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Amtrak outlines potential new routes

Wednesday, Jan 30, 2008 - 12:08 AM, Richmond Times Dispatch

Amtrak says the most promising routes for new Virginia passenger train service would be Washington-Lynchburg and Washington-Newport News. View article.

Amtrak says the most promising routes for new Virginia passenger train service would be Washington-Lynchburg and Washington-Newport News.

But the state would have to be willing to spend millions of dollars to get drivers out of cars and onto the railroads -- money it does not have.

The Interstate 95 corridor from Richmond to Washington has the highest potential for greater ridership, but new Lynchburg service would be cheaper and quicker to start, according to an Amtrak report released yesterday. The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transit had asked Amtrak to identify promising markets for intercity passenger-rail services as part of the agency's statewide rail plan.

Amtrak urged the state to back starting a passenger train service between Lynchburg and Washington.

Amtrak could add one passenger train daily along the U.S. 29 corridor from Washington through Charlottesville to Lynchburg and back, its report said, if the state government subsidized the operation with $1.9 million a year, plus an undetermined amount for capital expenses.

Amtrak estimated that running an additional roundtrip train between Newport News and Washington through Richmond would cost at least $1.7 million annually.

New routes would almost certainly need new engines and passenger cars, Amtrak said, and that could add $6 million to $8 million to the startup cost.

CSX and Norfolk Southern railroads also would have to agree to allow additional trains on their tracks.

Virginia's Department of Rail and Public Transit will consider Amtrak's suggestions in the statewide rail plan, which should be finished this summer.

"The 95 and 29 corridors represent our best opportunities," concurred Matthew O. Tucker, the state rail agency's director. However, "you just can't look at what can be done on a short-term basis.

"We really have to have a big-picture framework," he said, which the comprehensive plan should provide. Meanwhile, "funding is a challenge."

Amtrak evaluated seven potential service improvements on key travel corridors in Virginia -- those along Interstates 95, 64 and 81, and U.S. 29 -- as well as cross-state service.

Amtrak operates more than 20 trains daily in Virginia. With more than 231,000 passengers a year, Henrico County's Staples Mill station is Amtrak's busiest in the state.

Contact Peter Bacqué at (804) 649-6813 or pbacque@timesdispatch.com.

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