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Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1588072  by Roadgeek Adam
 
njtmnrrbuff wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 6:45 am Charlotte’s Station won’t be across from the freight yard forever. In a few more years, it’s supposed to move to the Uptown Business District.
Newport News is moving as well out of its yard station. It's progress (to some degree). All these yard stations well away from the business centers are dopey. I get why it was done (to eliminate extra moves and save time in some cases), but man, train travel is as much about convenience as it is accessibility.
 #1588075  by njtmnrrbuff
 
Yes, NPN station is moving well north of the present location. There are advantages and disadvantages. One disadvantage is that it will be far away from Downtown NPN unlike where the present station is. New station will be located 9 miles up the road from the current NPN Depot. It seems that there are many advantages-much closer to the airport and other commercial areas. Plus it sounds like Amtrak won't run into as many delays that they run into on the present NPN route. Before the third roundtrip to NPN starts running, the station will have to handle more riders. For those people who are traveling to and from Downtown Norfolk plus Virginia Beach, those people will be able to look forward to three roundtrips serving the station alongside Downtown NFK. Hopefully the Thruway bus will still run between VAB, NFK, and NPN.
 #1588077  by Roadgeek Adam
 
njtmnrrbuff wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 6:31 pm Yes, NPN station is moving well north of the present location. There are advantages and disadvantages. One disadvantage is that it will be far away from Downtown NPN unlike where the present station is. New station will be located 9 miles up the road from the current NPN Depot. It seems that there are many advantages-much closer to the airport and other commercial areas. Plus it sounds like Amtrak won't run into as many delays that they run into on the present NPN route. Before the third roundtrip to NPN starts running, the station will have to handle more riders. For those people who are traveling to and from Downtown Norfolk plus Virginia Beach, those people will be able to look forward to three roundtrips serving the station alongside Downtown NFK. Hopefully the Thruway bus will still run between VAB, NFK, and NPN.
I visited the NPN, NFK, et al stations in October. The 9 miles between the current Newport News station in the yard and the new one feels like a drag. It moved at the pace of a snail at points. (Some of this is because Virginia beach territory in October, but some of it was just the time it took). I do wonder how much we're having this discussion if Lee Hall isn't closed.
 #1588086  by njtmnrrbuff
 
It's probably because of CSX is why your train was dragging. It's been almost 13 years since I last took a train to NPN-this was in May of 2009. Btw Amtrak should look into adding a station between Norfolk and Petersburg-maybe somewhere in Suffolk. Once the train passes Suffolk when heading west, there is a lot of nothing until the right of way enters Petersburg.
 #1588087  by Roadgeek Adam
 
njtmnrrbuff wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 8:14 pm It's probably because of CSX is why your train was dragging. It's been almost 13 years since I last took a train to NPN-this was in May of 2009. Btw Amtrak should look into adding a station between Norfolk and Petersburg-maybe somewhere in Suffolk. Once the train passes Suffolk when heading west, there is a lot of nothing until the right of way enters Petersburg.
I drove between them. It took forever. Also, remember, Suffolk used to have a stop, seen below:

Image
 #1588094  by njtmnrrbuff
 
I remember that something used to stop in Suffolk, in terms of passenger rail. Yes I know that the station still stands and its present location is centrally located. Not only would it serve the City of Suffolk. It would serve other nearby cities west of the James River like Smithfield and even some of the towns in the Northeastern part of NC like Murfreesboro.
 #1588106  by Station Aficionado
 
When the Norfolk service was first planned, the state said there would be a future station in the Bowers Hill section of Chesapeake. That seems to have gone the way of a second (downtown) station in NPN. Suffolk would also work as intermediate stop before Harbor Park. The pictured N&W station was a stop for the Mountaineer back in the '70's. The former Seaboard station also still stands (in better shape)--it's now a museum (which I was 15 minutes too late to go into the last time I was in Suffolk).
Last edited by Station Aficionado on Thu Dec 30, 2021 1:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
 #1588107  by Station Aficionado
 
Roadgeek Adam wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 4:57 am
Newport News VA, Topeka KS come to mind. Creston IA is pretty close, but is not.

