(The following article by Chip Jones was posted on the Richmond Times-Dispatch website on August 25.)
RICHMOND, Va. — The potential loss of one of two daily Amtrak trains serving Tidewater sparked an outcry from rail supporters and raised concerns about traffic gridlock for the Jamestown 2007 celebration.
Rail advocates also said any Amtrak cuts could hurt the growth of Richmond’s Main Street Station, which reopened in 2003 after a $51.6 million renovation.
But the immediate concern was over losing already-limited service to Williamsburg and Newport News.
“They really hoped to have lot of people be able to come by rail, and now we’re eliminating one main source of travel,” said Lois Walker, president of the Virginians for High Speed Rail, the state’s major passenger-rail advocacy group. “It’s just devastating for the whole Williamsburg and Jamestown area.”
The group sent letters to Virginia’s U.S. senators and other members of Congress questioning Amtrak’s plans to revise its schedule in late October.
Amtrak confirmed yesterday that it is studying the elimination of one of two sets of daily trains linking Tidewater with Washington. The change could cut 14 train trips, or nearly half of the 30 trains that traverse the corridor each week.
Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black said eliminating the trains is a “possibility that we’re looking at. But it’s not a done deal.”
The press secretary for Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., said the senator would examine the issues raised by the rail group.
Amtrak officials will visit Richmond next week to discuss their plans with state transportation leaders, he said.
“We have worked for four years to bring additional train service to the Williamsburg, Newport News, Jamestown area in time for the 2007 celebrations,” said Thomas G. Tingle, a Williamsburg architect and former president of the rail advocacy group.
With an estimated 1 million additional visitors expected to the Williamsburg area next year, Tingle said Amtrak should run five daily round-trip trains.
Newport News Mayor Joe Frank called Amtrak’s service “critically important for tourism and business travel. And to my knowledge, they’re pretty well used.” Frank said he has jumped on board the fight to keep the trains.
Newport News reported more than 92,382 Amtrak passengers in fiscal 2005, about flat from 2004, while Williamsburg increased about 2,000 passengers to 37,450. Richmond’s Main Street Station had 11,792 passengers, up from 8,693 in 2004.
The area’s Staples Mill Station in Henrico County had more than 250,444 passengers during that period.
In all, Amtrak operates 20 trains daily in Virginia.
Students at the College of William and Mary frequent the trains, said Paul Freiling, a Williamsburg city councilman and member of the high-speed rail group.
The city spent $1.6 million to renovate the Williamsburg Transportation Center, which serves Amtrak, Greyhound, local buses, taxis and car rentals.
Eliminating Amtrak service would be “a direct undercutting of a good-faith effort on the part of the city to promote public transportation,” Freiling said.
Colin Campbell, head of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, has called Amtrak’s current service level “an impossible situation.”
In a 2003 speech, he predicted gridlock on interstates 64 and 95 if some alternative forms of travel weren’t developed before Jamestown 2007.
With today’s gas prices still high, Freiling said it’s hard to see why Amtrak would cut service.
Richmond also has a significant stake in passenger trains, and rail advocates are waiting for Main Street Station to fulfill its potential as a transportation hub.