(The following article by Chip Jones was posted on the Times-Dispatch website on April 13.)
RICHMOND, Va. — Coming around the bend on Amtrak: slight fare relief for Richmond-based passengers and a better morning schedule for business travelers coming from Washington.
Amtrak spokesman Dan Stessel said yesterday that an April 26 price change will reduce fares across Virginia. A one-way ticket to Washington, for instance, will drop by $3 to $29.
Savings will range from $1 to $4 per one-way ticket during “off peak” hours, which includes most weekdays and Saturdays.
The new fares will apply at both area train stations, Staples Mill Station in Henrico County and Main Street Station in Richmond.
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Stessel said Amtrak also is creating an earlier morning departure from Washington’s Union Station to Richmond to make it more attractive to business travelers.
Train 77, which leaves for Richmond at 8 a.m., will depart 30 minutes earlier beginning April 26.
The 7:30 a.m. train will arrive at Staples Mill at 9:39 a.m. and at Main Street at 10:12 a.m.
Coupled with a later return trip from Main Street – at 5:30 p.m. – Amtrak is seeking to “improve the day-trip option” to Richmond.
“The schedule is certainly more attractive for one-day business trips from Washington to Richmond,” Stessel said.
Ridership into Main Street Station has gradually climbed since the historic depot reopened in December.
In March, 847 passengers either arrived or departed from the city-renovated station, Stessel said. That was up from 771 travelers in February.
While Amtrak hopes the earlier morning departure will help build ridership into Virginia’s capital city station, more support may be needed, according to one leading rail advocate.
“The potential excites me, but I have been trying to get some Richmond folks interested in helping Amtrak promote this,” said Richard Beadles, of the Richmond Friends of Rail.
“The problem in the D.C. market is that nobody knows about Richmond, and they know less about getting here other than driving on [Interstate] 95,” he said.
James Dunn, president of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce, called Amtrak’s move “a positive development” for business travelers.
Dunn said he will inform about 4,500 members by e-mail.
But the chamber does not have an advertising budget to tout the change, he said.
For years, the chamber has lobbied for more and faster train service between the cities. Its dream: A 90-minute train ride from Washington to Staples Mill.
Currently, Amtrak takes more than two hours to run from Washington to Staples Mill Station; it takes another half hour to reach Main Street.