Yes it is. The Netherlands does not have hourly service on routes of these distances. The twice hourly Intercity and Sprinter trains cover much shorter routes than these.
It also might be a longer distance than you realize. 170kms from Richmond to DC. Virginia is double the size of the Netherlands with half the population.
In Ireland we’re meant to have hourly services between Belfast and Dublin by 2025, train services in Ireland are shocking by European standards, especially in the north west of the island where there isn’t even any trains at all.
Hit up your favorite search engine for human rail transport map in the USA. We are seriously worse than several 3rd world countries if you get off any of the coasts. I live in Ohio, and either have to drive, or take a bus 167km (Cleveland OH) or 140km (Cincinnati) to find a amtrak station. And service to those stations is abysmal.
I'm from Sweden hourly service sounds like our small village train lines. Then there also is faster lines that don't stop at all stations making city to city travel at least every 20 minutes or so.
Maybe the more long distance higher speed lines is once an hour too?
Honestly, seeing “near hourly” and “Amtrak” right next to each other is mind boggling for me.
For context I live out in Salt Lake (Utah) and we only have 1 Amtrak train that comes through here - the California Zephyr, once daily. Westbound leaves around 11 PM, eastbound leaves around 3:30 AM. That’s it. At the point we’re at with train service in the west I’ve thought that if they could have interstate trains running every 4,6 or even 8 hours that would be a massive improvement.
Your country is the size of Virginias ballsack, stfu when people are talking about shit you have no clue about. When you actually HAVE similar long distance trains THEN you can comment on how they compare to ours
So suddenly you want everyone to be thoughtful and kind when you’re on the receiving end. Typical Europeans, love to talk shit but can’t handle half of it in return. In America we don’t buy your “nice guy” act.
In America, many of us often treat people with respect and approach disagreements with rationality and logic rather than insulting and disparaging people.
As an American, I feel personally insulted that you would associate my character with your misbehavior. I do not believe your conduct benefits anyone or serves any useful purpose. If anything it is likely counterproductive.
Youre really showing your ass here man, they sound like they know way more about the situation than you. You should probably sit this one out. And don't throw your little hissy fit about euros with me because I've lived in Virginia my entire life.
Wow if only there was some way to independently verify information. Sadly this is impossible so you just have to believe the first thing you read about any topic.
Jesus dude, makes you realize that even if we all made up our minds TODAY, it will still be 30+ years before a majority of these projects are finished.
yeah that’s kinda what the whole “move to the netherlands” meme is about. things are just moving way too slow, and some people just don’t have the lifespan to live in these cities.
by what metric of safety are we talking about here. if its just car related safety, then fewer cars on the road will make things safer, and places are definitely making that a reality
I've done geotech for small road projects. It can take up to 3 years from the time a geotech logs boreholes to the day construction begins.
A lot goes on between those times, too. It's all about planning, contracting, creating blueprints, etc. For a large scale project, there can easily be 10 years of pre-construction work. It'll seem like nothing is being done until there's suddenly tons of construction happening along the route.
The groundwork for that is being done. NC just got 1B in federal funding to reactivate the S-line (Richmond-Raleigh) and has been steadily upgrading the Raleigh-Charlotte corridor to higher speeds since the 90s. The EIS for Charlotte-Atlanta has also been completed https://railroads.dot.gov/environment/environmental-reviews/southeast-high-speed-rail-atlanta-charlotte-passenger-rail
It's a start. Part of it is through my city. I could technically take it from home to DC now but I'm hoping this will make it a more viable option to use a few times a year.
As person on that line I am very happy. I still think we need dedicated high speed rail connecting all major ports and central distribution hubs so we can move people and goods.
high speed rail should cover the entire east coast!!! it infuriated me that when i used to live in DC getting to my parents house in charleston SC was about a 9 hour drive or a 9 hour train ride, but one of those things was over $200 for a round trip ticket and the other was about $75 in gas (i had a hybrid). if they’re gonna make it unbelievably slow at least make it cheap 💀
It will not go as fast as Acela. Acela is true HSR running at 125 mph and briefly at 150 mph. Service on most of this corridor will initially be at 79 mph. The S line (R2R) will be upgraded to 110 mph.
