Quick update on the Virginia trains.
I'm on my way back from the annual Virginia Association of Railway Patrons (
VARP) meeting in Fredericksburg today, where Jay McArthur, Principal Officer for Strategic Partnerships & Business Development (whew, what a title), spoke at length about the new services to Lynchburg and Richmond.
I'll just transcribe my notes here, which I think many of you guys will find informative:
Lynchburg Train
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-Will begin as early as October 2009 (most likely with the fall timetable)
-Will be classified as a Northeast Regional train (with an existing Regional number—not a new number), however the State of Virginia is in the process of debating whether or not they will ask to give it a more state-specific name. Thankfully no mention was made of "Lynchburger" and I didn't dare bring it up.
-Strong possibility it will add a new Amtrak stop at Burke Center (currently served by VRE north of Manassas), but no other new stops initially planned. Orange has been batted around, but Amtrak is reluctant to introduce it for fear of making the train look more like a commuter service. Still, McArthur acknowledged the need for a stop in Orange, Amherst, and the like, and said once the train is running those communities will have the opportunity to vie for the service.
-Service will run for three years, during which time Amtrak and Virginia will be working with Norfolk Southern to prepare the Lynchburg-Roanoke leg with an eventual terminus in Bristol.
-Roanoke should be once again served by passenger rail as early as 2012, but it could take until 2015.
-Bristol is a dilemma because the Roanoke-Bristol service will not likely be competitive vs a bus or car. The Bristol extension has no timetable that McArthur was ready to give, but he did confirm it's planned.
Richmond Train
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-Will begin as early as December 2009
-Will be classified as a Northeast Regional train (with an existing Regional number—not a new number). Will most likely not get a name.
-Service will run for three years, during which time Amtrak and Virginia will be working with CSX to upgrade infrastructure between Staples Mill and Newport News. There is nowhere to store the train at Staples Mill overnight right now, so Virginia is constructing a new siding at that location to be used temporarily. Eventually, a Y may be placed near the Richmond Airport to store the train just past Main Street station (giving that station a much needed additional frequency). Newport News thru service should begin around 12/2012. That was met with a lot of silence. We'd all like to see that happen faster.
Pertaining to Both Trains
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-One of the trains will run through all of the way to/from Boston South Station. The other will terminate at NYP. He couldn't recall which was which off the top of his head. Tended to suspect it was the Lynchburg train that would run through to Boston, which I really hope is the case considering there is already RVR-BOS service.
-The Roanoke extension may, as I suspected, require 2 dedicated train sets. Virginia is already paying for the refurbishment of some of the mothballed Amfleets for this service (those refurbs won't go onto this service, but they will replace the Amfleets that do get the new route as I understood it). And that brings me to the next tidbit of news...
-This is pretty big (at least to me): AMTRAK HAS COMMITTED TO SOLICIT BIDS FOR NEW VIEWLINERS!! They have decided to refresh their fleet of SLEEPER, DINER, and BAGGAGE CARS with Viewliner shells. They are in the process of working up new schematics. No word on if the Sleepers will remain the same or if we'll end up seeing maybe a combined Sleeper/Baggage, or new Sleeper config, etc.
-Viewliners MAY become the shell for new single level coaches as well, but it has not been decided yet.
And lastly, just to get had8ley worked up here, McArthur is the guy in charge of the "how to get the Sunset East back" project, and he said that a report will be issued to congress "very shortly" with "what may be multiple options" for getting that corridor restored; price tags will be attached to each option.
Have at it.
-Rafi
