High-speed rail line would include Ashland, Staples Mill
DEAN HOFFMEYER/TIMES-DISPATCH
Ashland and Hanover County officials opposed an eastern route for proposed high-speed rail service through Richmond.
The train still is going to run through the Ashland and Staples Mill stations.
The Federal Railroad Administration has dropped consideration of an eastern route for proposed high-speed rail service through Richmond that would have bypassed Ashland and Amtrak's main station on Staples Mill Road in Henrico County.
"We concluded that the eastern route didn't make a whole lot of sense," Charles M. Badger, the director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, said yesterday.
"It was more expensive and had more environmental impacts. There are some wetlands that the eastern route would have taken," he said. "And it had the trains tie back in north of Ashland, so it would eliminate service to Ashland and even Staples Mill."
During the past year, the state rail agency conducted an environmental study to select the most feasible route between Richmond's Main Street Station and Doswell in northern Hanover County for the U.S. southeast high-speed rail service to Washington.
The eastern route between Main Street Station and Doswell followed the Buckingham Branch rail line, which runs generally east of Interstate 95. The western route follows the CSX rail line, to the west of I-95.
Ashland and Hanover officials opposed the eastern route.
"We're excited that the commonwealth has come to that decision," Hanover County Administrator Cecil R. "Rhu" Harris Jr. said. "We have a very significant stop for Amtrak in Ashland. Continuing that service is very important to the county, the town and Randolph-Macon College, in particular."
Jennifer Scott with the Hanover Association of Businesses and Chamber of Commerce said, "We're just glad the conversation is still happening about trains coming down that corridor."
"It's really smart that our county leaders and the state government leaders are thinking about the transportation issues now," she said. "We believe that high-speed rail is one of the solutions."
The hometowns of 80 percent of Randolph-Macon students are near the Amtrak line between Richmond and Boston, R-MC President Robert R. Lindgren pointed out.
Ashland officials worried that the loss of passenger train service would slash the income of some of the town's businesses by 20 percent and force others to shut their doors.
Last year, 275,479 travelers used Amtrak's Staples Mill Station, making it Amtrak's busiest station in Virginia, while 16,497 passengers used the Ashland station.
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine was one of eight governors at the White House yesterday for a roundtable discussion on high-speed rail. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood challenged governors to think boldly when designing high-speed rail plans.
Detailed guidance for up to the first $8 billion in federal rail grant applications will be announced this month, and the first round of grants are expected to be awarded as soon as late summer.
The governor's office also announced yesterday that Virginia has signed an agreement with Amtrak to run an additional train between Richmond and Washington during commuter hours, starting in December. The train and previously announced daily service between Lynchburg and Washington will be the first state-supported intercity passenger rail services in Virginia.
The state will pay Amtrak, the national passenger rail corporation, $17.2 million to operate the two round-trip trains and $8 million to rehabilitate the cars and locomotives for the services.
The state rail agency's study found that capital improvements to the eastern route on the Buckingham Branch would have cost $402 million, considerably more than the $234 million needed for the existing western line, Badger said.
"The Buckingham Branch has been shown to fail as a reasonable alternative," agreed Mark E. Yachmetz, the Federal Railroad Administration's associate administrator for railroad development.
Now, Badger said, "the commonwealth can move forward with the I-95 corridor development plan to support enhanced passenger and freight rail service."
Contact Peter Bacqué at (804) 649-6813 or
.
Political Editor Andrew Cain contributed to this report.
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Reader Reactions
Ok..I went to the amtrak site and checked their travel times. I actually take the train to DC a couple times a year for business.. but couldn’t remember the travel time. According to their schedule (which can run late).. it is approximately 2.5 hours from Richmond to DC and 2.25 hours from Ashland to DC. The high speed rail proposes a travel time of approximately 2 hours. Is that a big enough difference to spur use of a rail system? I mean.. people who live here would have to commute to wherever the station is and then get on the metro mostlikely to get to their destination in NOVA/DC. That means their total commute would be in the neighborhood of 3-3.5 hours.. not sure if you would get too many takers on a daily basis as it is only knocking about 30 minutes off the entire trip.. to me 3.5 hours and 4 hours are equally distastefull as a commute. I drive over an hour each way for work now.. and couldn’t see much more as palatable unless there were a lot more money involved.
With great irony.. i checked Jetblue and for 15-40 dollars (depending on what train you take) more each way, you can get a non-stop flight to JFK in new york that will get there in about 1.5 hours.. maybe we should try to get new yorkers to live here and just commute by plane?
