A looming freight rail strike could disrupt numerous commuter rail services across the country as well
Commuters wait to board an arriving Virginia Railway Express commuter train Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022 at the Crystal City station in Arlington, Va. September was shaping up as a good month for commuters on Virginia Railway Express outside the nation's capital, with the service offering free rides all month to lure back riders lost during the pandemic.
He takes the roughly hourlong train ride from the outer suburbs of Prince William County to avoid the region's notorious traffic. VRE has said it will be forced to shut down service if a strike begins, and there are few feasible mass-transit alternatives for long-distance commuters. The largest commuter rail systems, all in metropolitan New York, are not affected, but the Metra system in Chicago is expecting disruptions on at least four of its 11 lines, and said that could begin after the Thursday afternoon rush hour.
John Cline, director of government relations for the the Commuter Rail Coalition, an industry trade group, said there are 36 commuter rail lines in the U.S., and the impact on each ranges from “potentially catastrophic” to negligible. At Virginia Railway Express, the potential strike comes at a time the service is offering free rides during the month of September in an effort to boost ridership that has never recovered from the pandemic. It also comes at a time when riders are utilizing VRE as a substitute for six stations in northern Virginia that are temporarily closed on the larger Metrorail system.
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