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Virginia Railway Express (VRE) recently reached an agreement with Amtrak to extend its operating agreement another five years.

Under the contract — which takes effect July 1 — Amtrak will continue to operate and maintain VRE’s fleet.

New contract provisions will increase VRE’s storage capacity almost 30 percent and enable the agency to run an eight-car train on the Fredricksburg and Manassas lines. VRE also will add cars to other trains to provide an additional 1,800 seats each weekday.

Crew services costs will remain the same. VRE and Amtrak will determine long-term solutions for mid-day storage and fleet maintenance.