Virginia Passenger Rail

[blopp1234]

Hi everyone! 
 

I noticed that the original passenger rail forum was archived and with the new infrastructure bill being passed and the Transforming Rail in Virginia Plan becoming reality within the next 8 years, I figured this would be a good time to bring this thread back. 
 

Good news out of Roanoke as the second northeast regional will begin service in July. Hopefully this is the beginning of more service out of Roanoke, including possible extensions to Bristol and eventually possibly Knoxville, Bluefield and Princeton. Would also love to see some cross state service on the old N&W to Norfolk and Richmond.

https://roanoke.com/news/local/second-amtrak-train-out-of-roanoke-to-begin-running-in-july/article_8126bd1e-db94-11ec-aa04-3bbe6e73ad45.html

[blopp1234]

Virginia’s Amtrak services have shot back to pre-pandemic levels of service, with over 110,000 people riding Virginia state supported routes in July! No doubt that the addition of the third round trip to Norfolk and the second round trip to Roanoke were major catalysts for growth, but encouraging ridership bumps over last month across the state. I can’t even imagine the ridership in 2030 once the transforming rail in va plan is built out.

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/press-release/21279332/amtrak-ridership-on-amtraks-virginia-routes-hits-alltime-high