U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark R. Warner (D-VA) recently sent a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao asking the department to support Virginia’s joint application with Amtrak for matching funds to improve passenger rail service.
Funding was requested under the Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program. The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation administers state funding, and the state plans to commit an additional $15 million in state funding and $32.5 million in Amtrak revenues to the project once grant approval is received.
“This funding, in conjunction with Virginia’s numerous high priority passenger rail projects, will help make state-sponsored service a more reliable and pleasant transportation alternative,” the letter said.
Virginia is part of Amtrak’s Northeast Regional service and has stops in multiple cities, including Newport News, Norfolk, Richmond, and Roanoke. Six daily round trips originating from these stops had nearly 1 million passengers in fiscal year 2019.
The National Surface Transportation Board recently recommended that many of the fleet’s railcars be retired, and 17 states, along with regional authorities, are attempting to purchase new ones.
The 17 states fund the state-sponsored Amtrak business lines of service, which accounts for approximately half of Amtrak’s total ridership.