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sporkityfork t1_je627xn wrote

Reply to comment by __main__py in The Silver Line to Dulles is a bigger deal than I thought it would be by MrMoustachio55

Yeah, I agree that it shouldn't be DC's problem at all, it's Virginia's problem. I think Maryland's MARC is a great example of what can be done. You can take rail from Baltimore to Harpers Ferry. That rules. Virginia has VRE but it's pretty limited.

For us out here, we have Vienna, Reston, and Ashburn as good options. And some people use the Loudoun commuter buses when it makes sense for them to. I personally use either Reston or Vienna metro.

Imagine if you dudes could take rail out to Shenandoah National Park. That would be cool IMO. Not as big of an impact of being able to take rail to Dulles, but still cool.

EDIT: It's incredibly dumb IMO that Harpers Ferry has rail services but Winchester doesn't. Plenty of commuters in both places.

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sylver_dragon t1_je6in6f wrote

> Virginia has VRE but it's pretty limited.

Ya, this system really needs to be expanded. When I was still commuting to DC, I took the VRE in from Fredericksburg and it made for a much better commute than driving. The only downside is that it's very focused on the 0700-1600 workers. If you aren't planning to be out of the city by 1700, you're skating on thin ice. I think they've expanded slightly in the last year or so; but, it's still aimed squarely at early workers.

What I really wish for is that they would expand service to cover weekends. It'd be great to take the family up to DC on a Saturday and not fight traffic. Also, better tracks for faster trains. It's shameful that driving in traffic is somehow faster than a dedicated set of rails.

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sporkityfork t1_je6kz7y wrote

Yeah. I've lived that life. VRE didn't make sense to me at the time based on where I had to work. I also wasn't very familiar with the bus system in that area at the time. This is why I95 is such a hellish road between DC and FXBG...

Virginia planners would rather build an expensive privately operated toll road than to put rail in....

It is really wonderful that Loudoun County planners have been supportive of comprehensive rail and bus transit. Other counties that really should be like Stafford haven't been...

And it doesn't help that a lot of people that live that far out, certainly out where I live, see DC as practically Mordor...

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