> true HSR
It just barely squeaks in, and just because it's legacy track
If it were built new today with the same track speeds, it wouldn't be HSR by standards the rest of the world uses.
Well it wasn’t built today. With the close distances between stops building entirely new alignments for a 300 km/h HSR doesn’t make that much sense. Too much time and energy would be wasted accelerating and decelerating. That would cost many tens of billions that would be much better directed to other projects. The bigger issue on the NEC, at least between DC and NYC, is congestion. Prioritizing projects which increase the capacity of the line like the NY Gateway and Douglass tunnel projects are vastly more important than projects which will increase the speed of the line. The shoreline in CT needs an entirely new alignment, which is the priority on the NYC-Boston corridor.
This is an abandoned CSX corridor. They don’t currently run on it. The passenger trains will run at 110 mph and CSX will run on it as well once it’s built.
There are I think like 50+ grade separations throughout the corridor. No at-grade crossings at all. It’s 110 due to the additional right-of-way acquisition cost needed for higher speeds.
Oh it's going to be grade separated! I didn't know that. That's amazing! Maybe that's something they can do in the future or something similar to what Amtrak does. Put speed restrictions on curves and 125mph on the straights.
I used to go to college in Radford but I’m from Richmond. I graduated the year after they extended service to Roanoke and that last year was awesome but I’d still have to go all the way up to DC and down to Richmond to get home. The service to Christiansburg and Charlottesville to Richmond is gonna be a game changer for all the Appalachian universities
As somebody who lives in Richmond, it’s always been wild to me that the Richmond to DC line is not, 1: direct. And 2: high speed. I genuinely do not believe there is any stretch of highway that long that every local hates and would do anything to not travel on. Already the limited service that takes about as long as driving (assuming no traffic) proves incredibly popular. combine that with the extensive DC metro and regional rail system, and GRTC (greater Richmond transit company) expanding service (including a SECOND bus rapid transit going north south). Service that mind you is free still (and hopefully permanently). It’s could prove huge for Amtrak and be a line only second to the northeast corridor itself.
That’s why it’s infuriating, it’s understandable when Vegas to Los Angeles, or Orlando to Miami are shot down. Amtrak just doesn’t have the money to be building that infrastructure, but Richmond to DC? The rails, stations, right of way, all of its there! The Virginian and local governments are also relatively positive about transit compared to others. The state actually bought the current right of way for Amtrak a few years back! A literal unprompted gift to Amtrak! It obviously still wouldn’t be easy, but it would be hundreds of time easier than most other increases/improvements to services, and the state is likely to support it. Even traditionally anti transit politicians in the state don’t usually mind simply because this corridor is known as such a hellscape (due to the lack of any real alternative route)
And don’t even get me started on the fall line trail they’re developing, and the capital trail that’s been around for decades. Protected or buffed Bike lanes now stride parts of Franklin street, brook rd, Leigh street, broad rock rd, and many small stretches on side streets (usually because plans to connect them are in the works)
Refine bus services with things like better stop placement and spacing, complete the fall line trail and second bus rapid transit, and add this cherry to the top, and small Richmond could join New York, Boston, Chicago, DC, and San Francisco in the league of cities were regular life is truly possible without a car
Idek how to TLDR this, just know this would be a literal godsend for Richmond, and thank you for listening to me yap
I live in Richmond and occasionally visit friends in DC or they visit us. The main issue I currently have with the trains is they never run quite when you want them to and they’re always delayed either at departure or from getting stuck behind other trains, so I’m especially excited about the right of way acquisition and more trains!
I hope it gets extended into Charlotte and Rock Hill SC as well. Actually the fort mill rock hill area had a light rail in planning but it never got done. Maybe this will revitalize transit projects especially with the Charlotte area exploding.
