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Posted: 6:43 PM Feb 23, 2009
New Rail Route Through Charlottesville is Funded
Train service from Lynchburg to Washington D.C. by way of Charlottesville is on track. The project clears its biggest obstacle of paying for it.
Reporter: Cheryn Stone Email Address: cheryn.stone@wcav.tv |
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2 Comments 
February 23, 2009
Train service from Lynchburg to Washington D.C. by way of Charlottesville is on track. The project clears its biggest obstacle of paying for it.
The state already has money in the budget for rail. It will not come out of the general fund. A new service on these tracks could bring faster and more reliable rail through Charlottesville.
Piedmont Rail Coalition Chair, Meredith Richards, says, "the funding was our major hurdle, by far it's the most significant part of the process of getting these rail services started."
At a recent meeting of the Commonwealth Transportation Board, they approved 17.2 million dollars to fund two projects. It includes a new route from Richmond to Washington as well as the new Lynchburg to D.C. route.
Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris says, "this is a real godsend for our region for the entire Piedmont corridor to have this alternative available."
Charlottesville is currently served by Amtrak, but only on their long distance routes.
Norris says, "right now the rail service we have here is unreliable, it's too often late, inconvenient."
Richards adds, "a train that starts an hour down the road in Lynchburg at 5:00 in the morning is going to be here reliably."
The funding is ready for the new regional rail as of July 1st. It will not take away from other transit projects. The state is paying to operate these trains for three years. After that, they have to find a sustained source of funding.
"They have to prove themselves, and I'm going to encourage everyone to ride these trains because they have to prove their value," Richards says.
In the meantime, Richards says it's up to people to prove it's money well spent.
A few more things have to happen before this service is running. Some agreements still have to be reached with Amtrak, CSX, and Virginia Railway Express, but Richards anticipates agreements will be reached.
Latest Comments
I believe this will be a Cville to NY train. I understand a train set that normally terminates in Washington will simply continue on to C'ville and Lynchburg.
Where is the C-Ville to NYC train? Will that get tacked on later?
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