VRE to Burke Centre Station Riders: Do Not Cross Train Tracks as a Shortcut

The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) has issued a safety warning to all Burke residents who use the Burke Centre Station, located at 10399 Premier Court, to stop crossing the tracks to access Guinea Road.

In an email message sent through their newsletter (see below), the VRE advised Burke Centre passengers to use the Roberts Parkway bridge rather than crossing the train tracks to access neighborhoods near Guinea Road:

Each day we see a number of VRE and Amtrak passengers leave the station and hike up and over the tracks at this point as a shortcut to Guinea Road. Simply put, this practice is unacceptable to us. You are taking a significant risk in doing this because visibility is severely limited by the natural curve of the railroad and both tracks are always active with both freight and passenger trains. The train you just got off is not the only one out there.

In the interest of passenger safety, we are cracking down on this unsafe and illegal practice. Please use the Roberts Parkway bridge. It may take around 2 extra minutes but we can assure you, there's nothing on Guinea Road even close to being worth your life and two fewer minutes.

According to WTOP, a fence was previously built to prevent passengers from crossing the tracks, but the fence was knocked down. The VRE also has signs posted warning passengers to not cross the tracks, but some people jump off of the platform and follow the track bed to the paths, the article further states.

Braddock District Supervisor John Cook told WTOP that Fairfax County has plans to build a pedestrian walkway over the tracks, but no funding to build it.

"The bridge costs more than $4 million and is not in the budget or in the four or six-year transportation plans," Cook is quoted as saying.

Read the full WTOP article here.

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