Lynchburg VA NE Regional (ext. to Roanoke and Bristol)

Station construction bid: WSLS10

Amtrak accepting bids for Roanoke station

As of now, Amtrak is in the bidding phase of the project to select a contractor for the depot.

The station will be built off of Norfolk Avenue at the corner of Jefferson Street near the Martin Luther King Bridge in downtown Roanoke.

Roanoke City Council unanimously approved the plan back in March.

The new platform will support a nine-car Amtrak train that will run between Roanoke and Lynchburg.

This Roanoke extension feels as if it has happened in the blink of an eye. Light speed when compared to other service extension projects elsewhere. Its interesting to imagine how much further Virginia is going to go with the current expansion of passenger railroad service. For the moment there is no obvious end in sight and lots of goals still left on the list.

Actually, I daresay the end is in sight for current practice. Virginia is running out of Northeast Corridor trains to extend. Virginia took advantage of its unique geographic position to lengthen the runs of existing trains, but additional frequencies and operating beyond Roanoke will probably require funding entirely new trains, and if any of them don't continue up the Northeast Corridor, they probably won't get the revenue share they now do (in which Virginia is credited for some of the revenue generated by passengers traveling up the Corridor, not just the portion of the fare from Washington south).

So we may not get the Transdomonion express, but I feel Virginia could get say the Virginian (or Commonwealth Liner for the inner train, and the Hampton Roads Flyer for the peninsula train), its own non corridor/terminalizng at DC train)

Virginia could use one that turns around in D.C. for the afternoon northbound's and morning southbound's, but they will have to ante up the full subsidy for these trains. Money I'm not sure Virginia has.

I know the slots into NYP are limited, but if Virginia can acquire some 125 mph locomotives and widen the long bridge, are there any slots which will allow passage through Washington without changing locomotives and doing a cross-platform transfer at Philadelphia to a Keystone?

Because of the necessary padding, it might not save a lot of time northbound, but it should shave quite a bit off the southbound trip.

It certainly appears that the route is going to be ready for service. The only worry now apparent is equipment. VA DOT might have to pay for some wreck rebuilds to supply the necessary cars that Amtrak does not now have. That would supply the necessary Amfleets and probably a couple locos.
Now if VA wants a WASH <> ROA train round trip maybe they can refurbish some EL Capitan cars which being slightly lower will fit at WASH ?

With the exception of the "Pacific Parlor" cars,all the "El Cap" cars are retired from Amtrak,believe only SLRG(IP)has
a "working set" of El Cap" cars in tourist service in Colorado.
Have no idea the condition of the cars that "Corridor Capital"(the other Hoosier State bidder) owns,
reportly there're "El Cap" coaches.

The bigger constraint on Virginia growth is CSX's Long Bridge. Gov McAuliffe's plan to add tracks to the RF&P was needed to buy one more slot for only a second daily ROA/LYH r/t.

I wonder if in the interim there's any possibility of getting two trains through a southbound slot - either by splitting them at Alexandria, or running them just a few minutes apart. Then you could send one train south to Richmond/Newport News/Norfolk/North Carolina, and one train southwest to Lynchburg/Roanoke/Bristol/Tennessee, both with guaranteed connections or through cars off the Regional. While that doesn't address the probable need for Virginia-based day trains, it would eek a little more frequency out.

east point wrote:It certainly appears that the route is going to be ready for service. The only worry now apparent is equipment. VA DOT might have to pay for some wreck rebuilds to supply the necessary cars that Amtrak does not now have. That would supply the necessary Amfleets and probably a couple locos.
Now if VA wants a WASH <> ROA train round trip maybe they can refurbish some EL Capitan cars which being slightly lower will fit at WASH ?

