$66 Billion Infrastructure bill - Effects on VRE

Having that siding north of Ashland for CSX trains will certainly help. Today, there is probably no more than a two hour gap on average between Amtrak trains running on the RF&P in VA, especially south of Lorton. When Amtrak starts running hourly Northeast Regional service below DC plus those four additional Carolinian roundtrips, the service will be match commuter service levels.

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 8:53 amWasn't there a plan to route some of the CSX traffic around Ashland on a new track?

All Ashland plans were scotched after local opposition from the bypass area, the town, and the college. Instead they are upgrading the platforms and the pax crossing to ADA standards and adding a message board so people don't have to stand in the middle of the tracks to see what platform to wait on.

In other Ashland news, three automobile have turned onto the tracks in the last ten days or so. A left turn was blocked off by orange barriers and it seems to confuse people unfamiliar with the new situation or maybe following GPS. Two vehicles were stuck, but the last one stopped and backed out, less than two minutes before a train arrived on the other track. The train speed limit is 35mph in town. About half the Amtraks make a station stop and there are several freights per day.

Ashland seems to have as many vehicle and pedestrian crossings as possible, for all its charm. In Charlottesville on the other hand, Norfolk Southern built big fences a few years ago because students walking to class would climb over parked boxcar couplings.

There's a quiet rule for trains in Ashland reportedly, but they all blow their horns anyway under a different rule.

Anyway here's hoping the Long Bridge goes to contract soon. Neither the new governor nor his defeated opponent discussed transportation, or most other issues, in the campaign. About a decade ago a Virginia governor tried to finagle the enormous port operating contract out of state hands by replacing the board, one move governors can make.