‘VRE heading south’
courtesy of ‘drewsaunders’

Final approval has been given to the Virginia Railway Express to abandon its 17 year relationship with Amtrak. The Northern Virginia and Potomac and Rappahannock transportation commissions all voted today in favor of awarding a new five-year contract to Keolis Rail Services America, a subsidiary of a French transport group. Keolis is the largest private sector transport group in Europe, based out of Paris, France.

The plan was initially approved by the VRE Operations Board in mid-October. The new contract begins July 1, 2010 and has two five-year renewal options.