The new Amtrak train that runs from Lynchburg to Washington, D.C., has been operating only for eight months, so it’s still a bit early to declare it an unqualified success, but ... .
Wednesday, Amtrak released ridership numbers from October through March, and they are enough to make all but the most jaded of skeptics sit up and take notice.
According to Amtrak, during that six-month period, ridership was 55,025 passengers. The first-year ridership goal was 51,000 riders. During the first six months, the new train generated more than $2.8 million in revenue. The revenue goal for the entire first year was a mere $2.6 million.
To us, folks, those numbers certainly have a whiff of success to them.
Increasing passenger rail options in Virginia has been a long-term goal of the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, going back to the mid-1990s. The TransDominion Express — a high-speed rail line linking cities in Southwest, Southside and Central Virginia to the nation’s capital and the Northeast Corridor — is still the ultimate goal. Rail proponents, however, quickly realized they needed to take immediate steps to increase rail opportunities in the region.
Those efforts came to fruition in the last couple of years, with the chamber’s strong lobbying support, backing of the business community and hard work by various local and state elected officials, including former Del. Shannon Valentine, state Sen. Steve Newman and former Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.
Over time, passenger rail will become more and more important in the nation’s transportation planning. Population density already makes it viable in the Washington-to-Boston corridor and other metropolitan areas of the nation. As the national population grows and continues concentrating up and the nation’s eastern and western coasts, it will become an even more integral component of transportation planning.
In Central Virginia, increasing the passenger rail options also will be an important development tool, connecting the region — literally and psychologically — to the Northheast Corridor, one of the nation’s key economic engines.
While the full benefits likely won’t come to fruition for several years, the latest numbers from Amtrak indicate we’re on the right track, so to speak.
There is demand for passenger rail; there is a need for passenger rail; there is potential for passenger rail. We just need to keep focused on the ultimate goal.
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