Plans to renovate VRE station in Crystal City amid arrival of Amazon's HQ2
ARLINGTON, Va. (ABC7) — Out of the 13 stops, from Spotsylvania to Union Station, Crystal City is VRE's busiest platform.
"We're seeing probably 20 percent increase now and I ride the express train at 4:30 a.m.; 4:54 a.m. is when it picks up," said VRE rider Arthur Deleon. 'It's pretty packed on the trains."
18 percent of riders use Crystal City and on Friday, riders could be one-step closer to getting a new platform; more than double the length of the current one.
"If it works, it's good. It will help us, yeah," said VRE rider Richard Wagner.
VRE is looking to approve plans to move forward with engineering this concept, years in the making; a plan some riders believe is critical now that Amazon is moving into 6 million square feet of office space next door.
“They just can’t keep packing people in because people are just going to be standing up and probably not take it anymore and jam pack the highways," said VRE rider Curtis McGuire.
The project could cost Virginia tax-payers up to $50 million dollars. But, officials say it will make the tracks safer and service more efficient.
