In response to growing interest throughout the region, CvilleRail has created the Piedmont Rail Coalition, a consortium of local governments, businesses and organizations that share a vital interest in providing citizens with more options for transportation to and from the population and commercial centers to the north.Ridership on the available rail service in this corridor is already at capacity.With expanded availability, we believe that substantial numbers of additional travelers would take the train, rather than drive, to and from Washington, DC.
The Piedmont Rail Coalition will serve the interests and needs of a constituency that includes students, seniors, tourists, the business community and families, and would provide leadership to promote economical, safe and efficient rail transportation between Danville, Virginia and Washington, DC.
On November 15, 2007, the Coalition held its first membership summit in Charlottesville. Our keynote speaker, Patrick Simmons, Director of the North Carolina Rail Division, inspired our members with information about Virginia's neighboring state's railroad investments and the successes that have propelled North Carolina into a position of innovation and leadership in intercity passenger rail. Following his address, members laid out plans for developing a model intercity rail line in Virginia's US29 (Piedmont) Corridor.
Amtrak's Crescent crossing the James River near Lynchburg
Danville's Historic Station at The Crossing
Westbound Cardinal exiting Nelson tunnel
Culpeper Depot
CvilleRail looks to the future
We organized CvilleRail in 2005, in response to what so many of our friends and neighbors, as well as our own experience, have told us: Train service between Charlottesville and Washington, DC – the gateway to the Northeast – is limited, and often inaccessible. From Washington north, train service is extensive, fast and reliable. It’s getting to Washington on the train that’s difficult. Reservation policies at Amtrak withhold most seats for long-haul passengers until the day prior to departure. Trains are packed, and they frequently run late, delayed as they often are by competition with freight for rail time on the tracks. Freight railroads are in the business of hauling freight, not people, and it is hauling their goods and commodities that take priority.
CvilleRail has worked since 2005 to channel the demand in our area for better rail alternatives in the constructive direction of advocacy. We have a website, a membership structure and a dynamic, accomplished board of directors. We’ve raised visibility in the region by holding meetings and press conferences, doing talk shows and TV interviews, publishing op-ed pieces and enlisting the help of interest groups and organizations in the area.
While we’re marketing an idea for the future, it’s clear that we’ve also hit a rich vein of nostalgia for the past. We’ve found a very eager base of support among seniors, who often lack mobility and remember the days when their parents and grandparents rode the train as a way of life.
But even the younger generation is ready to look to the past for solutions that work for the future. University of Virginia students are active and vocal supporters, while the University Administration clearly understands the benefits and has given its endorsement to this initiative. Personally, I remember taking the train to and from college in the 60’s, my Sears steamer trunk in the baggage car, while my dorm mates took the plane home. I may have been “square,” but I didn’t care, because I love the train.
Our campaign has gotten enthusiastic support from the business community, the tourism sector, environmentalists and many, many citizens.
People are just tired of sitting in traffic; tired of unsafe highways; tired of $4 gas. They are concerned about the legacy of air pollution and climate change. They want to try something “new” and more environmentally responsible. Give them a network of convenient, comfortable and reliable trains connecting cities and towns across a, say… 400-500 mile region… and they will ride them!
Lynchburg's Kemper Street Station
Orange County Depot Visitors Center
Oak Ridge Station Nelson County
Amtrak: A partner with the states
In recent years, Amtrak has built on its strengths to create a new model for revitalizing passenger rail across the country. Amtrak is partnering with fourteen states to fund enhanced service on short-distance, intercity corridors already served by its national rail network. In some cases, new routes have also been developed in emerging corridors. Amtrak operates the trains and supplies the equipment, while the states provide additional operating funds not covered by fare revenues.
Many of fourteen states providing new intercity service in partnership with Amtrak are undeniable success stories. With shorter routes, the reliability and on-time performance of the trains increases. With greater frequencies and convenient schedules, experience is proving that the ridership explodes.
Amtrak just released its ridership report for 2007 (click on "National Rail News" on the CvilleRail Main Menu for this report). While ridership on its national system increased for the fifth year in a row and was the highest since Amtrak began operations in 1971, the most impressive gains are on these state-supported, intercity routes. California’s Capital Corridor increased ridership 15%, for example, but the most impressive gains were in Illinois, where Chicago-St. Louis ridership was up 55.8% for state trains and 42% for the corridor, and ridership between Chicago and Carbondale was up by more than 67%. PortlandMaine, with a population of less than 64,000, nevertheless enjoys five daily routes to Boston, Massachusetts, and gains ridership every year.
Altavista Station
This page has featured images of the many historic rail stations in the Piedmont Rail Corridor. Some stations (Danville, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Culpeper, Manassas, Orange) are still in service with Amtrak. Others have been restored and adapted for re-use, while a few await restoration.