I was really for high speed rail..but I think I would like to see more data now before I put my support 100% behind it.
And for everyone who says not to build the stadium b/c richmond doesn’t support baseball and not to build the rail because nobody uses trains - there is a common theme why. They (the diamond and AmTrak) both currently suck. Who wants to go watch a game in a dumpy area and risk pieces of the dumpy stadium falling on them or their kids. Who wants to take a train that takes 4 hours to get somewhere that you can drive in 2. The whole point of these projects is that they will change the way things are done now and make them so much better that they will in turn increase attendance, ridership, etc. Basing it on current demand is leaving out a critical factor as to why the current usage is so low. I wonder if more people shop at Short Pump than shopped at Regency…probably, because everyone who used to drive to DC now can shop here due to much better quality and selection of stores. Build the darn things and move on.
AG - I like your vision. That is the true master plan for taking a mediocre downtown and making it magnificant. Two amazing projects (rail and stadium) that any rational person would support, but you’ve got people here doing their best to shoot it down. I don’t get it, but I know that both would be a success. I remember when I first moved here people were complaining about short pump town center, there wouldn’t be enough water, would couldn’t support it, etc. How right were they? Dead wrong…and everyone who cuts down the shockoe stadium and main street rail ideas are just as dead wrong. i just pray somebody with a brain takes charge and makes it happen.
i know you may all wonder how many people this rail service would serve, but you are looking at it the wrong way…if this was avialable, how many people would move to richmond or ashland that have jobs in dc? how many people currently out of work in richmond or ashland could take job in dc? think about all those condos we’d sell to DC executives that don’t want to live in that crowded mess up there!!!! bring on the rail!! i’m tired of driving!
Hey, don’t let the politicians and bureaucrats get wrapped up in the Washington Richmond rail corridor exclusively. Remember the UVA - VCU - ODU corridor as well. The C&O RR provided regular passenger train service between Charlottesville and Richmond and Hampton Roads for decades, even Amtrak did it in the 1970s.
Governor Warner’s Administration created the necessary annual sustained funding source for expanded statewide passenger rail service. It’s know as the Virginia Rail Enhancement Fund. But instead of being used for true public benefit passenger rail services, those pesky special interest lobbyists have diverted almost all of it to capital improvements for private freight rail companies. Can anybody say “corporate welfare”...
Please scream loudly to your senators and delegates ... and the Governor ... that the Virginia REF money should be used for a lot more public benefit and a lot less corporate welfare. There is already plenty of freight rail improvement money available in Washington at the Federal Railroad Administration still going unused. So why waste Virginians dollars when Federal dollars are available for the freights…
Sure, there are probably a lot more people who commute now to and from cville. Shoot, I commute from Cumberland County (alas.. no high speed rail for me lol). BUT if a better option were available between here and the NOVA area.. I think you might see more of it.
I think people are seriously overestimating the number of people who commute to DC on a *regular basis*.
The main users are mostly likely going to be people who work for firms with a strong presence both regions, ie big law firms, big accounting firms, big architecture firms.
The more likely scenario is that Charlottesvile will combined with Richmond come the 2010 census. I would say there is a lot more commuting from C-ville to RIC on a regular basis.
Agreed, a working hub downtown increase traffic/parking problems… I expect the answer will be mass transit. Since the GRTC is moving its hub to Main Street Station, I expect the next step will be light rail to the counties (and probably the airport).
Imagine a historic clock-tower hub where High Speed Rail connects with secondary rail lines/light rail/buses/taxis. Right next to Shockoe Center that provides shopping/entertainment/history/sports. Not to mention a walk to the largest business center in the region.
I believe this could be the spark that Richmond needs if we can keep our focus!
AG.. I am not advocating the hub be in Ashland..lol. I think the Airport area which is minutes from downtown and could easily be reached by bus/cab/car would offer the commuters (who in reality will most likely be going to the bigger metro area)a convenient way to get to their jobs. If you make people deal with the hassle of going downtown.. I don’t think as many people will take advantage of the potential convenience. Having a high speed rail station “minutes” (and it really is just minutes down williamsburg road) from downtown.. you avoid additional congestion in downtown during commuting/business hours and provide a way for people to travel both ways with more convenience. For the people who don’t need to go to downtown (ie live in southside.. work in DC).. they don’t have to bother with the hassle and can keep the city roads clear of unneeded traffic.
let me get this straight…..Ashland is worthy of high speed rail but downtown richmond isn’t? Seriously, is this really happening? I could hire a 2 year old to make better decisions.
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