Passenger trains are a hot ticket in Lynchburg

To see people doing something about gas prices these days, it’s only necessary to be at the Lynchburg train station at 6 a.m.

The 20-plus seats allotted to Lynchburg are almost always sold out for the morning train to the Washington, D.C., and New York areas.

“When you travel alone, it seems like it’s more cost-effective these days to take the train,” said Annette Mills of Lynchburg.

Indeed, a traveler — one who was planning several weeks ahead — could book a round trip from Lynchburg to New York last week for $311, or about 38 cents per mile. Many businesses reimburse employees at a higher rate than that for personal-car mileage.

Mills had just put her daughter’s teenage girlfriend on the train, bound for home in Delaware on Thursday after a visit in Lynchburg.

Mills herself had traveled the same route by train several times this year to be with her family in Delaware, where her father was ill, she said.

Many of the passengers in Lynchburg travel to visit relatives and friends, if Amtrak’s demographic surveys and newspaper interviews done last week are good indicators.

Of eight passengers interviewed Thursday and Friday, six were traveling to see friends or relatives.

“Most of it is family travel,” said Garland Harper, Amtrak’s ticket agent for Lynchburg.

Although late arrivals are the most common complaint about train travel, the 6:05 a.m. train into Lynchburg was precisely on time Thursday and Friday.

“Be sure to tell them about this atrocious on-time performance,” Harper said, smiling.

But whether a trip is for social, business or academic reasons, it’s becoming necessary to buy a ticket well in advance.

“The train is filling up faster as it comes up from Atlanta,” Harper said.

“They’re selling out 2 or 2 ½ weeks in advance these days.”

As of Friday, Amtrak’s online reservations site indicated every Lynchburg seat the rest of this weekwas sold.

For the rest of July, only eight round-trip tickets were left for trips from Lynchburg to Washington. No more than one seat per day was available.

Those are the sorts of statistics that led 21 governing bodies in the U.S. 29 corridor, including Lynchburg, to pass resolutions this year urging the state to provide $1.9 million per year to operate a second train on the Lynchburg-to-Washington route.

While Amtrak and state rail authorities have taken a close look at starting another daily train, its chances of becoming real were hurt last week when the General Assembly failed to agree on new transportation funding.

Without new funds, the state can’t afford to subsidize another train, according to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and his top transportation official, Pierce Homer.

“We do not have a sustainable set of local, state and federal funds to support the annual operating costs of the Lynchburg passenger rail service,” said Homer, secretary of transportation in Kaine’s cabinet.

“That is one of many opportunities that was lost during the legislative special session,” Homer said.

The session ended in a political stalemate last week because of proposed new taxes, and prospects for any new transportation revenues before 2010 hinge on legislation that Kaine indicated he would propose in January.

Few observers of the General Assembly would expect new revenues to be approved by anti-tax legislators who dominate the House of Delegates.

Most of the riders boarding the train in Lynchburg weren’t paying much attention to state-level politics. They were just happy to have an alternative to cars and planes.

Mari Keeley, who was heading home to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., after a two-week visit with friends in Lynchburg, said she rides trains frequently.

“It’s cheaper than flying. It’s relaxing, and you’ve got your dining car. I just like the atmosphere,” Keeley said.

Passengers boarding the train on holidays and during academic breaks have noticed local college students also ride the rails, but over the year they’re a small group, according to Amtrak’s surveys.

Business travel accounts for just over 10 percent of riders on Amtrak’s Crescent route from New York to New Orleans, according to 2004 data.

Mark Tetley and Janet Copping were among the business travelers in Lynchburg last Thursday.

“We’re here from the UK, visiting the McDermott facility,” said Tetley, referring to Lynchburg’s Babcock & Wilcox Co.

He and Copping, who each live near London, were headed to Philadelphia for the next meeting on their agenda, Tetley said. Flying there would have meant they’d have to rent a car and drive to the Richmond airport.

“Frankly, it’s a lot easier than flying,” Tetley said. “You should have more trains in this country.”

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