Virginia Railway Express (VRE) Santa Train tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 21, 2016.
Santa Trains will run on Saturday, Dec. 10.
Tickets for the Fredericksburg Santa Trains will be available online, and at the Fredericksburg Visitor Center, 706 Caroline St., in downtown Fredericksburg. There are two excursions scheduled December 10 from Fredericksburg: The Dasher Express from 8:30 – 9:30 a.m., and the Vixen Express from 10:30 – 11:20 a.m.
Tickets for the Spotsylvania Santa Trains will be available online, and at the Spotsylvania County Visitors Center, 4704 Southpoint Pkwy., in Spotsylvania. The Blitzen Express will run from 2 – 3:15 p.m., and the Rudolph Express will run from 3:30 – 4:45 p.m.
The online ticket sales link can be found on the VRE Santa Train webpage.
There are also excursions from the Broad Run, Manassas, Burke Centre, and Woodbridge stations. See the VRE Santa Train webpage for details.
The annual event is so popular, tickets usually sell out within minutes.
“Every year kids and their parents are given the opportunity to ride a VRE train and meet Santa and Mrs. Claus, who are on board to promote rail safety and Operation Lifesaver’s “Look, Listen and Live” campaign,” VRE said.. Santa’s helpers are also aboard, handing out candy canes and coloring books.
These VRE Operation Lifesaver Santa Trains also work with the Marine Corps Toys for Tots. On December 10, the Spotsylvania, Fredericksburg, Broad Run, Manassas, Burke Centre, and Woodbridge stations will also serve as drop off sites for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots Campaign. VRE encourages everyone to bring a toy to the Santa Trains, so that someone less fortunate can share in the joys of the holidays.
Purchasing Instructions from VRE
1 – Both online tickets and tickets sold at the outlets will go on sale at 9 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 21. Half of the tickets will be sold at ticket outlets and the other half will be sold online. Tickets cannot be reserved or sold in advance.
2 – Santa Train Tickets are not refundable or exchangeable.
3 – Tickets are $5 at the outlets and $6 online. Payment at the ticket outlets may be made with cash or check, payable to VRE. Online purchases can be made with credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover) or with a pre-existing PayPal account.
4 – All passengers, regardless of age, must have tickets. Regular VRE tickets Will NOT be honored for this special event. Tickets will not be sold at the station the day of the event, and must be purchased in advance.
5 – With the exception of tickets sold online, tickets will only be available for purchase from the station the excursion train will depart from. (i.e. Fredericksburg Santa Train tickets can only be purchased at Fredericksburg). Online sales will have a limited number of tickets for each train.
6 – Ticket sales are limited to 6 per person for most trains.
7 – All online tickets will be MAILED to the address provided in PayPal. If that address is not correct, please update the address.
8 – For online purchases, any person attempting to purchase more than 6 tickets for specific trains will have their ENTIRE ORDER REFUNDED, thus not receiving any tickets. NO EXCEPTIONS.
9 – Each train will be an excursion – passengers will return to the station from which they departed.
