New rail service in Virginia

Main Street Station, Richmond.

The two lines, one from Richmond and one from Lynchburg, with service to and from Union Station in Washington, DC are more about access than they are about speed, but in terms of setting the framework for a regional railroad system (see the excerpt from a past blog entry below) they are a step forward.

Click here for an image of Kemper Street Station in Lynchburg.

See "Va. to Fund Intercity Train Service" from the Washington Post, this very old story from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, "All aboard? Main Street Station serves an average of 31 rail passengers a day," about Main Street Station in Richmond, this recent article from the Times-Dispatch, "State will pay to add two round-trip trains to Washington," "Culpeper closer to capital rail link" from the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, and "Passenger rail has potential to remake Central Virginia" from the Nelson County Times. From the NCT article:

More than a decade ago, the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce and its board, led by President Rex Hammond, began pushing for statewide passenger rail service.

The TransDominion Express would run from Bristol and Roanoke in the west to Lynchburg, where it would then break off into two routes, one east to Richmond and one north through Charlottesville to Washington. (You can learn more online at http://www.tdxinfo.org.)

From a past blog entry:

Create a single railroad system for DC-MD-VA. Rather than having two separate systems oriented to commuters, although Maryland is in the process of transforming the MARC system to a 7 day system, with more service later in the evening, the region would be best served by one system that is vastly expanded. (Think of the equivalent of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey but for the railroad system.) And connect MARC to SEPTA.

BeyondDCs conceptual railroad map for one regional railroad system for DC, Maryland and Virginia, including service to parts of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. (Although this particular map focuses on the Baltimore-Washington region.)

I suggest calling this system the RACER, standing for the Railroad Authority of the Chesapeake Region. BeyondDC is working on new maps for this, and is fond of calling the system the Potomac Express. And Greater Greater Washington calls it the MVX, Maryland-Virginia Express. (But they can both do graphic design, and I can't, so they may win out...)

Image by BeyondDC.