Norfolk VA Transportation Hub - AMTRAK 2013

[John-MCPO-USN]

Of course.....as soon as the Navy transfers me from Norfolk to Florida.....the City of Norfolk is now working on a new AMTRAK station.......about time!

<<<<Construction is under way on track improvements and a station platform at the eastern edge of the Harbor Park parking lot, where a transportation hub will be created along Norfolk’s waterfront. It’s part of $101 million the state is spending to bring Amtrak service to the region in 2013.>>>

Entire story can be found at: http://hamptonroads.com/2011/10/work-under-way-harbor-park-transportation-hub

This is great news for the Hampton Roads area....since the only current AMTRAK service is from Newport News VA (via the painful I-64 tunnel), or via bus from VA BEACH/NORFOLK.

John

 

[Michael061282]

good to see it finally taking shape.. Now I can really start to believe that it'll happen. I just wonder where (and how) they're going to connect the NS route to the CSX Main in Petersburg, not alot of room there anymore.

 

[eagle628]

A departure time of 5:00 AM and traffic of 200 people a day just do not go together.

 

[Ryan]

That's awesome, looks like I'll be taking the train down there soon! With relatives in Suffolk, this will be much easier than NPN.

Surprising decent mix in the comments as well.

Edit: Take the two minutes and register to comment. You're certainly not going to change the minds of the negative commenters, but the hundreds of people that read the article and comments should at least see both sides of the story.

 

[xyzzy]

I just wonder where (and how) they're going to connect the NS route to the CSX Main in Petersburg, not alot of room there anymore.

The connection is not in downtown Petersburg, but to the NS bypass around downtown Petersburg to the south. No problem, and construction is already far along.

 

[afigg]

A departure time of 5:00 AM and traffic of 200 people a day just do not go together.

The plan is to increase service to 3 trains a day which will provide a lot more flexibility and ridership. But I agree that starting a new service by extending what looks to be the 174 Regional that departs Staple Mills Road at 7 AM & arrives at WAS at 9:30 AM to instead depart from Norfolk at 5 AM may not be the best way to introduce it. The focus is obviously on business travelers - in this case, presumably mostly defense contractors, military personnel, federal employees - who want to get to DC by mid-morning. But such an early hour limits the usefulness to the non-business travelers or even business travelers who don't need to get to DC for late morning meetings. They should consider matching up to a later Regional that leaves RVR at a later time in the morning. But they have several years to work with Amtrak on adjustments to the NE Regional south of WAS schedules to get a better mix for RVR, Newport News, Norfolk services.

 

[afigg]

A departure time of 5:00 AM and traffic of 200 people a day just do not go together.

The plan is to increase service to 3 trains a day which will provide a lot more flexibility and ridership. But I agree that starting a new service by extending what looks to be the 174 Regional that departs Staple Mills Road at 7 AM & arrives at WAS at 9:30 AM to instead depart from Norfolk at 5 AM may not be the best way to introduce it. The focus is obviously on business travelers - in this case, presumably mostly defense contractors, military personnel, federal employees - who want to get to DC by mid-morning. But such an early hour limits the usefulness to the non-business travelers or even business travelers who don't need to get to DC for late morning meetings. They should consider matching up to a later Regional that leaves RVR at a later time in the morning. But they have several years to work with Amtrak on adjustments to the NE Regional south of WAS schedules to get a better mix for RVR, Newport News, Norfolk services.

 

[John-MCPO-USN]

The focus is obviously on business travelers - in this case, presumably mostly defense contractors, military personnel, federal employees - who want to get to DC by mid-morning.

You are absolutely correct.

When the service goes into place, I can assure you that there will be a great deal of Active Duty Military riding from Norfolk to DC vs driving the nightmare I-64 (tunnels) and the even more nightmarish I-95 northbound and southbound journey. I can't remember how many trips I made from Norfolk to DC in my 8 years living in the Hampton Roads area......and, the Navy will not fly you to DC (due to the excessive cost and the short distance), so, driving is the only other option offered (except for the NPN to DC trip....but, not to many takers on that option).....and the drive is always (always) horrible (both ways).