Also West Quincy was one as well.
Had forgotten about NPN. Also had forgotten that the Syracuse station was in the yard at East Syracuse for 36 years.
 #1588156  by Roadgeek Adam
 
Station Aficionado wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 12:51 am When the Norfolk service was first planned, the state said there would be a future station in the Bowers Hill section of Chesapeake. That seems to have gone the way of a second (downtown) station in NPN. Suffolk would also work as intermediate stop before Harbor Park. The pictured N&W station was a stop for the Mountaineer back in the '70's. The former Seaboard station also still stands (in better shape)--it's now a museum (which I was 15 minutes too late to go into the last time I was in Suffolk).
It is bizarre that the state has been so utter focused on the New River extensions that the idea of a stop in Suffolk (or anywhere else in the state has been kind of forgotten. (Not that extensions through the New River are a bad thing, but infills don't cost as much.)

Also, Suffolk SAL station:

Image
 #1588164  by njtmnrrbuff
 
If an Amtrak station were to ever get built in Suffolk, VA, hopefully there would be enough parking. By the way, I just remembered that the right of way used by Amtrak trains to NFK passes through Windsor-if the city doesn't want to build a station in Downtown Suffolk, then maybe Windsor would be another town to look into. I do remember hearing about the proposal for Amtrak to add a station in Bowers Hill, located where Chesapeake and Suffolk meet.

The extension to the New River Valley is very important. You have Virginia Tech as well as many towns that serve as a gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains. On the route to Roanoke and eventually Christiansburg, hopefully plans are continuing to be considered to add a station in Bedford, VA. This station would be very close to a very popular resort area called the Peaks of Otter Lodge.

I do remember learning when Syracuse station was located along the freight yard. There is no doubt that the present location is located much closer to the downtown area. Plus, it's extremely close to the interchange with I-81 and I-90. It's great that the Syracuse Amtrak Station is also a depot for intercity and local buses. Someday, it would be nice to add a high level platform on the opposite side of the tracks at SYR so that way two Amtrak trains can serve the station at once.
 #1588181  by Roadgeek Adam
 
njtmnrrbuff wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 4:28 pm If an Amtrak station were to ever get built in Suffolk, VA, hopefully there would be enough parking. By the way, I just remembered that the right of way used by Amtrak trains to NFK passes through Windsor-if the city doesn't want to build a station in Downtown Suffolk, then maybe Windsor would be another town to look into. I do remember hearing about the proposal for Amtrak to add a station in Bowers Hill, located where Chesapeake and Suffolk meet.

The extension to the New River Valley is very important. You have Virginia Tech as well as many towns that serve as a gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains. On the route to Roanoke and eventually Christiansburg, hopefully plans are continuing to be considered to add a station in Bedford, VA. This station would be very close to a very popular resort area called the Peaks of Otter Lodge.
I'm not questioning the benefit of the New River Valley extensions. I would hope at some point service reaches Bristol. Amtrak apparently declined interest in reopening Bedford because of a projected lack of ridership, though.

However, there is room for infill stations in Virginia. Heaven knows it's not like Amtrak hasn't had utterly pointless stations in Virginia before (*cough*Monroe*cough*) and it seems like Virginia, with its high interest in service expansion, could invest in a few cheap infill stops.
 #1589055  by Pensyfan19
 
rcthompson04 wrote: Mon Jan 10, 2022 10:04 am Amtrak has moved to the new Middletown, PA station:

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2022/01/f ... ation.html

That leaves Parkesburg and Downingtown as the only Keystone Service not rebuilt/remodeled or in the process of being rebuilt/remodeled (Coatesville and Ardmore are currently in various stages of construction).
If SEPTA originally used Parkersburg as a terminus, how come they never went to Lancaster? I believed they had to go there to turn around when they terminated at Parkersburg.
 #1589061  by Roadgeek Adam
 
Middletown opening just leaves Parkesburg & Downingtown for Amtrak needed high-level platforms between Philly and Harrisburg. (Coatesville is under construction).

I've heard rumours on Parkesburg, but not Downingtown.
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