Newsletter: 8/30/24 Virginia Lays Groundwork for Service Expansion

Virginia Lays Groundwork for Service Expansion

The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority has reached a new deal with freight railroad Norfolk Southern. The agreement will allow VPRA to extend service to the New River Valley by 2028, and run more frequent trains on the Virginia Railway Express.

Virginia is demonstrating a strong commitment to expanding train service that other states should follow.

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New Plan to Return Amtrak to New River Valley Gets State Authority’s OK

Virginia Reaches New Deal with Norfolk Southern to Extend Passenger Rail to the New River Valley

Webinar: Virginia’s Passenger Rail Expansion Plans

Virginia: New Projects In the Old Dominion

cal train stadler test track

Caltrain Success Creates Copycat Demand

“Ten days ago, Caltrain launched its electrified service, to universal acclaim and glowing speeches by a who’s-who of California politicians. On Monday, Californians for Electric Rail launched a petition calling on Metrolink to make an immediate commitment to overhead electrification following the success of Caltrain electrification. The petition received over 200 signatures in one day. KTLA wrote about the petition, and included an official response from Metrolink that they have no plans to electrify anytime soon. Here’s a rebuttal to some of their excuses.” (Streetsblog California)

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Rock Island Regional Rail

Can you name the two biggest cities missing from the Illinois passenger rail network?

Peoria and the Quad Cities, two important metro areas of about 400,000 people, lost train service when the Rock Island was split up and downgraded decades ago. It’s time to rebuild this route.

Read more about our vision for the corridor and how you can get involved!

A map showing the inter-relationship between the BNSF Corridor and the Rock Island Corridor in Illinois.
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When you join the High Speed Rail Alliance, you support elected officials and other local leaders working for fast, frequent, and affordable trains connecting communities all over North America. Every donation gives advocates for better train service a stronger voice. And, you can get some cool merch to help share the news with your friends.

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American High Speed Rail Act: A Conversation With Congressman Seth Moulton

When: Wednesday, September 18 at 12pm CT on Zoom

In March, Rep. Moulton (D-MA) and Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) introduced the American High-Speed Rail Act, which would invest $205 billion federal dollars into high-speed rail. Join us for a conversation about this game-changing proposal.

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Support the Chicago Hub Improvement Program

Support the Chicago Hub Improvement Program

Support theChicago Hub Improvement ProgramBuilding a New Approach to Chicago The Chicago Hub Improvement Program (CHIP) is a group of projects designed to improve Chicago Union Station and the paths trains use to get to it. Amtrak, Chicago, Cook County, and the State...