Not sure about the 200 number estimate either----but, there will be significant ridership.

John

 

[Michael061282]

yeah I didn't think they'd put it back through downtown, still looks like it'd be awkward at the actual junction since the lines are separated and there are 2 roads right nearby also. I'll still be on one of the first RVR - Norfolk trains regardless

 

[Michael061282]

Driving will be even more of a nightmare now that VA wants to put tolls on 95 from Richmond up through DC... I avoid driving to DC at almost any cost. What are the stops between Petersburg & Norfolk? Just Suffolk or maybe flag stops in Waverly and or Wakefield ? And personally, i can't wait for the first local to call and try to make a reservation with Julie and fritz out the system by calling it Norfu** (that's how its pronounced around here)

 

[Ryan]

Eh, it's more of a Nawf**k.

I'm glad that the staff at the V-P finally got around to approving my comments. Good showing there by Alan and I, I didn't recognize any other names.

Judging by the "thumbs up/thumbs down" on the comments, support seems to pre pretty high for this one.

 

[Anderson]

I'm going to hold comments...basically, while I strongly support this train, a 5 AM departure time alone at a station other than NPN is a misfire waiting to happen. If you combined it with another departure from the region that was later (84/88 leaps to mind as the only viable candidate at the moment, though something in 194's slot would also make sense), I think you might have a winner (I think that a train aimed at getting folks into Richmond around 8-8:30 AM would do very well over the coming years, and the not-insane departure time that you could get from that in the 6 AM range would also be tolerable for a lot more folks). I just don't think that a 5 AM departure requiring folks to wake up at 4 AM or so to make the train if they live in Virginia Beach will sell well at all.

Honestly, I'm tempted to contact Drake's office and ask why they're shooting for such an early time (i.e. is there market research saying this is a good idea?). Frankly, this is up there with the initial plan for the Lynchburger, which was fine for Charlottesville but awful for Lynchburg...and which would likely, if enacted as initially planned, have cost Amtrak a profitable setup. If I had to guess, this train will be mostly empty until it hits Richmond (as opposed to the half-empty status of the NPN trains) and then fill out more.

 

[Paw]

My family is really looking forward to this train coming online. I used to ride Amtrak to Petersburg from my hometown of Suffolk when I was a young train chaser. I wonder is Suffolk working to make this work for their benefit too? The old N&W station is tired and worn and used by train crews on the NF&D branch now. Maybe a platform near Saratoga St. would be a good option. Nice to meet yawl, this is my first post.

 

[jb64]

My family is really looking forward to this train coming online. I used to ride Amtrak to Petersburg from my hometown of Suffolk when I was a young train chaser. I wonder is Suffolk working to make this work for their benefit too? The old N&W station is tired and worn and used by train crews on the NF&D branch now. Maybe a platform near Saratoga St. would be a good option. Nice to meet yawl, this is my first post.

Welcome. Glad to have you aboard.

 

[Anderson]

My family is really looking forward to this train coming online. I used to ride Amtrak to Petersburg from my hometown of Suffolk when I was a young train chaser. I wonder is Suffolk working to make this work for their benefit too? The old N&W station is tired and worn and used by train crews on the NF&D branch now. Maybe a platform near Saratoga St. would be a good option. Nice to meet yawl, this is my first post.

First of all, welcome aboard.

Second, as to the Suffolk station, there was an article on this here. Basically, I think the problem is that one of the old stations is being used otherwise by the city, and I don't know if the N&W station is on the proposed line. More importantly, though, is the fact that if the commuter rail plans come to fruition in some form (either on NS's trackage or as an extension of the Tide down the road), the current station(s) would be woefully insufficient.

My guess is that Suffolk will get a stop of some sort at some point...the population out that way is large enough now that I think you'd get 20-25k riders per year on a (decently-scheduled) twice-daily service.