Last month, we told you how the Virginia Railway Express commuter lines were discussing raising their fares by 15 percent in January, even though they had just raised them 3 percent across the board in July. Well today WTOP reports that VRE CEO Dale Zehner will this week recommend a fare increase of only 7 percent. Given that the reasons for the increase are similar to problems facing transit and commuter rail agencies across the country, like high fuel costs and aging trains, the 7 percent hike seems a lot easier to swallow than a 15 percent one. Keep in mind, though, that originally VRE was talking about two big rounds of increases: 15 percent in January and then possibly another 10 percent in July, 2009. With this new plan to raise fares by only 7 percent in January, it seems even more likely that a second increase could be in store next summer.