I remember back in the early "Trans Dominion Express" days, there were plans to acquire some single level VRE coaches for the starter service. Of course that never happened, and those cars ended up going to Connecticut for SLE service, but Virginia could always follow the North Carolina Piedmont model of acquiring unique equipment. However, for a through train that's going up the 125 mph NEC to Boston, I guess Amfleet is sort of a given. I always wondered of those old SPV2000 coaches (which I believe were in service in Connecticut until the aforementioned ex-VRE cars replaced them) could be rebuilt to Amfleet specs.

jstolberg wrote:

electricron wrote:Virginia could use one that turns around in D.C. for the afternoon northbound's and morning southbound's, but they will have to ante up the full subsidy for these trains. Money I'm not sure Virginia has.

I know the slots into NYP are limited, but if Virginia can acquire some 125 mph locomotives and widen the long bridge, are there any slots which will allow passage through Washington without changing locomotives and doing a cross-platform transfer at Philadelphia to a Keystone?

Because of the necessary padding, it might not save a lot of time northbound, but it should shave quite a bit off the southbound trip.

Isn't the issue with this the fuel burn? I mean unless they make a ALP-44 Commuter version, the fuel burn would be non trivial.

deathtopumpkins wrote:If the second LYH train will be an afternoon northbound and morning southbound, then will it not be an extension of an NEC train?

Yes.

Literalman wrote:Actually, I daresay the end is in sight for current practice. Virginia is running out of Northeast Corridor trains to extend. Virginia took advantage of its unique geographic position to lengthen the runs of existing trains, but additional frequencies and operating beyond Roanoke will probably require funding entirely new trains, and if any of them don't continue up the Northeast Corridor, they probably won't get the revenue share they now do (in which Virginia is credited for some of the revenue generated by passengers traveling up the Corridor, not just the portion of the fare from Washington south).

This is an astute and accurate observation.

Checking Amtrak's scheduling, some time points I wanted to make.
The elapse time listed on the timetables between D.C. and Lynchburg is 219 minutes, and between D.C. and Richmond it's 135 minutes.
Let's look at what Amtrak does with the NEC weekday southbound Amfleets arriving in D.C. in the mornings.
Train 66 arrives D.C. 7:00, leaves 7:30 towards Newport News
Train 151 arrives D.C. 8:15
Train 111 arrives D.C. 8:40
Train 121 arrives D.C. 9:05
Train 89 arrives D.C. 9:25, leaves 9:55 towards Savanah
Train 181 arrives D.C. 9:42
Train 183 arrives D.C. 10:25
Train 79 arrives D.C. 10:35, leaves 10:55 towards Charlottes
Train 51 arrives D.C. 10:40, leaves 11:10 towards Chicago
Train 185 arrives D.C. 11:25

Obviously train 51 heads south of D.C. too late for the poster's complaints, therefore let's assume Trains 181 and 183 are too, they arrive in D.C. Less than an hour before Train 51. That only leaves three trains available in the schedule to head south into Virginia, Trains 151,111, and 121. Can they head south and still leave enough rolling stock for Amfleet trains leaving D.C. Heading north?
To answer that question, we'll have to look at the Amfleet trains departing D.C. Heading north.
Train 190 leaves D.C. 3:15
Train 110 leaves D.C. 4:00
Train 170 leaves D.C. 5:02
Train 180 leaves D.C. 5:25
Train 130 leaves D.C. 6:35
Train 98 arrives D.C. 6:32 from Miami
Train 172 leaves D.C. 7:36
Train 56 leaves D.C. 8:10 towards Vermont
Train 84 leaves D.C. 8:35 from Richmond
Train 174 leaves D.C. 9:25 *
Train 86 leaves D.C. 10:25 from Richmond
Train 184 leaves D.C. 11:30 *
Train 176 leaves D.C. 12:05 pm *
(* Trains leaving D.C. after southbound trains arrive)
That's seven trains leaving D.C. heading north that had to overnight in D.C.
How many trains do you expect they should overnight in D.C. so they will have trains heading to the north?
To send a train south to Virginia from D.C. In the morning means taking trains away from heading north, or storing more trains in D.C. overnight. Is there room to do so in the yard?

What about a split of 66/67 at Washington?
1/2 to Newport News, 1/2 to Roanoke.? I'm presuming that neither destination rakes in a full trainload, and the extra hour or so running time would leave enough time to turn the train.