The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) and Amtrak today celebrated the start of a new daily roundtrip between Washington, D.C., and Roanoke.
There are now two round-trip trains traveling between the two cities. The new roundtrip departs Washington at 8:05 a.m., arriving in Roanoke at 1 p.m. The return trip departs Roanoke at 4:30 p.m. and arrives in Washington at 9:28 p.m.
The service includes stops in
- Alexandria
- Manassas
- Culpeper
- Charlottesville
- Lynchburg
“With a 7.8% increase in ridership on the Roanoke route in May compared to May of last year, it’s clear that Virginians in the Blue Ridge region value rail as a transportation option,” said DJ Stadtler, executive director of VPRA. “This second roundtrip will provide more flexibility for those traveling to and from Washington and points north, including Philadelphia, New York, and even Boston.”
The Western Rail Agreement, which made this new roundtrip possible, was signed by VPRA and Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) late last month. With this agreement, the Commonwealth acquired approximately 28 miles of Norfolk Southern-owned “V-line” right-of-way from Christiansburg to the Salem Crossovers including the passenger easement between Salem Crossovers and the Roanoke station platform. Future plans include the expansion of service into the New River Valley.
Rail service returned to Roanoke in 2017 when Amtrak’s Northeast Regional service was extended from Lynchburg to Roanoke. Since that time more than 210,000 passengers have traveled to and from the Star City of the South on the train. In April and May of 2022 ridership on the Roanoke Route surpassed the record ridership of the same months in 2019. April saw an increase of 3,3% with 19,605 passengers traveling in April of 2022 compared to 18,984 in April of 2022. In May of 2022 21,059 passengers traveled versus 19,535 in May of 2019, a 7.8% increase.
