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The Virginia Department of
Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT) is developing a State
Rail Plan that will address the present and future needs for
rail in the Commonwealth and provide a strategy to address
them. The State Rail Plan will address commuter, intercity,
higher speed and high speed rail services as well as
multimodal integration of rail with other modes of
transportation.
The VDRPT has asked for
public input on the needs, priorities and rail improvements
to be considered when developing the State Rail Plan. The
US29 – I-66 (Piedmont) rail corridor between Danville and
Alexandria is home to 30% of the state’s population. The
cities, towns and counties of the US29 Corridor have
experienced significant residential and commercial growth
and with it, significant increases in highway traffic,
congestion and travel time on through trips.
The Route 29 passenger rail
corridor is significantly under-served compared to the I-95
corridor, where the State has made massive investments for
rail infrastructure and operations. Fifty years ago, the
Piedmont Corridor was served by 22 passenger trains a day
operated by the Southern and C & O Railroads. Today, the
Piedmont Corridor is served by only one daily round trip
train (Amtrak’s Crescent) between New Orleans and New York,
and for stations north of Charlottesville, by an additional
train (Amtrak’s Cardinal) three days a week. These
long-distance trains are frequently overbooked, with most
seats reserved for long-distance ticket holders, the
schedule is not conducive to business travel, and trains are
frequently late, the existing level and quality of passenger
rail service offered by these trains cannot meet the demands
of business travelers, tourists, students or the traveling
public.
Increased passenger rail
service offers an additional method of transportation to the
Washington D.C. metropolitan area providing an additional
alternative to transportation by automobile helping to ease
congested roads in Fauquier County and the Washington D.C.
metropolitan area. The rising cost of oil and the
environmental concerns brought on by carbon based emissions
have heightened the interest in energy efficient and
environmentally friendly alternatives to the automobile.
Recognizing the Piedmont
Corridor as an underserved market, Amtrak has recommended to
VDRPT that steps be taken to implement new Lynchburg to
Washington rail service “as soon as possible” – including
any capital improvements needed to the existing rail line by
the host railroad. Amtrak reports that the addition of a
second daily train can be accomplished easily and at a
relatively low cost.
An application for State Rail
Enhancement Funds (REF) for capital investments in the
corridor in support of the proposed new Amtrak passenger
service has been developed by Norfolk Southern Railroad and
is included in the list of projects recommended by VDRPT for
inclusion in the State’s 2009-2014 Six Year Improvement
Program. The requested resolution supports that
application. The resolution has been requested by the
Piedmont Rail Coalition, a group of counties, cities and
towns along the Route 29 Corridor who support enhanced rail
service to the corridor. Fauquier County, is by previous
resolution of the Board of Supervisors, a member of that
coalition.
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