All Aboard? It's Time to Address Virginia's Rail Needs

Main Street Station, Richmond. Photos from this article: Historic Richmond Train Station Restored to Former Glory. Gensler leads team that transformed Main Street building into transportation hub and revitalization catalyst by the AIA.

Is the title of an op-ed in yesterday's Richmond Times-Dispatch. It reminds me of one of the best conference tours I've ever taken. It was a tour of Richmond, organized during last year's American Planning Association conference.

We took Amtrak to Richmond and during the ride, we were treated to an on-board presentation by officials from Virginia Railway Express, CSX's vice president for passenger rail operations, Amtrak, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, and a representative from Virginians for High Speed Rail about various aspects of rail transportation between Richmond and Washington DC as well as in the Northeast Rail Corridor, and on rail lines within the CSX rail system.

The people concerned about rail transportation and Richmond made the point that they are looking for "higher rail speeds" not bullet trains, and that if trackage between Richmond and Washington was capable of higher speeds, then Richmond could become the southernmost terminus of the Northeast rail corridor, and become better connected to the economic development and tourism infrastructures extant from Washington to Boston.

One of the problems is the state of the track between Richmond's downtown beautifully restored Main Street Station and the suburban station that Amtrak built in the near suburbs. It takes more than 30 minutes to travel this 8 mile distance.

Amtrak Station in suburban Richmond, Virginia.

Anyway, the op-ed is worth reading, and in honor of it, I've added links to Virginians for High Speed Rail, Virginia Association of Rail Passengers, and the State of Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation to Dr. Transit's Link Prescriptions in the right sidebar.