Having just traveled a round trip on the Crescent to Georgia next time I make the trip I am considering to break up the journey by using the Lynchburg Regional. Not only will it be less crowded ensuring a nice double seat to lay down on it will provide a layover in which to grab a bite to eat. Only problem is if a northbound Crescent is late I might miss the regional connection and have to either see if the Crescent crew will accept my ticket or necessitate the purchase of a protection ticket that I can exchange if unused.
It does seem odd to have Amtrak double barreling the two trains in the same direction, but it makes sense to try to shift the local traffic onto the Regional. Amtrak should go one farther and change the new "local" VA stations to R and D stops to ensure that local riders take the regional (or barring that use a significant price differential).
One side point, I always try to avoid 9x Regional trains because they are always more crowded (and slower, and later) than the 1xx Regionals that originate and terminate in DC. I wonder if the 171/176 trains will now suffer from these drawbacks.
It does seem odd to have Amtrak double barreling the two trains in the same direction, but it makes sense to try to shift the local traffic onto the Regional. Amtrak should go one farther and change the new "local" VA stations to R and D stops to ensure that local riders take the regional (or barring that use a significant price differential).
One side point, I always try to avoid 9x Regional trains because they are always more crowded (and slower, and later) than the 1xx Regionals that originate and terminate in DC. I wonder if the 171/176 trains will now suffer from these drawbacks.