RICHMOND — The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) announced another record increase in ridership last month, with 123,658 passengers traveling on the state-supported Amtrak Virginia service in March.
VPRA said this was an increase of 21% over March 2023, which saw 102,087 passengers and was, at the time, the highest ridership for March since Virginia’s state-supported service began in 2009.
All four Amtrak Virginia corridors saw double-digit increases year-over-year, with Richmond seeing the greatest increase of 32.5%, while the Norfolk corridor carried the most passengers at 45,185, according to the authority.
“As our ridership continues to set records, Virginia is fast becoming an example of how state-supported passenger rail service can be a formidable part of a state’s transportation mix,” said DJ Stadtler, Executive Director of VPRA. “We recognize that many people rely on their cars, however, by offering reliable rail service that goes where travelers want to go, we can take some of those cars off the road. That’s a win-win for a state famous for its traffic.”
With the school spring break season leading up to Easter, VPRA said spring travel began early this year. Five weekends in the month of March also contributed to ridership.
Currently, Amtrak Virginia offers three daily roundtrips between Norfolk and Washington, DC, two daily roundtrips between both Roanoke and Washington, and Newport News and Washington, and one daily roundtrip between Richmond and the nation’s capital.
Plans to expand the service are underway through VPRA’s Transforming Rail in Virginia (TRV) initiative, which plans to give Virginians an alternative to traveling along congested highways and interstates by increasing passenger rail service in the Commonwealth through purchasing railroad right-of-way and building infrastructure.
With the completion of TRV’s Phase 1 projects, two new Amtrak Virginia roundtrips are scheduled to launch in 2026. The completion of TRV’s Phase 2 projects — which include a new bridge across the Potomac River — will result in three new roundtrips for a total of 13 daily roundtrips by 2030, the authority said.