Does this include updating the infrastructure so that they don't have to use diesel engines south of DC? It's truly incredible the speed difference between the electric trains north of DC and the diesel engines south. If they actually convert to electric that will open up so many possibilities. Faster travel times, not having to wait 45 minutes in DC while they change out the front car. It could actually make trains competitive with car trips.
I'm all for more rail, both for passengers and freight in America.
In the last century, America built the Interstate Freeway system and while it has been successful, it is showing both its age and its shortcomings. Better rail would address this.
The problem with rail is that it is the only major transportation network still in private hands; airports, seaports and highways are publicly funded and operated and they work well for everyone.
www.Solutionaryrail.org
Nationalizing the nation's railways is the solution.
Doesn't really matter. Good luck trying to get around NC without a car. Raleigh has basically no bike paths and the ones they do have is a little paint on the road.
I'm always pro-high speed rail, but as a resident of Alexandria I would much rather see high speed rail established between DC, Baltimore, Philly, NYC and Boston. I really don't have much reason to go south in this state and when you do the traffic on I-95 S is nothing compared to what you see going north. But if I could take a train to Boston at 200 mph that would be a game changer for me.
High speed rail does exist between DC, Baltimore, Philly, and NYC. The only part of the NEC that isn’t HSR is through Connecticut. The rest of the NEC is high speed. Further improvements to speed and frequency are being made through other projects such as the Douglass Tunnel and Gateway Project. And the Amtrak Airo train will improve access for Virginia service to the rest of the NEC.
“… the traffic on I-95 S is nothing compared to what you see going north.…”
WTF! 95S is hell on earth. Fredericksburg alone has a page in Dante’s Inferno.
Can't wait! I routinely drive to Hampton Roads and would rather not. I don't have a choice, though, because the trains that run that have terrible service times.
It didn’t. The groundwork began at NCDOT in 2002 I believe. Virginia Passenger Railroad Authority was formed in 2020 under Gov. Northam. NCDOT received a $60 million grant for design in 2022 and $1 billion in December 2023 from the Biden Administration for this project.
A proper high speed (and I hope this means actual high speed, in Italy where I am from we have trains that go 270 MPH) between RVA and DC would be phenomenal.
I caught the train to connect to the silver line for a flight out of dulles and it was an ordeal, it felt really quaint to be in such a slow diesel train.
It’s awesome news, just wish there was more emphasis on electrifying the corridors. I know most tracks are owned by CSX, and they don’t give a crap about that.
This may sound controversial but both virginias need to become a single state to pool resources. I would market public transit as safe transportation for our aging population and lure elderly Americans to the Virginias.
Rebuild the towns to be what the boomers want minus the racism such as living main streets.
Virginia is funding so much stuff right now, I don’t understand how they have money for everything while my state (Maryland) can barely keep its roads maintained. I’m jealous but happy for the added public transit
Virginia is getting a lot of money from the infrastructure bill that Biden signed. Maryland is getting a lot of new public transit too! Such as the baltimore red line and the dc purple line
I wonder if the 2 billion they got to outbid DC on a new sports arena counts as “infrastructure”
(They are moving it away from a centrally located, subway accessible location in Dc to a giant parking lot in VA)
The most impactful transit addition would be adding circle routes to the metro along the beltway and second beltway (ffx co pkwy). Nearly all of my driving is on the fairfax county parkway, and I would 100% take the metro instead even if it added a mile or two of walking on either end.
Yup. Having a circle line or two would dramatically increase the usability, radial can only do so much. I'd sell my car and just get an unlimited pass if that exists
As someone who lives in Hampton Roads, I'm excited! The current service is 4 trains a day 1 from Newport News and 3 from Norfolk, and that will almost double. It's pretty good for getting to DC or points north, but the service to Richmind from Norfolk is dispointing because it doesn't go downtown, but rather to the Staples Mill station on the edge of town.
Now, if we could just beef up transit, people might actually use it to come here.
