
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 26, 1990                   TAG: 9006260504
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

COMMUTER RAIL LINK TO GET BUSH APPROVAL

President Bush plans to sign a bill that removes the last major hurdle for a long-waited commuter rail linking Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia, a White House spokesman says.

Both the Senate and the House unanimously passed the bill Monday that reauthorizes Amtrak and makes it possible for Virginia Railway Express trains to cross the Potomac River and stop at Washington's Union Station.

Congress passed virtually identical legislation last month but Bush vetoed it because he objected to a provision pertaining to takeovers of freight railroads. A veto override attempt passed the House but fell short of the necessary two-thirds vote in the Senate.

The takeover provision was removed from the current bill.

Virginia Railway Express plans to begin eight daily round trips - four between Washington's Union Station and Manassas and four between the district and Fredericksburg - in October 1991.

- Associated Press

by CNB