NORFOLK, Va. — Amtrak will add a second train to Norfolk beginning March 4, the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reports.
Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods told the newspaper the schedule has yet to be finalized, but a press release from the city of Norfolk said the train will have a mid-morning depature. The new train, like the current offering, will be part of the Northeast Regional service.
In a statement, Virginia Secretary of Transportation Shannon Valentine said, “Additional passenger rail service enables more Virginians to avoid the hassle of congestion and tunnels by offering more frequent and reliable travel between Hampton Roads, Richmond and Washington, D.C.”
Amtrak began Northeast Regional service to Norfolk in December 2012. The city is currently served by a round trip that departs Norfolk at 6:10 a.m. weekdays (6:15 a.m. on weekends) and arrives at 8:38 p.m. weekdays (8:36 p.m. weekends).
Roger – right on!
Re: the comment about Amtrak’s “successes” with the Hiawathas, California corridors, etc. it may be more accurate to note that those successes had far less to do with Amtrak and far more to do with the state entities that shepard them along. In most cases, particularly with California, Amtrak had to be drug along kicking and screaming to operate the trains. Essentially ALL of the good ideas came from the state Joint Powers Authorities.
The focus now should be to work with Amtrak and state officials to try and interest them in extending passenger train service westward from Roanoke to Bristol,Knoxville,Chattanooga,Huntsville,AL,Memphis and at the very least Little Rock,AR. Westward from Little Rock,it could serve Dallas-Ft. Worth,Abilene,Midland,Odessa and El Paso,TX. If this was paired with a train from Chicago to Indianapolis and beyond to Louisville, Nashville,Chattanooga,Atlanta,Jacksonville,Orlando,and Miami,then this region would finally be connected to the national network and the city pairs that would be added would be enormous.
Concerning the second train to Lynchburg, that was part of the deal with Norfolk Southern, along with the extension of the first Lynchburg train to Roanoke. It would be an extension of a NE Regional that now terminates in Washington.
To all you Virginians: Amtrak has had its successes. The California corridors – there was next to nothing in California when Amtrak started. There’s the Hiawatha, and the Pacific Northwest corridors. And there’s Virginia. The Richmond, Norfolk and Lynchburg trains may not set the world on fire but compared to most of USA they’re a big deal. That’s how I see it. Maybe not a lot but it’s something from nothing.
Richmond may not be the world’s center of rail passenger transport. Compared to Atlanta, Miami (before Virgin Brightline), New Orleans, Dallas, Houston, Denver, MSP or (worst) Nashville, you Virginians are looking pretty good.
It’s a lot easier to continue a current Richmond train down to Norfolk then to send one out to Lynchburg.
Here in VA, NOVA and the Beach take priority over all. I doubt there will be a second Lynchburg train.
According to information from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation the second train will only operate on weekdays, not weekends.
There has been no recent information about the proposed second NE Regional train to Lynchburg.
Yeah? Is that like the deal the City of Norfolk had with NS to keep their hq there?
Lynchburg already has a early morning/late evening train….it’s called The Crescent. I’d imagine the economical solution would be to put a business class car as far as Lynchburg on that train….if they can ever clean up the mess wast of Atlanta so that it can run northbound anywhere close to schedule.