... a consortium of Central Virginia citizens, governments, institutions and organizations dedicated to the extension and enhancement of intercity passenger rail for Virginia's US29 (Piedmont) Corridor.
In response to growing interest throughout the US29 corridor, CvilleRail organized the first annual Piedmont Rail Summit in 2007. From that meeting, the Piedmont Rail Coalition emerged as a corridor-wide effort by Virginia's US29 communities to bring more frequent, accessible, convenient and reliable passenger rail service to the corridor.
The Coalition serves the interests and needs of a constituency that includes students, seniors, tourists, the business community and families, and provides leadership to promote economical, safe and efficient rail transportation for Central Virginia and for all Virginia citizens.
Lynchburg-DC Northeast Regional on its Inaugural Run, September 30, 2009
In 2009, the Coalition succeeded in raising public and political support for a state-funded, demonstration intercity passenger service linking Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Culpeper, Manassas and Alexandria to Washington, New York and Boston. An extension of Amtrak's popular Northeast Regional Route, the new daily service has demonstrated its success with ridership and revenue performance exceeding all estimates. After its first year, Amtrak recognized the Lynchburg-DC Northeast Regional as its best-performing state-supported train in the nation in terms of cost recovery.
The Coalition continues to support the new service through public education and advocacy, including legislative lobbying and the use of electronic media to organize grassroots action and the participation of local jurisdictions throughout the Piedmont Corridor. The Coalition looks forward to long-term, dedicated state funding for the service, the possible addition of scheduled frequencies as warranted, and extension of the service to Roanoke and Southwest Virginia.
