VRE's new gallery cars include bicycle storage.
the new Virginia Railway Express gallery cars have...bicycle storage (bring your own bungee straps to tie down your bike)
The 11 new cars built by Nippon Sharyo are all cab cars
You won't get to use them right away though.
Both of the new cab cars will enter regular service on both lines in mid-January, and the remaining nine cars will enter service between mid-January and the end of February. VRE will also revisit its bike policy once there are more of the new cars in service, because the new cars will be able to accommodate full-sized bicycles. VRE’s policy currently bans full-size bicycles but allows collapsible bicycles.
Not sure when that review will be done or if they'll decide to allow bikes now that they have the space, bit more space is coming.
Besides the new cab cars, VRE has exercised an option to purchase 50 more gallery coaches, to be delivered beginning in December: 20 coaches without restrooms, each with 144 seats; 20 coaches with handicapped-accessible restrooms, each car having 132 seats; and 10 more cab cars.
This may mean an upgrade for VRE. Take that, MARC. BTW, I just took my folding bike on MARC and I had no problems except that the conductor wanted to talk to me about how it worked, where I got it etc... the whole ride - and I wanted to look out the window.
(Thanks to Allen Muchnick for the info)
Comments