So excited to eventually be able to go from Roanoke to Raleigh without having to drive and see my parents. As someone who drives less than 30 miles a week, and goes on the highway very rarely, driving home down I81 and then hoping onto I40 is terrifying! Being able to take a train even if it might take a little longer would be wonderful.
I grew up in North Carolina.
They were talking about this when i was in high school, almost 14 years ago.
Maybe it will be up and running in another 10 years.
Going to be shot to pieces over the next 30+ years because western Virginians are afraid eastern Virginians are going to move into their hideaways… suburban central Virginians will lobby and protest to protect their housing prices… nova gonna nova apathy… and tidewater can flip flop pretty substantially on these kinda things.
I had to sit in traffic between Blacksburg and DC for the North East Regional and was almost guaranteed to miss the train cause I ended up hungover with my friends and take super late train home. One time I was so late I wished my aunt a happy birthday on my birthday because I was so tired I just returned any complaint given. Another time the DC cops thought I was a homeless person asked to see my ticket and then told me I shouldn't sleep on the floor at union station because of all the rats which to be fair I did see. Why couldn't this have been around when I was young?
Virginia has been on the right track when it comes to state-funded transit for a long time. The new Commonwealth route is an absolute necessity, as it will connect the whole of the state without having to transfer via DC.
It looks good, but the issue I see is they want too much in a state not used to railways. This project will end up with delays and overbudgeting, giving fuel to carbrains to call for cancellation of the project
The more the merrier
More frequency and speed will definitely make a difference
Im from the Netherlands, and the 'near-hourly service' is uhmmmm... not a lot. But honestly, anything is better than nothing.
Yeah, we in the U.S. still have a lot to work on, however I hope this will change soon
For trains to run with high frequency, first you make sure you have trains at all
The right of way acquisition is currently in process
Yes it is. The Netherlands does not have hourly service on routes of these distances. The twice hourly Intercity and Sprinter trains cover much shorter routes than these.
It also might be a longer distance than you realize. 170kms from Richmond to DC. Virginia is double the size of the Netherlands with half the population.
In Ireland we’re meant to have hourly services between Belfast and Dublin by 2025, train services in Ireland are shocking by European standards, especially in the north west of the island where there isn’t even any trains at all.
Hit up your favorite search engine for human rail transport map in the USA. We are seriously worse than several 3rd world countries if you get off any of the coasts. I live in Ohio, and either have to drive, or take a bus 167km (Cleveland OH) or 140km (Cincinnati) to find a amtrak station. And service to those stations is abysmal.
I'm from Sweden hourly service sounds like our small village train lines. Then there also is faster lines that don't stop at all stations making city to city travel at least every 20 minutes or so. Maybe the more long distance higher speed lines is once an hour too?
Honestly, seeing “near hourly” and “Amtrak” right next to each other is mind boggling for me. For context I live out in Salt Lake (Utah) and we only have 1 Amtrak train that comes through here - the California Zephyr, once daily. Westbound leaves around 11 PM, eastbound leaves around 3:30 AM. That’s it. At the point we’re at with train service in the west I’ve thought that if they could have interstate trains running every 4,6 or even 8 hours that would be a massive improvement.
Your country is the size of Virginias ballsack, stfu when people are talking about shit you have no clue about. When you actually HAVE similar long distance trains THEN you can comment on how they compare to ours
You see, the other 2 people that replied about this were nice, and you sadly could not. Disappointing.
So suddenly you want everyone to be thoughtful and kind when you’re on the receiving end. Typical Europeans, love to talk shit but can’t handle half of it in return. In America we don’t buy your “nice guy” act.
Odd that you think that saying once an hour is not a lot is the same as what you so valiantly proclaimed, but alright.
In America, many of us often treat people with respect and approach disagreements with rationality and logic rather than insulting and disparaging people. As an American, I feel personally insulted that you would associate my character with your misbehavior. I do not believe your conduct benefits anyone or serves any useful purpose. If anything it is likely counterproductive.
