Woman removed from VRE train after ticket snafu

Quantico, Va.--Transit officials called this morning's episode on a Virginia Railway Express train an unfortunate delay.

An unidentified woman was pulled off of a Fredericksburg line VRE train about 8:30 Tuesday morning after getting into an argument with a conductor over her train ticket.

When the conductor asked to see her validated ticket she told him the validation machines were not working at the station where she boarded, said VRE spokesman Mark Roeber.

When the conductor pressed her about not having a validated ticket she became increasingly confrontational, causing the train to be delayed for at least 30 minutes.

A passenger sitting near the woman offered one of his free ride tickets he previously obtained, but the woman refused saying that machines on the platform should have been working, said Roeber.

Eventually police were called to the scene to remove the woman from the train. Once she was off, the train continued on to the Rippon station in Woodbridge, 30 minutes behind schedule.

"Everyone onboard that train had a valid ticket except for her. The people on board that train did not need the delay that was caused by the result of this verbal confrontation," said Roeber.

Police did not charge the woman, nor did they identify her, said Prince William police spokesman Jonathan Perok.

Roeber said it is possible the woman validated her ticket at the Quantico station and then boarded the next train to continue on her way.

Officials don't know which station the woman used to board the train, though they are certain it was not a station in Prince William County.

A check of the ticket validating machines at stations along the Fredericksburg line following the incident showed that all were working correctly, except for one at the Fredericksburg station.

"It looks like one of the machines was used there, but a receipt was not removed from the machine which would cause it to work improperly, though that would be considered a human error," said Roeber.

The commuter railroad reminds passengers that if they encounter problems with ticketing machines to let train conductors know at the time of boarding the train.

If that had happened when the woman got on the train, a situation like this could have been avoided, said Roeber.

VRE provides commuter rail service on two lines in Prince William County -- the Fredericksburg line in the eastern portion of the county and the Manassas line in the west.

Both lines transport Prince William commuters to and from stations in Alexandria and Washington.

Despite a lower on-time performance record last month, two of the top ten ridership days were recorded in June, according to VRE documents.

The agency logged more than 18,000 riders a day for seven days last month, seeing ridership rise 4.2 percent over last year.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-530-3905.