(The Richmond Times-Dispatch posted the following column by Chip Jones on its website on April 28.)
RICHMOND, Va. — It started as a minor shift in Amtrak’s schedule. But changes in the area’s morning train service have rattled some windows from Shockhoe Bottom to the shady streets of Ashland.
The noise began after Amtrak changed arrival times of trains from Washington through Ashland and, eventually, into the renovated Main Street Station in Richmond. This happened after Amtrak canceled its Twilight Shoreliner service that originated in Boston and ended in Newport News.
The train provided early-morning service from Washington to Ashland, then Richmond.
Until today, it arrived at the Staples Mill Station at 8:30 a.m. Once Main Street Station opens downtown, that train was expected to roll in by 9 a.m.
Some downtown workers hoped to catch the new Ashland-Richmond express. Their mass-transit hopes were dashed, however, when Amtrak ended the Shoreliner service.
Today’s service brings the first train from Washington into Staples Mill Station at 10:05 a.m.
The renovated Main Street Station at 16th and Main streets isn’t open yet. Construction delays have pushed the opening date to around September, officials said last week. But when it does open, the first train from Washington won’t arrive until 10:28 a.m. That’s bound to deter anyone traveling on business to use it on a regular basis — especially given the unforeseen delays that can slow passenger trains.
As Viktoria Badger, the city’s principal planner, noted last week, this could discourage anyone from commuting from Ashland, Fredericksburg, or other stops up the rail line.
Angela LaCombe, Ashland’s mayor, said the Town Council has drafted a letter to Amtrak President David Gunn expressing concern over the changes.
Officials at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland said they’re also monitoring the situation.
“We don’t have any idea of what’s going to happen,” LaCombe said. “We just want to maintain as much convenient rail passenger service as we can get. With Main Street Station opening up, we see that as a long-term positive for Ashland.”
Ashland’s historic train station is in the heart of town, next to the college.
“We put that in our recruiting materials for prospective students and their parents,” said Anne Marie Lauranzon, the college’s director of marketing and communications. “It’s a wonderful selling tool for us.”
Many of the college’s prospects hail from Northern Virginia or parts of the Northeast served by Amtrak, she said.
“Amtrak is a wonderful asset to the college,” she said. “It Is unique. It’s convenient. It lends wonderful ambiance to Ashland.”
Students often catch trains home on weekends or holidays, and some use Amtrak to get to internships in Northern Virginia, Lauranzon said.
Public transportation in the metro area is “somewhat limited,” she said, so Amtrak is about the only game in town.