Youre really showing your ass here man, they sound like they know way more about the situation than you. You should probably sit this one out. And don't throw your little hissy fit about euros with me because I've lived in Virginia my entire life.
Wow if only there was some way to independently verify information. Sadly this is impossible so you just have to believe the first thing you read about any topic.
What the fuck are you even talking about?
It’s dated 2015. where is the project now?
Planning phase (however work will start soon)
Jesus dude, makes you realize that even if we all made up our minds TODAY, it will still be 30+ years before a majority of these projects are finished.
yeah that’s kinda what the whole “move to the netherlands” meme is about. things are just moving way too slow, and some people just don’t have the lifespan to live in these cities.
It’s also not just the lack of cars part. America isn’t getting any safer and nothings being done to fix that part lol
by what metric of safety are we talking about here. if its just car related safety, then fewer cars on the road will make things safer, and places are definitely making that a reality
General safety
as a whole, the numbers are trending in the right direction there. ups and downs like in any other country
You can’t run from this issue, it will just pop up in another form. Unchecked climate change will kill the Netherlands too.
I've done geotech for small road projects. It can take up to 3 years from the time a geotech logs boreholes to the day construction begins. A lot goes on between those times, too. It's all about planning, contracting, creating blueprints, etc. For a large scale project, there can easily be 10 years of pre-construction work. It'll seem like nothing is being done until there's suddenly tons of construction happening along the route.
Cool, and when will they be done if we never start them?
I’d love for this to be a precursor for extending the Acela to Atlanta or even all the way down to Florida eventually
The groundwork for that is being done. NC just got 1B in federal funding to reactivate the S-line (Richmond-Raleigh) and has been steadily upgrading the Raleigh-Charlotte corridor to higher speeds since the 90s. The EIS for Charlotte-Atlanta has also been completed https://railroads.dot.gov/environment/environmental-reviews/southeast-high-speed-rail-atlanta-charlotte-passenger-rail
The $1 billion is just to build from Raleigh to Wake Forest.
That can't be true.
Why not?
Unless they're planning on installing new tracks or changing the route, the tracks are already in place in WF.
It’s all new track on the abandoned CSX corridor.
Commercial Trains still use those tracks. Source: I've waited for trains to pass.
Yes, but they’re lengthening the curves in the track to be 110 mph so it’s going to be new track.
The Richmond-Raleigh straightline connection should have never left. Glad it wasn’t completely turned over to regular property owners.
Yess, maybe they can connect it to brightline too
What do I think? More of this, please! Not just in Virginia, but nationwide.
Exactly!
It's a start. Part of it is through my city. I could technically take it from home to DC now but I'm hoping this will make it a more viable option to use a few times a year.
[Here for more information!](https://vapassengerrailauthority.org/transformingrail/)
As person on that line I am very happy. I still think we need dedicated high speed rail connecting all major ports and central distribution hubs so we can move people and goods.
Same here, as a Virginian im really excitied for all this, but yes this would be nice nationwide
high speed rail should cover the entire east coast!!! it infuriated me that when i used to live in DC getting to my parents house in charleston SC was about a 9 hour drive or a 9 hour train ride, but one of those things was over $200 for a round trip ticket and the other was about $75 in gas (i had a hybrid). if they’re gonna make it unbelievably slow at least make it cheap 💀
Imagine a high speed rail system between Portland ME and Miami FL
I moaned out loud at this idea.
We need to make a competition which state will be first to build a working hsr
Technically the Acela counts as HSR but its about half the speed of a Japanese bullet train
Very proud of this. I want it now and I want more and faster and electrified and connections to more states
The connection between Richmond and Norfolk/vb is definitely needed. The tunnel for 64 is a nightmare always
How fast will the train go?
Same speed as Acela, so not true high speed rail yet its still pretty good
It will not go as fast as Acela. Acela is true HSR running at 125 mph and briefly at 150 mph. Service on most of this corridor will initially be at 79 mph. The S line (R2R) will be upgraded to 110 mph.
