,396

528,788

6,965,148

760,234

436,748

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stations in Arlington

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orange Line Stations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

East Falls Church

1,965,107

196,845

163,125

1,930,709

203,433

117,950

 

 

Ballston

5,449,541

478,975

353,949

5,377,874

511,457

298,198

 

 

Virginia Square

1,261,831

84,081

63,608

1,273,977

95,785

58,942

 

 

Clarendon

1,410,424

127,982

91,744

1,395,629

144,041

81,046

 

 

Courthouse

3,521,219

278,955

204,399

3,261,629

297,176

175,471

 

 

Rosslyn

7,566,628

597,541

447,773

7,158,493

587,986

394,525

 

Blue/Yellow Line Stations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arlington Cemetery

922,051

292,202

440,766

755,014

230,684

225,625

 

 

Pentagon

8,422,369

306,982

247,972

6,168,445

276,967

170,041

 

 

Pentagon City

5,687,677

1,118,118

756,616

6,844,582

1,219,762

708,396

 

 

Crystal City

6,220,095

453,137

343,767

6,135,740

436,660

267,820

 

 

National Airport

2,664,994

414,491

587,798

1,888,269

307,950

407,530

 

 

Total Arlington:

45,091,936

4,349,308

3,701,515

42,190,359

4,311,900

2,905,547

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stations in Fairfax County

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orange Line Stations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vienna

5,617,978

495,725

502,622

5,807,434

510,274

297,123

 

 

Dunn Loring

2,168,877

195,969

170,241

2,175,946

206,249

116,496

 

 

West Falls Church

3,523,155

227,937

195,969

3,684,855

257,896

156,550

 

Blue/Yellow Line Stations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Huntington

4,052,185

291,435

255,198

3,943,552

316,579

184,950

 

 

 Total Fairfax:

19,328,227

1,605,194

1,525,383

19,743,409

1,707,251

988,246

 

 

TOTAL VIRGINIA:

71,331,917

6,628,898

5,755,687

68,898,916

6,779,385

4,330,541


Figure 9 contains monthly Metrorail ridership and Figure 10 shows the annual trend for Metrorail with FY 2002 down slightly from the record year of FY 2001, but still well above the previous record setting year of FY 2000.  Because transit ridership is still recovering, calendar year 2002 shows significant growth over calendar year 2001, even though the fiscal year comparisons show a slight decline.  For example, Metrorail ridership was up 3.6 percent in calendar year 2002. 

 

Text Box:
For VRE, daily and annual ridership by station is shown in Figure 11, with monthly ridership in Figure 12.  Figure 13 reveals a very robust growth trend since the mid-summer of 1997 when a CSXT freight derailment temporarily interrupted VRE’s ability to provide on-time performance.  VRE has grown to be the eleventh largest commuter rail system in the U.S. in a decade of operation.  It is now growing at about 20 percent annually and it often carries over 14,000 daily trips in the heavily congested I-95/395 and I-66 corridors.  A 1995 NVTC study reveals the discounted cost of building and operating VRE over a 20-year period is about $264 million less than the costs of building new freeways and   operating automobiles to carry the same volume of        commuters.

Figure 11:  VRE Average Daily and Annual
Passenger Trips by Station and Line

Station

Average Daily

 Passenger Trips

Average Annual

 Passenger Trips

 

 

 

 Fredericksburg Line

 

 

Fredericksburg

654

170,802

Leeland

 481

125,590

Brook

 261

68,006

Quantico

 314

81,876

Rippon

 299

77,948

Woodbridge

 542

141,414

Lorton

 165

43,002

Franconia

  215

56,083

Alexandria

   288

75,097

Crystal City

   870

227,142

L'Enfant

   947

247,293

Union Station

   493

128,692

TOTAL

5,529

1,442,945

 

 

 

Manassas Line

 

 

Broad Run

473

123,465

Manassas

507

132,397

Manassas Park

465

121,476

Burke Center

558

145,727

Rolling Road

348

90,816

Backlick Road

117

30,651

Alexandria

175

45,651

Crystal City

626

163,285

L’Enfant

1,078

281,297

Union Station

603

157,315

TOTAL

4,950

1,292,080

Finally, Figure 14 shows persons and organizations to contact for more information about these rail systems.


Figure 14:  Description and Contact Information
for Northern Virginia Rail Transit Systems

 

Local Rail

Service

Service Description

Contact for Route Planning/ Performance

Phone/Email

Metrorail

Provides rail service in Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia

Carol Kachadoorian

(202) 962-2290

ckachadoorian@wmata.com

Virginia Railway Express (VRE)

 

Provides commuter rail service between Fredericksburg and Washington D.C., and Manassas and Washington D.C., serving the counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford, Prince William, Fairfax, Arlington, and the city of Alexandria.

 

Dale Zehner

(703) 838-5411

dzehner@vre.org