All aboard the John Jenkins Express.
Jenkins, the longest currently serving Prince William County Board of Supervisors, is recognized for his participation on the Virginia Railway Express Operations Board. He and eight other VRE Board members who played key roles in the development of the commuter railroad since its founding in 1992 will have their names affixed to the front of VRE locomotives.
Here’s a full list of names that will soon appear on commuter trains:
- Edwin King – Prince William County (Original Member)
- James Hugh Payne Sr. – City of Manassas (First Elected City of Manassas Member)
- Bernard Cohen – VA House of Delegates (Original Member)
- Bob Gibbons – Stafford County (First Elected Stafford Member)
- Sally H. Cooper – VDOT (Original Member)
- Sharon Bulova – Fairfax County (Original and Continuously Serving Member)
- John Jenkins – Prince William County (Long Serving Member)
- Hilda Barg – Prince William County (Long Serving Member)
- Elaine McConnell – Fairfax County (Long Serving Member – previously recognized)
The operations board approved adding the names to the locomotives at their monthly meeting this morning.
“Naming locomotives to honor those who helped establish or ensure the success of VRE is a small token of the appreciation we have for the foresight and public service these Board Members have provided in creating VRE,” said VRE Operations Board Chairman Paul Milde in a press release.
The names that will be affixed to the locomotives belong to those who “played a key role in establishing VRE service, were early or long-tenured members, or whose extraordinary efforts contributed to its success, will be honored by having their names placed on the front of VRE locomotives.”
Virginia Railway Express trains carried more than 320,000 riders in November. Over the past year, the commuter railroad carried 2 million riders.
