Re: (rshsdepot) Richmond, VA

["Paul Luchter" <luckyshow_@_mindspring.com>]

this is b.s., cutting the train to Newport to enhance their NE corridor, I
know it is only about survival now, but is this trying to be a viable rail
service -not even giving a crap if maybe another smaller corridor could
happen in the one (Ashland-Richmond) and then trashing a service that I have
no idea if it were profitable to the shore and I certainly can't care less,
this is not what Amtrak, or rather, what a national rail service should
be....Eventually the rest of the country should complain if all Amtrak means
is Boston to Washington, why should everyone fund that one sliver of the
country and they themselves get nothing..

I realize "they" don't take the train...and how to put the notion, the Genie
back in the bottle, back into the mainstream mind I haven't an idea but
abandoning routes certainly will not help...that is only foolishness...

pardon my angst,
Paul

- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Bernie Wagenblast" <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>
To: "Rail Depot List" <rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2003 8:21 AM
Subject: (rshsdepot) Richmond, VA


> Amtrak Service Change 'a Setback' in Richmond
>
> Richmond Times-Dispatch
>
> Apr. 23--Later morning train service to downtown Richmond presents the
> latest challenge to the long-running renovation of the more than
century-old
> Main Street Station.
> It's "a setback, but not a blow," the city's principal planner said
> yesterday.
>
> When ground was broken on the project in October 2000, officials expected
> the first phase to be completed by the end of 2002. That was subsequently
> postponed to this month, then to early June.
>
> Viktoria Badger, the city's principal planner, disclosed yesterday that
> construction delays imperil that date. And the delays are adding to the
cost
> of the project.
>
> "It will be this summer, but summer technically goes all the way to
> September.
>
> "The building is 102 years old," Badger said. "We've had delays because of
> asbestos, hazardous materials, and we've had a floor fall in.
>
> "Every time we open up the wall, we find a whole new set of unforeseen
> circumstances."
>
> The delays have contributed to a $3.4 million increase in the project's
> overall cost, she said, raising it to $51.6 million once all the work is
> finished by 2007.
>
> Badger, who supervises the station renovation, noted that city funds cover
> less than 1 percent of the work, with federal money paying 80 percent and
> the state picking up the remainder.
>
> She said Amtrak's decision to halt its service that provided a train from
> Washington through Ashland and into Richmond at 8:30 a.m. makes the rail
> option less attractive to business travelers.
>
> "It still would have Richmond as a destination," Badger said. "What it
does
> is take away the opportunity for people to commute from Ashland or other
> points to be here in time to go to work."
>
> Yesterday it was reported that starting next week Amtrak will halt its
> Twilight Shoreliner service that originated in Boston and ended in Newport
> News.
>
> Amtrak officials said they decided to end the Shoreliner service south of
> Washington to improve its schedule along the Northeast corridor.
>
> As a result, any new service into Main Street Station will not arrive
until
> 10:28 a.m.
>
> Amtrak's top official in Virginia said yesterday he hopes a renovated Main
> Street Station will convince his superiors that an earlier train into
> Richmond could make money.
>
> "We've got nothing to target the business market right now," said Michael
> Jerew, Amtrak's district manager.
>
> A regional rail-feasibility study released in March estimated that 900
> passengers would make the round trip from Ashland to Main Street Station
on
> weekdays if service were provided.
>
> Ashland Mayor Angela LaCombe said the Town Council plans to send a letter
to
> Amtrak underscoring the importance of train service, both to area
residents
> and students at Randolph-Macon College.
>
> "The message we're sending Amtrak is we really depend on Amtrak and really
> want to keep the best service we can," LaCombe said yesterday.
>
> John Newell, who commutes from Ashland to his government job in Richmond,
> said he has written the president of Amtrak to protest the change.
>
> If an Ashland-Richmond train arrived before 9 a.m., he said, he would be
> willing to adjust his schedule to avoid driving on Interstate 95.
>
> "Now it's not an option at all."
>
>
> =================================
> The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
> railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
>

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

------------------------------