Transit Briefs: Bay Area Transit, LACMTA, CTA, Amtrak Virginia
January 23, 2024 | Passenger
Transit Briefs: Bay Area Transit, LACMTA, CTA, Amtrak Virginia
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
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Amtrak Virginia
The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) on Jan. 22 reported that more than 1.32 million passengers traveled on its state-supported Amtrak Virginia service during calendar year 2023. This was the highest ridership recorded since state-supported service began in 2009, and the total1,325,937beat calendar year 2022 ridership by 29.8%, VPRA said.
All four Amtrak Virginia corridors saw increases year-over-year with Newport News leading the way with a 36.8% increase over 2022. The month of August set a record for monthly ridership with 130,998 passengers traveling.
VPRA noted that calendar year 2023 ridership included eight daily roundtrips. Ridership for the first half of calendar year 2022 included five daily roundtrips as three were added in July 2022one to Roanoke and one to Norfolk, and the third, to Newport News, was the resumption of service cancelled due to the pandemic.
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Amtrak Virginia currently offers three daily roundtrips between Norfolk and Washington, D.C.; two daily roundtrips between both Roanoke and Washington, and Newport News and Washington; and one daily roundtrip between Richmond and Washington. Completion of the Transforming Rail in Virginia initiatives Phase 2 projects will allow for three new roundtrips. Those will be in addition to the current eight roundtrips and the two that are scheduled to launch upon completion of Phase 1 projects in 2026 for a total of 13 daily roundtrips by 2030, according to VPRA.