Amtrak NEC Virginia Regional Service

[gokeefe]

Sure ... But who would have ever guessed it would be this close???

[ThirdRail7]

Take another look at that fact sheet. Roanoke is producing more passengers than Norfolk. Unreal ...

I think you're missing the aspect of the tidewater region. Newport News and Norfolk are a comparative stone's throw apart. As such, someone can look at the schedule and their transportations options and decide which station they wish to use. If you add NPN into the equation, the tidewater region dwarfs the Roanoke numbers.

A couple of other things jump out at me. If you look at the top ridership pairs, ROA-WAS is number 10. However, NFK is nowhere to be found. The trend of NFK passengers traveling through as noted years ago in the Hampton Roads/Norfolk/Newport News NE Regional Servicethread seems to hold up:

There isn't much intrastate travel coming from NFK or PTB. The vast majority of the riders are through passengers.

The Norfolk service started just before the holiday travel period which would distort the numbers. The February, March, April numbers should provide a better view of what the trip patterns for Norfolk look like as the service becomes established. In this case, does through passengers include NFK-WAS or just those going north of DC?

I included DC. To give you an idea, let's say there are 30 riders boarding at NFK. 14 would travel north of DC, 10 would travel to DC and 6 would travel to points in VA.

Additionally, check out WBG. I figured 94's schedule change would have a significant impact on ridership and it shows. I can only imagine what ridership would look like if WBG didn't have a later departure on weekends.

[Gilbert B Norman]

Wow!

Fair Use:

Trains will run almost every hour between Washington and Richmond - including Main Street Station downtown - within 10 years under a deal between Virginia and CSX Corp. that will open the gateway for expanded rail service in the region and other parts of the state.

The blockbuster $3.7 billion agreement that Gov. Ralph Northam and CSX announced on Thursday will give Virginia control over hundreds of miles of railroad track and underlying right-of-way in three rail corridors, including the former RF&P line that parallels Interstate 95 between Richmond and Washington. It will not expand the two-track rail line that runs through Ashland, which the state already has promised to preserve.

Now the question? How will CSX route their traffic?

[Bob Roberts]

Wow!

Fair Use:

Trains will run almost every hour between Washington and Richmond - including Main Street Station downtown - within 10 years under a deal between Virginia and CSX Corp. that will open the gateway for expanded rail service in the region and other parts of the state.

The blockbuster $3.7 billion agreement that Gov. Ralph Northam and CSX announced on Thursday will give Virginia control over hundreds of miles of railroad track and underlying right-of-way in three rail corridors, including the former RF&P line that parallels Interstate 95 between Richmond and Washington. It will not expand the two-track rail line that runs through Ashland, which the state already has promised to preserve.

Now the question? How will CSX route their traffic?

Sounds to me like the RFP has now been split in half. CSX will keep its double tracks (and the existing Long Bridge) and VADOT will keep any existing 3rd track and plans to build out the third (and fourth after the new Long Bridge opens) tracks alongside existing. The purchase price includes cash for the new Long Bridge.

Purchase includes the VA portion of the S-Line (Petersburg to the state line) so this is also huge news for NC service. Once the S-Line purchase in NC is complete then public agencies will own 100% of the primary passenger ROW from Boston to Charlotte.

[Station Aficionado]

This is fantastic news. No more bridge “slots.” According to an email I received, the state is also buying the ex-C&O from Doswell to Clifton Forge.

With the freight roads (except BNSF)besotted with PSR, maybe more line will come into public ownership.

[Anthony]

This is fantastic news. No more bridge “slots.” According to an email I received, the state is also buying the ex-C&O from Doswell to Clifton Forge.

With the freight roads (except BNSF)besotted with PSR, maybe more line will come into public ownership.

This could potentially lead to Virginia improving capacity on the BBRR to allow for a daily Cardinal!

[njtmnrrbuff]

Great news for people who travel from the Northeast to Virginia and the population centers of North Carolina and vice versa. People who are heading from the Northeast to Richmond will be very happy to hear that they will be able to have more frequent rail options down the road. It will be great for VRE riders to hear that they will have more commuter trains to choose from. Weekend service sounds good too but it looks like I'm hearing only the Fredericksburg Line. As for upgrading the Buckingham Branch, yes, that could lead to a daily Cardinal. Unless if the Buckingham Branch between Orange and Charlottesville continues to be upgraded to permit faster train speeds, it would be nice if the Cardinal would be rerouted on NS all the way to CVS and then have a wye track built to connect the NS Southern Main with the Buckingham Branch at CVS.

[ryanch]

The Post version mentions that Amtrak intends to invest $994 million as part of the deal.:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tr ... story.html

Virginia is also seeking contributions from DC, Maryland and others.

[Alex M]

At one time, Virginia once owned a part of the old RF&P. Maybe they should have purchased the rest of it and leased it to CSX when they had the chance.

[mtuandrew]

At one time, Virginia once owned a part of the old RF&P. Maybe they should have purchased the rest of it and leased it to CSX when they had the chance.

Conrail also owned a piece of it through its PRR heritage. It would have been very nice if the STB had assigned that ownership stake to Amtrak at the Conrail breakup.

[orulz]

There are so many branches south of Richmond (four: A-line to Rocky Mount/Fayetteville/Charleston/Savannah, Peninsula Subdivision to Newport News, the Norfolk line, and future S-line to Raleigh) that hourly service to Richmond actually seems weak: which line gets the best slot that arrives in DC in the 8:00 am hour?

[mtuandrew]

There are so many branches south of Richmond (four: A-line to Rocky Mount/Fayetteville/Charleston/Savannah, Peninsula Subdivision to Newport News, the Norfolk line, and future S-line to Raleigh) that hourly service to Richmond actually seems weak: which line gets the best slot that arrives in DC in the 8:00 am hour?

Seems like a Richmond train would win the 8am slot, anywhere beyond would have to depart at 4am or earlier. Maybe a Roanoke train around 9, with Peninsula and Norfolk service drifting in around 10, and in the future Raleigh around 11? The LDs would be... somewhere, but I don’t know where.

Obviously I don’t know for certain, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if part of this sale included a proviso that after the S-line is reconstructed Amtrak will never run more than two trains daily south of Petersburg: the Silver Star and the Auto Train.

[ryanch]

I think we're going to have to count Richmond as part of the Northeast going forward.

Serious question - is there a threshold level of service at which it becomes cost effective to electrify to Richmond, and create a new service point for the Acelas?

Whatever the politics and sense of identity, as a practical matter, it seems that the passenger levels through Richmond are becoming more comparable to that north of Richmond than to those in the rest of the country, and probably would be more comparable if the service could be elevated.

[ryanch]

The Post says some changes could start as soon as the deal is finalized next summer. Any idea what would happen first, and what it would be contingent on, other than actually signing the deal and pushing the money across the table?

[Gilbert B Norman]

For those with access to TRAINS Newswire:

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/20 ... cture-plan

For those without, Fair Use:

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Commonwealth of Virginia and CSX Transportation have reached a deal on a $3.7-billion plan that will address rail congestion south of Washington D.C. by separating passenger and freight operations, allowing for a significant expansion of passenger and commuter rail services.

The agreement announced Thursday will create a new, state-owned Long Bridge over the Potomac River, for exclusive use by passenger and commuter rail; lead to state acquisition of more than 225 miles of track and 350 miles of rail right-of-way; and include 37 miles of track improvements, including a passenger-train flyover between Franconia and Springfield, Va