54,000 passengers 1st year. That comes to about 60+ boarding and 60+ getting off. Not baad for a train with terrible times. Still looking for another mid day train however wonder how many that would rob from the night time trains ? Of course VA DOT getting another RT slots over Long Bridge ?
https://www.wsls.com/news/virginia/roanoke/amtrak-thriving-in-roanoke-one-year-after-return-of-passenger-rail-service
I get 74 per day average. Two busses could handle that with room to spare. What a waste!
PNWRMNMI get 74 per day average. Two busses could handle that with room to spare. What a waste!
Like the DC area highway grid lock needs two more buses.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACD PNWRMNM I get 74 per day average. Two busses could handle that with room to spare. What a waste!
PNWRMNM I get 74 per day average. Two busses could handle that with room to spare. What a waste!
The train to Roanoke arrives at 9:55 pm and leaves northbound at 6:19 am. 54,000 boardings and alightings in Roanoke alone in the first year so far, on a train that starts in Boston and provides additional service to several other Virginia towns (Charlottesville, Culpepper and Manassas) along the way. It is likely the ridership will increase considerably with another train added with better times, perhaps ending in DC or NYC.
Too bad the train does not stop in Bedford. But then they would have to build another 10 million dollar platform.
Luckily thats only your opinion.
I get the same number. I wonder where the 54,000+ came from. Amtrak does not show any passenger information for Roanoke on its 2017 Virginia State Fact Sheet. The 2018 sheets have not been released.
If the train is anything like the Heartland Flyer, it probably has a heavier load factor on Friday through Monday. If this is the case, a more cost effective schedule could be to schedule the train on those days and let Greyhound or another bus operator have the mid-week traffic.
Rio Grande Valley, CFI,CFII
I forget, is the Roanoke train an extension of a pre-existing Virginia/NEC train, or has it required an additional set of equipment?
Given the early morning/late evening scheduled times, does this extension make productive use of equipment that would otherwise be laying over at Lynchburg?
Virginia has been expanding their state-supported trains step by step, and have drawn up plans for a cross-state service with Bristol as the western terminal. The Roanoke extension would seem to fit into this larger plan.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
Sorry Robert if my post was inappropriate or offensive in any way. We had lived in Bedford County a few years ago and the area could support a stop for folks who don't care to drive to Lychburg or Roanoke. In fact wasn't Bedford a stop on the experimental bus route that preceded the Amtrak start-up?
SD70Dude I forget, is the Roanoke train an extension of a pre-existing Virginia/NEC train, or has it required an additional set of equipment?
It is an extension of a NEC train, i.e. 171 southbound and 176 northbound.
bedell Sorry Robert if my post was inappropriate or offensive in any way. We had lived in Bedford County a few years ago and the area could support a stop for folks who don't care to drive to Lychburg or Roanoke. In fact wasn't Bedford a stop on the experimental bus route that preceded the Amtrak start-up?
Should passenger service be extended to Bristol, it seems to me that another train would be necessary to give decent times for Bristol. The times that I have ridden between Washington and Charlottesville on the current service the trains were well patronized, for the times were convenient.
Johnny
Reply to some posts.
54,000 came from VA DOT which they probably got from Amtrak ? 74+ per day on and off is correct sorry about my fumble fingers on my calculator. The previous thruway bus was reported to be about 30 / day each way ? So Amtrak might loose about 40 per day each way. Same old anti bus bias. Wonder how much if any LYH numbers decreased from loosing bus and driving passengers now boarding at RNK ?
Bedford ? Really? the population for the town is listed as 6,222 for year 2010 census. Just how many persons in the 25 mile MSA ? See no way financially that the small population can possibily build an ADA station platform ? + what is station situation ?
Yes RNK is an extension of the train set that originally laid over in LYH. No additional equipment needed just crew, track time, station, and layover facility costs . Arrival and departure times are enough to allow for a legal crew layover. extension to Blacksburg calls in doubt for a legal layover ? Anyone have Blacksburg bus figures to RNK now ?
The proposed daytime train turn at RNK will require another train set as the 5:05 + 5:05 + 1:50 = 12 hours for out and return to WASH. If instead a later day train laid over at RNK it would still require another train set. As well later trains would conflict with the CVS station Cardinal 3 times a week unless Cardinal becomes daily then 7 days a week.
Extension of the night train or the proposed day train to Bristol will also require another train set as the old N&W Birmingham special took 3:50 or 4:05 RNK <> BRI. A wye turn at Bristol will take at least 2:00 at present with the present wye layout there. As well the I-81 trip from BRI - RNK only takes 2"15 with no stops.
With all the other US agencies needing more cars getting a full 14 car train set from Amtrak seems very unlikely for the near future. Now if VA DOT could buy 15 - 16 cars from Siemens at $3 - 4 M = $45 - 64M the equippment problem could be solved. Got money ? That window may close rapidly as the Siemens expansion now complete would not have any construction slots available if Amtrak and Brightline buy more equipment from Siemens ? Additional cars for Amtrak will have all the other state agencies listed in another thread having first dibs on freed up Amfleets and Horizons ?
Another option for an additional train to Roanoke would be something similar to the Amtrak Illinois Zepher which leaves Chicago a 7:37 AM and gets into Quincy @ 11:59 AM. Similar running time of around 4 ½ hours + and the crew gets a four hour sleep layover at a hotel (which satisfies the HOS rules) and then departs Quincy at 5:30 PM getting back into Chicago @ 9:51 pm. No clue as to what NEC Regional this could be added to. It looks like all early SB regionals continue on elsewhere already.
Common misconception among the U.S. population as a whole is that a Bus can substitute for a passenger train or other rail based vehicle and maintain the same ridership or increase it. What really happens though is if you subbed in a Bus for a train some of the train riders would abandon the service altogether and find an alternate transportation means.
It's one reason why bus substitution didn't work back when interurbans were failing in that they turned marginal ridership into unprofitable ridership in most cases as the ridership declined after the switch so the bus substitution in many cases hastened the collapse of the interurban lines.
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