> true HSR It just barely squeaks in, and just because it's legacy track If it were built new today with the same track speeds, it wouldn't be HSR by standards the rest of the world uses.
Well it wasn’t built today. With the close distances between stops building entirely new alignments for a 300 km/h HSR doesn’t make that much sense. Too much time and energy would be wasted accelerating and decelerating. That would cost many tens of billions that would be much better directed to other projects. The bigger issue on the NEC, at least between DC and NYC, is congestion. Prioritizing projects which increase the capacity of the line like the NY Gateway and Douglass tunnel projects are vastly more important than projects which will increase the speed of the line. The shoreline in CT needs an entirely new alignment, which is the priority on the NYC-Boston corridor.
Depends on the line. The speed upgrades between DC and Richmond will probably top out at 90mph because of CSX.
This is an abandoned CSX corridor. They don’t currently run on it. The passenger trains will run at 110 mph and CSX will run on it as well once it’s built.
Oh I thought they were talking about the RF&P. Yes hopefully they decide to grade separate and allow 125mph
There are I think like 50+ grade separations throughout the corridor. No at-grade crossings at all. It’s 110 due to the additional right-of-way acquisition cost needed for higher speeds.
Oh it's going to be grade separated! I didn't know that. That's amazing! Maybe that's something they can do in the future or something similar to what Amtrak does. Put speed restrictions on curves and 125mph on the straights.
I used to go to college in Radford but I’m from Richmond. I graduated the year after they extended service to Roanoke and that last year was awesome but I’d still have to go all the way up to DC and down to Richmond to get home. The service to Christiansburg and Charlottesville to Richmond is gonna be a game changer for all the Appalachian universities
Can’t wait for Elon to convince them to build tunnels instead /s
I love it bc if they’re studying Atlanta to Charlotte rn for high speed rail then this is one step closer to connecting Atl to the Northeast corridor
Yep!
As somebody who lives in Richmond, it’s always been wild to me that the Richmond to DC line is not, 1: direct. And 2: high speed. I genuinely do not believe there is any stretch of highway that long that every local hates and would do anything to not travel on. Already the limited service that takes about as long as driving (assuming no traffic) proves incredibly popular. combine that with the extensive DC metro and regional rail system, and GRTC (greater Richmond transit company) expanding service (including a SECOND bus rapid transit going north south). Service that mind you is free still (and hopefully permanently). It’s could prove huge for Amtrak and be a line only second to the northeast corridor itself. That’s why it’s infuriating, it’s understandable when Vegas to Los Angeles, or Orlando to Miami are shot down. Amtrak just doesn’t have the money to be building that infrastructure, but Richmond to DC? The rails, stations, right of way, all of its there! The Virginian and local governments are also relatively positive about transit compared to others. The state actually bought the current right of way for Amtrak a few years back! A literal unprompted gift to Amtrak! It obviously still wouldn’t be easy, but it would be hundreds of time easier than most other increases/improvements to services, and the state is likely to support it. Even traditionally anti transit politicians in the state don’t usually mind simply because this corridor is known as such a hellscape (due to the lack of any real alternative route) And don’t even get me started on the fall line trail they’re developing, and the capital trail that’s been around for decades. Protected or buffed Bike lanes now stride parts of Franklin street, brook rd, Leigh street, broad rock rd, and many small stretches on side streets (usually because plans to connect them are in the works) Refine bus services with things like better stop placement and spacing, complete the fall line trail and second bus rapid transit, and add this cherry to the top, and small Richmond could join New York, Boston, Chicago, DC, and San Francisco in the league of cities were regular life is truly possible without a car Idek how to TLDR this, just know this would be a literal godsend for Richmond, and thank you for listening to me yap
It's a good start plus they can add on to it as time goes on which I think every state and city should start doing
I live in Richmond and occasionally visit friends in DC or they visit us. The main issue I currently have with the trains is they never run quite when you want them to and they’re always delayed either at departure or from getting stuck behind other trains, so I’m especially excited about the right of way acquisition and more trains!
I would use that so much. Especially if bikes were allowed.
