Biography

I grew up in Pine Ridge, about one mile from the Fairfax Hospital, in Fairfax County, Virginia. In about 1952, I remember traveling on the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Railroad (the "Virginia Creeper") from Falls Church to Roslyn. This train ran from Bluemont to Roslyn and Alexandria, VA, with a branch to Great Falls, which ceased operations earlier. I graduated from Fairfax High School (1963), the College of William and Mary, BS, Biology (1968) and the University of Connecticut, MS, Zoology (1974).
I spent a year (1966-1967) working for the Smithsonian Institution in Venezuela collecting mammals and parasites. I was in the US Army (1969-1971) and spent a year in Japan, outside Toyko. That was first experience with a well run train system and with a ride on their Bullet Train, which traveled at 130 mph at the time. I have worked for the Office of Pesticide Programs at the Environmental Protection Agency for 36 years (1973 to 2009). During that period, I have ridden the Virginia Railway Express (VRE), a Washington/Virginia commuter rail system since its beginning in 1992. Now I am paying more interest in Amtrak and want to stimulate ridership and new service, especially in Virginia. I am a member of the Virginia Association of Railway Patrons (VARP), www.varprail.org, which has been promoting passenger rail in the state for 30 years and a member of Cvillerail, www.Cvillerail.org, which was major reason for the establishment of the new Amtrak Train to Lynchburg, the subject of this blog.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Amtrak’s Lynchburg-DC Line Beats Projections First Month [October 2009]

Ray Reed, Lynchburg News-Advance, wrote a story, Dec 16, 2009. The News and Messenger, the local Manassas and Prince William Co paper, reprinted it Dec 21.

Article Highlights:

  • Actual Ridership (8,500) was double Expected Ridership in 1st month of operation, October 2009.
  • Ridership on the competing Crescent Service between DC and Lynchburg was also strong, though the normal fare on the Crescent ($78) is double that of the new train ($38).
  • Ridership at Lynchburg Station (new train and Crescent) increased 68% from October 2008.
  • Ridership (both trains) at Charlottesville Station increased 37% from October 2008.
  • Fares produced 87% more revenue than expected.
  • Virginia’s subsidy was only $48,000, rather than the budgeted $242,000.
  • Amtrak extended its reduced, one way, regular DC to Lynchburg fare of $38 on the new train through Mach 2010.
  • Trains were on time 75% of the time.
  • Kevin Page, Chief of Virginia’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT), said that “A better indicator of performance will be known after the train has operated for three full months….”

My Commentary:

  • Amtrak’s official figures for performance for the first month (October 2009) of operation are truly breathtaking.
  • My sources for unofficial ridership figures for November and December suggest that ridership is still strong.
  • The expected slowdown in the winter months will be countered by the increased promotion of the service

1. at stations and websites where persons can access the beautiful flyer and,

2. by “word of month” as satisfied riders spread the word of this cost effective, safe, convenient, less stressful, alternative to driving one’s car through the US 29/I-81/I-66/I-95 Corridors.

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