Passenger Trains > Norfolk VA Amtrak will allow day trips to/from D.C.

"...Norfolk Amtrak schedule will allow day trips to D.C.
---Amtrak service from Newport News to D.C. generally costs $33 to $46, and the trip takes 4 to 4½ hours. The new one-seat service from Norfolk to D.C. will take 3½ to 4 hours and may cost about $60.

---the times
Initially, the day’s lone departure will be from Harbor Park at 5 a.m., arriving in Richmond at 7 a.m. and in Washington at about 9 a.m. It will go on to Boston. A return trip will leave Washington at 3 p.m., arriving in Norfolk at 7 p.m.

---by the numbers
Norfolk will provide secure overnight parking for 100 to 200 vehicles. Trains will have eight passenger cars, each with 72 seats, for a total capacity of 576 passengers..."

FULL STORY (+ reader comments) HERE:
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/10/norfolk-amtrak-schedule-will-allow-day-trips-dc

So this will be new trackage ground for Amtrak (an upgrade to existing freight RR ROW for the most part). Will this negatively impact the few trains that still operate to Newport News?

jp1822 Wrote:
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> So this will be new trackage ground for Amtrak (an
> upgrade to existing freight RR ROW for the most
> part).

This is a "restored" service; I think it was, what, 1977 when Amtrak last called in Norfolk, directly -- and into Lambert's Point Yard, where the then-N&W yard office doubled as the passenger station. There are still platforms with yellow lines throughout that portion of that yard. The new service won't go that far, but will terminate at the new station right beside the DOWNTOWN ball stadium , with a yet-to-be-constructed Light Rail transfer area, bus/taxi pickups, and much more. The next LARGE phase of rail line reconstruction/upgrades, beyond the new station and servicing facilities in Norfolk, and the new connection nearly half finished at North Collier (which takes trains to-from NS/CSXT), is the totally restored/rebuilt VIRGINIAN RAILWAY line between Suffolk and Algren, Va. (which is where CSXT's Portsmouth Subdivision enters the Bowers Hill area). This is to be Amtrak's route east of Kilby/Suffolk, with eastbounds re-entering the NS mainline at the east end of Portlock Yard where the former VGN-N&W diamond crossing once stood. The connection from NS to CSXT at Kilby, Va. (west side of Suffolk, Va.) should be built soon, if grading hasn't already begun.

The NS mainline will receive appropriate upgrades between Kilby and the Collier Connection to accomodate faster Amtrak trains (79mph for now) to operate with/around slower coal trains and other freight traffic.

Some are suggesting that part of the reason for the rebuilding of the VGN line between Suffolk and Bowers Hill is to allow potential, temporarty re-routing of ALL NS traffic when BRIDGE-7 is rebuilt in the coming years (which may occur sooner than later). In either case, I do not know all those details.

> Will this negatively impact the few trains
> that still operate to Newport News?

Newport News Amtrak service will continue as-is, according to VDRPT; Norfolk's [restored] Amtrak service is additional to that. Yes, there's that much potential ridership from the Greater Hampton Roads area, which encompases all of Norfolk, Newport News, Hampton, Williamsburg, Yorktown/Goucester, Poquoson, Lee Hall/Ft. Eustis, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Portsmouth, and points from all over northeast North Carolina.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/11 12:16 by rbx551985.

Well looking at the Richmond arrival time, this would be train 174 that now operates RVR to BOS weekdays, so no new Richmond to the north train out of this.

Sharon Evans
Glen Allen, VA

RNinRVR Wrote:
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> Well looking at the Richmond arrival time, this
> would be train 174 that now operates RVR to BOS
> weekdays, so no new Richmond to the north train
> out of this.

I'm glad someone finally looked close enough to the schedule(s) to figure that out; I've been wondering about that particular detail myself.

The southbound times don't match any current trains. Right now 91, the Silver Star, leaves DC at 3 pm and 125 leaves at 3:55 pm and is a NYP to RVR train. The southbound schedule would require some rearranging of the current line up since the only BOS to RVR trains are 95 which goes through to NPN and 93 that leaves DC at 5:50. Before someone comes back at me about 66/67 I am limiting this to day trains.

Sharon Evans
Glen Allen, VA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/11 13:22 by RNinRVR.

RNinRVR Wrote:
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>Before someone comes back at me about 66/67 I am limiting this to day trains.


Plus 66/67 go to NPN so they couldn't be scheduled to Norfolk.

Davis

I know and so does 95, I was just being though.

Sharon Evans
Glen Allen, VA

I've heard that train 125 will be your Norfolk train, but I could be wrong.

That, as I noted above, fits with the northbound timing, but not the southbound since 125 is an early train.

Sharon Evans
Glen Allen, VA

So for the $101M it's spending, Virginia is able to offer Norfolk riders a single 5AM departure? I'm sure that will be immensely popular. Yes, I know the existing station at Newport News requires a bus connection across the Hampton Roads, but it sure seems like the $100M would have benefited far more riders if had been used to improve the decrepit connection at Richmond and double the frequency from two to four trains per day. This project should give the fiscal hawks plenty of ammunition to use in their argument that passenger rail expansion delivers a poor return on investment.

Dave