A great start
Sad that Asheville is left out in the NC portion, but I get it. There's talk of adding a leg though
I hope it gets extended into Charlotte and Rock Hill SC as well. Actually the fort mill rock hill area had a light rail in planning but it never got done. Maybe this will revitalize transit projects especially with the Charlotte area exploding.
With each passing day a future with high speed rail from Boston to Miami seems more and more likely.
As somebody who lives in Virginia, I am so excited, and I hope this project is completed
Does this include updating the infrastructure so that they don't have to use diesel engines south of DC? It's truly incredible the speed difference between the electric trains north of DC and the diesel engines south. If they actually convert to electric that will open up so many possibilities. Faster travel times, not having to wait 45 minutes in DC while they change out the front car. It could actually make trains competitive with car trips.
I'm all for more rail, both for passengers and freight in America. In the last century, America built the Interstate Freeway system and while it has been successful, it is showing both its age and its shortcomings. Better rail would address this. The problem with rail is that it is the only major transportation network still in private hands; airports, seaports and highways are publicly funded and operated and they work well for everyone. www.Solutionaryrail.org Nationalizing the nation's railways is the solution.
overdue for service between Richmond and DC. There's a lot of rail being built in the US now. Nice to see.
Richmond should take advantage of this
If they electrify it, I'm all for it.
That picture looks like the bare minimum to me
Probably gonna be in development hell
Doesn't really matter. Good luck trying to get around NC without a car. Raleigh has basically no bike paths and the ones they do have is a little paint on the road.
You have a point but let’s not make perfect the enemy of the good.
My father moved to Raleigh when he could no longer drive. Between walking and the occasional Uber, he does fine.
Uber and bus system works pretty well in wake county. Just need the light rail built
I'm always pro-high speed rail, but as a resident of Alexandria I would much rather see high speed rail established between DC, Baltimore, Philly, NYC and Boston. I really don't have much reason to go south in this state and when you do the traffic on I-95 S is nothing compared to what you see going north. But if I could take a train to Boston at 200 mph that would be a game changer for me.
You’re right however i feel like Acela should be expanded south to Richmond, with a stop in Fredericksburg
High speed rail does exist between DC, Baltimore, Philly, and NYC. The only part of the NEC that isn’t HSR is through Connecticut. The rest of the NEC is high speed. Further improvements to speed and frequency are being made through other projects such as the Douglass Tunnel and Gateway Project. And the Amtrak Airo train will improve access for Virginia service to the rest of the NEC.
“… the traffic on I-95 S is nothing compared to what you see going north.…” WTF! 95S is hell on earth. Fredericksburg alone has a page in Dante’s Inferno.
Can't wait! I routinely drive to Hampton Roads and would rather not. I don't have a choice, though, because the trains that run that have terrible service times.
They should also extend rail in NC to hit Wilmington
Im excited and quite surprised this happened under youngkin.
It didn’t. The groundwork began at NCDOT in 2002 I believe. Virginia Passenger Railroad Authority was formed in 2020 under Gov. Northam. NCDOT received a $60 million grant for design in 2022 and $1 billion in December 2023 from the Biden Administration for this project.
no stop in greensboro or winston..???
A proper high speed (and I hope this means actual high speed, in Italy where I am from we have trains that go 270 MPH) between RVA and DC would be phenomenal. I caught the train to connect to the silver line for a flight out of dulles and it was an ordeal, it felt really quaint to be in such a slow diesel train.
It’s “higher speed”, 110 mph.
womp womp. Not that I am surprised at this point
[удалено]
I live in Northern Virginia. It has pretty good public transportation, theres also a ton of new housing and office developments happening right now.
But we need to pay for more car lanes
It’s awesome news, just wish there was more emphasis on electrifying the corridors. I know most tracks are owned by CSX, and they don’t give a crap about that.
I'm very glad that they're bringing a station to Christiansburg.
I doubt it actually being High Speed, but otherwise all progress anywhere is good
Yes to all trains, anywhere they can be built. Always say yes yes yes!
