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Virginia won't let anything derail its growing Amtrak service
Virginia won’t let anything derail its growing Amtrak service
TRANSIT By Wyatt Gordon (Virginia Correspondent) September 10, 2019
This month marks a decade since Virginia debuted its first state-sponsored Amtrak routes: two lines from Lynchburg and Richmond that both terminate in DC. Such milestones are important, but the Commonwealth has other figures to celebrate—like the fact that its rail ridership has grown more than 7% within the last year.
That’s partly because there are more opportunities to ride. Virginia’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) expanded rail service to Hampton Roads by adding two more trains between Richmond and Norfolk, as well as one that travels to Newport News. The state is already planning a third Norfolk-bound train for 2021.
“There’s been a tremendous shift within the past five years towards multi-modal thinking,” said DRPT Director Jennifer Mitchell. “We are very focused on rail expansion in Virginia. It’s been a tremendous success so far. Our roads are so congested, we have to provide people alternatives to driving I-95, I-81, and I-64.”
This movement is exciting, but Virginia still has a ways to go before its train service is on par with its international neighbors, much less its regional ones.
There’s a lot of room for growth
{snip}
Wyatt Gordon is Greater Greater Washington's Virginia Correspondent. He's a born-and-raised Richmonder with a master's in Urban Planning from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and a bachelor's in International Political Economy from American University. Previously he's written for the Times of India, Nairobi News, Civil Beat, Style Weekly, and RVA Magazine. You can find him on Richmond's Southside.
TRANSIT By Wyatt Gordon (Virginia Correspondent) September 10, 2019
This month marks a decade since Virginia debuted its first state-sponsored Amtrak routes: two lines from Lynchburg and Richmond that both terminate in DC. Such milestones are important, but the Commonwealth has other figures to celebrate—like the fact that its rail ridership has grown more than 7% within the last year.
That’s partly because there are more opportunities to ride. Virginia’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) expanded rail service to Hampton Roads by adding two more trains between Richmond and Norfolk, as well as one that travels to Newport News. The state is already planning a third Norfolk-bound train for 2021.
“There’s been a tremendous shift within the past five years towards multi-modal thinking,” said DRPT Director Jennifer Mitchell. “We are very focused on rail expansion in Virginia. It’s been a tremendous success so far. Our roads are so congested, we have to provide people alternatives to driving I-95, I-81, and I-64.”
This movement is exciting, but Virginia still has a ways to go before its train service is on par with its international neighbors, much less its regional ones.
There’s a lot of room for growth
{snip}
Wyatt Gordon is Greater Greater Washington's Virginia Correspondent. He's a born-and-raised Richmonder with a master's in Urban Planning from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and a bachelor's in International Political Economy from American University. Previously he's written for the Times of India, Nairobi News, Civil Beat, Style Weekly, and RVA Magazine. You can find him on Richmond's Southside.
There was this comment:
town-mouse on September 10, 2019 at 2:12 pm
It looks like the Record of Decision for DC2RVA was released Sept. 5: http://dc2rvarail.com/rod/
It looks like it adds track almost all the way from DC to Richmond (except through Ashland) and adds 9 roundtrips per day, 4 of them continuing to North Carolina.
3 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Gridlock
Plan for Long Bridge expansion moves forward
By Luz Lazo
September 11, 2019 at 7:00 a.m. EDT
A proposal to expand the Long Bridge over the Potomac River, which officials say is key to the region’s growing rail needs, appears to be moving forward.
The District Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration have released a draft environmental impact statement on the project, laying out a preferred construction process that the agencies say addresses the need to expand the 115-year-old double-track bridge while keeping costs and impacts to a minimum.
The project would double capacity on the bridge to handle more commuter and intercity rail service, as well as expected increases in freight transportation over the coming decades. Officials in the District and Virginia say the investment would address a bottleneck in the system as trains funnel from three tracks to the two-track bridge, and make possible the growth of passenger and commuter rail service across the Potomac.
The bridge is used by CSX, Virginia Railway Express and Amtrak.
....
A public comment period is open through Oct. 28 for anyone who wants to comment on the draft environmental impact statement. Public comments can be provided by mail to Anna Chamberlin, AICP, Long Bridge Project, 55 M St. SE, Suite 400, Washington, D.C., 20003-3515; by email to info@longbridgeproject.com; or by using the online comment form available at https://longbridgeproject.com/contact/.
A public hearing is planned for 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 22 at 1100 Fourth St. SW, Room E200, in the District.
