Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
PRC holds conference July 7
A consortium of local governments and economic development authorities in the US29 corridor has called on state government to partner with Amtrak to provide more frequent and reliable passenger rail service for the corridor.
The Piedmont Rail Coalition has been working since April to garner resolutions of support from public bodies throughout the corridor for a new rail service proposed by Amtrak that would provide direct connections between Lynchburg, Washington, DC and on to New York, including stops in
Charlottesville, Culpeper, Manassas, and Alexandria. Twenty-one governing bodies have unanimously adopted the resolutions.
Leaders of the consortium will hold simultaneous press conferences at the rail stations in Lynchburg, Charlottesville and Culpeper on Monday, July 7 to announce the twenty-one resolutions and to release a Coalition letter to Governor Tim Kaine calling on the state to prioritize US29 in its planning for future rail expansion.
VDRPT is developing a State Rail Plan that will include recommendations for expanding passenger service in established corridors currently served by Amtrak. The twenty-one jurisdictions have collaborated in the effort because local officials believe the corridor is under-served in passenger
rail and has strong potential for adding riders if more frequent, accessible and reliable service were provided.
The corridor is presently served by one daily round trip Amtrak train, the Crescent, which runs from New Orleans to New York and is on-time only 68 percent of the time. Amtrak's Cardinal stops three days a week at stations north of Charlottesville on its way from Chicago to New York and is on time only 18 percent of the time. Amtrak acknowledges that most of the seats on these trains are
sold out or reserved for long-haul passengers, making it difficult for travelers within Virginia to get a ticket.
Citing the US29 ("Piedmont") rail corridor as "under-served," Amtrak proposed in a January 2008 report to the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation that new direct service could be started in the corridor in a short time and at relatively low cost. Amtrak recommended the state take steps to implement the new service "as soon as possible."
Many states have expanded intercity service through funding partnerships with Amtrak, and these regional routes have accounted for nearly all the growth in rail ridership in the past several years. Across the country, intercity and commuter rail use is up as people abandon their cars, preferring the more affordable, environmentally friendly and speedy rail mode to congestion and $4 per gallon gasoline.
The Piedmont Rail Coalition has written to Governor Tim Kaine informing him of the consensus that the US29 corridor needs better rail connections to Washington, DC and the northeast, and calling on the state to work with Amtrak to make the new service a reality.
"These communities have disparate transportation needs," said Meredith Richards, Chairman of the Coalition, "but they all agree that enhanced passenger rail has become an economic necessity for their businesses, universities, tourist attractions and citizens.
"We can't continue to rely upon our highways to serve our future transportation needs. We must recreate the rich network of choices people once had for taking trains to and from nearly everywhere at
nearly every time of day."
"There has been little to no state investment in the US29 rail corridor," she continued, "and it has resulted in our communities having limited and unsatisfactory passenger rail access to the rest of the world."
Richards points out that fourteen other states are partnering with Amtrak to begin new intercity routes. "It's time for Virginia to become the fifteenth state," she added.
You must be logged in to post a comment.