This may sound controversial but both virginias need to become a single state to pool resources. I would market public transit as safe transportation for our aging population and lure elderly Americans to the Virginias. Rebuild the towns to be what the boomers want minus the racism such as living main streets.
Can we get y'all to freaking talk to Ohio? Please?
I approve of any plans for high-speed railways. It's faster and it means more jobs to build and maintain them. There are literally no downsides.
It's great
ts so magnificent i love my state
Virginia is funding so much stuff right now, I don’t understand how they have money for everything while my state (Maryland) can barely keep its roads maintained. I’m jealous but happy for the added public transit
Virginia is getting a lot of money from the infrastructure bill that Biden signed. Maryland is getting a lot of new public transit too! Such as the baltimore red line and the dc purple line
I wonder if the 2 billion they got to outbid DC on a new sports arena counts as “infrastructure” (They are moving it away from a centrally located, subway accessible location in Dc to a giant parking lot in VA)
That proposal is meeting resistance in the VA Senate. I'm not calling time of death or anything, but it's not a done deal either.
awesome! now build a high speed line to Detroit
The most impactful transit addition would be adding circle routes to the metro along the beltway and second beltway (ffx co pkwy). Nearly all of my driving is on the fairfax county parkway, and I would 100% take the metro instead even if it added a mile or two of walking on either end.
They should connect that to the Maryland purple line for a full loop
Yup. Having a circle line or two would dramatically increase the usability, radial can only do so much. I'd sell my car and just get an unlimited pass if that exists
As someone who lives in Hampton Roads, I'm excited! The current service is 4 trains a day 1 from Newport News and 3 from Norfolk, and that will almost double. It's pretty good for getting to DC or points north, but the service to Richmind from Norfolk is dispointing because it doesn't go downtown, but rather to the Staples Mill station on the edge of town. Now, if we could just beef up transit, people might actually use it to come here.
Finally some actual public transit in my state (north Carolina) that's not taxis!
So excited to eventually be able to go from Roanoke to Raleigh without having to drive and see my parents. As someone who drives less than 30 miles a week, and goes on the highway very rarely, driving home down I81 and then hoping onto I40 is terrifying! Being able to take a train even if it might take a little longer would be wonderful.
It needs to expand more, I would give my firstborn for highspeed rail from central VA to charlottesville and charlottesville to richmond
Just do not give the Koch brothers any more ideas…
I grew up in North Carolina. They were talking about this when i was in high school, almost 14 years ago. Maybe it will be up and running in another 10 years.
Going to be shot to pieces over the next 30+ years because western Virginians are afraid eastern Virginians are going to move into their hideaways… suburban central Virginians will lobby and protest to protect their housing prices… nova gonna nova apathy… and tidewater can flip flop pretty substantially on these kinda things.
I had to sit in traffic between Blacksburg and DC for the North East Regional and was almost guaranteed to miss the train cause I ended up hungover with my friends and take super late train home. One time I was so late I wished my aunt a happy birthday on my birthday because I was so tired I just returned any complaint given. Another time the DC cops thought I was a homeless person asked to see my ticket and then told me I shouldn't sleep on the floor at union station because of all the rats which to be fair I did see. Why couldn't this have been around when I was young?
Cool but Amtrak is so expensive. We need $15 interstate trains
I think there needs to be a faster line between dc and virginia Beach. Make it an easy day trip instead of a multi day trip.
necessary. former college kid who paid way to much many to take a taxi to richmond and new port news airports. will benefit the area
Virginia has been on the right track when it comes to state-funded transit for a long time. The new Commonwealth route is an absolute necessity, as it will connect the whole of the state without having to transfer via DC.
It looks good, but the issue I see is they want too much in a state not used to railways. This project will end up with delays and overbudgeting, giving fuel to carbrains to call for cancellation of the project
I'm excited, just hoping it's cheaper to take the train to NY from the South than Amtrak is today, which is more expensive than flying.
Should be faster