Luz Lazo is a transportation reporter at The Washington Post covering passenger and freight transportation, buses, taxis and ride-sharing services. She also writes about traffic, road infrastructure and air travel in the Washington region and beyond. She joined The Post in 2011. Follow https://twitter.com/luzcita
Plan for Long Bridge expansion moves forward
By Luz Lazo
September 11, 2019 at 7:00 a.m. EDT
A proposal to expand the Long Bridge over the Potomac River, which officials say is key to the region’s growing rail needs, appears to be moving forward.
The District Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration have released a draft environmental impact statement on the project, laying out a preferred construction process that the agencies say addresses the need to expand the 115-year-old double-track bridge while keeping costs and impacts to a minimum.
The project would double capacity on the bridge to handle more commuter and intercity rail service, as well as expected increases in freight transportation over the coming decades. Officials in the District and Virginia say the investment would address a bottleneck in the system as trains funnel from three tracks to the two-track bridge, and make possible the growth of passenger and commuter rail service across the Potomac.
The bridge is used by CSX, Virginia Railway Express and Amtrak.
....
A public comment period is open through Oct. 28 for anyone who wants to comment on the draft environmental impact statement. Public comments can be provided by mail to Anna Chamberlin, AICP, Long Bridge Project, 55 M St. SE, Suite 400, Washington, D.C., 20003-3515; by email to info@longbridgeproject.com; or by using the online comment form available at https://longbridgeproject.com/contact/.
A public hearing is planned for 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 22 at 1100 Fourth St. SW, Room E200, in the District.
Luz Lazo is a transportation reporter at The Washington Post covering passenger and freight transportation, buses, taxis and ride-sharing services. She also writes about traffic, road infrastructure and air travel in the Washington region and beyond. She joined The Post in 2011. Follow https://twitter.com/luzcita
Long Bridge Project Update:
Draft EIS, Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation and Draft Section 106 Programmatic Agreement now available for public review
Read the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation and Draft Section 106 Programmatic Agreement (PA) for the Long Bridge Project. View the Chapters and Appendices here »
Public comments on the DEIS, Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation and PA will be accepted until October 28, 2019.
Hard copies of the DEIS are also available for review at the following libraries:
• DDOT Library – 55 M Street SE, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20003
• Southwest Interim Library – 425 M Street SW, Washington, DC 20024
• Aurora Hills Library – 735 18th Street South, Arlington, VA 22202
The public hearing for the DEIS, Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation and PA is scheduled on October 22, to be held at DCRA Building, Room E200, 1100 4th St. SW Washington, DC 20024.
Welcome to the Long Bridge Project
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT), in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), is completing a comprehensive study for the rehabilitation or replacement of the Long Bridge over the Potomac River. The existing two-track railroad bridge, owned by CSX Transportation (CSXT), serves freight, (CSXT), intercity passenger (Amtrak) and commuter rail (Virginia Railway Express [VRE]). The 1.8-mile study area is between the RO Interlocking near Long Bridge Park in Arlington, Virginia and the L’Enfant (LE) Interlocking near 10th Street SW in Washington, DC.
....
© Long Bridge Project 2018. All rights reserved.
Draft EIS, Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation and Draft Section 106 Programmatic Agreement now available for public review
Read the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation and Draft Section 106 Programmatic Agreement (PA) for the Long Bridge Project. View the Chapters and Appendices here »
Public comments on the DEIS, Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation and PA will be accepted until October 28, 2019.
Hard copies of the DEIS are also available for review at the following libraries:
• DDOT Library – 55 M Street SE, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20003
• Southwest Interim Library – 425 M Street SW, Washington, DC 20024
• Aurora Hills Library – 735 18th Street South, Arlington, VA 22202
The public hearing for the DEIS, Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation and PA is scheduled on October 22, to be held at DCRA Building, Room E200, 1100 4th St. SW Washington, DC 20024.
Welcome to the Long Bridge Project
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT), in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), is completing a comprehensive study for the rehabilitation or replacement of the Long Bridge over the Potomac River. The existing two-track railroad bridge, owned by CSX Transportation (CSXT), serves freight, (CSXT), intercity passenger (Amtrak) and commuter rail (Virginia Railway Express [VRE]). The 1.8-mile study area is between the RO Interlocking near Long Bridge Park in Arlington, Virginia and the L’Enfant (LE) Interlocking near 10th Street SW in Washington, DC.
....
© Long Bridge Project 2018. All rights reserved.