By Peter Galuszka
Many decades ago, Richmond was a major, and colorful, train hub. Crack passenger lines of all liveries, the purple and silver of the Atlantic Coast Line, the citrus colors of Seaboard, and the blue and yellow of the Chesapeake & Ohio, all went through town.
Cars and aircraft reduced rail to dirty old cars that were on time about 50 percent of the time. But that is changing.
In the past several years, Amtrak, partly funded with public money, is coming back with the addition of early morning trains from Richmond to Washington, new lines from Norfolk and Lynchburg and on-time rates approaching 90 percent. Many are clean and have Internet service.
For the first time in years, rail is being seen as a real alternative to struggling with congested Interstate 95 or messing with airport delays, the nasty TSA and snarly airlines that charge you for checked bags and everything else.
In fact, transportation expert George Hoffer at the University of Richmond, says the Amtrak turnaround is so significant that it is cutting in half the ratios of those who fly out of Richmond versus take the train. It used to be 12 passengers for every rail rider and now it is six to one, he says.
Brookings says that rail passengers out of four Richmond area rail stations has increased nearly 60 percent from 1997. So we’re seeing a slow and steady chugging along which has positive implications for the state’s economy and the environment.
For more, see my Style Weekly article.
