Hi VHSR supporter, I hope that you’re having a great summer. As you may already know, it has been a busy year already with so many great things happening with passenger rail in Virginia. All aboard for your Summer 2024 Passenger Rail Update! Virginians for High Speed Rail’s 30th Anniversary Celebration Luncheon:  You’re Invited! Join VHSR as we celebrate our 30th Anniversary on September 13, 2024, with a luncheon at JBG Smith’s National Landing Experience Center in Arlington, Virginia. Our keynote speakers are Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner (confirmed) and US Senator Mark Warner (invited). We’ll also get an update from DJ Stadtler, executive director of the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, about everything happening in the Commonwealth. Special guests also include VA Dept. of Rail and Public Transportation Acting Director Zach Trogdon, Virginia Railway Express CEO Rich Dalton, and Delegate Rodney Willett. To learn more or RSVP, please visit www.VHSR.com/VHSR30. Space is limited, so secure your ticket today. Sponsorships are available. Up, up, and away! Virginia’s Amtrak Ridership Takes Off: Just in case you haven’t heard, Virginia’s Amtrak ridership for FY 2023 broke all kinds of records, including annual ridership of 2.19 million with a year-over-year growth of 39 percent! Thirteen of Virginia’s Amtrak stations with their own highest ridership ever, and nine of our Amtrak stations broke Amtrak’s Top 100 largest stations by passenger volume (out of over 500 stations nationwide)!  Through the first eight months of FY 2024, Virginia’s Amtrak ridership is projected to reach nearly 2.3 million trips! The Commonwealth is proving once again that if you start investing in a safe, reliable, frequent, and competitive passenger rail network, Virginians will use it. Click HERE for VHSR’s FY 2023 Amtrak impact factsheet. Raleigh to Richmond Corridor Breaks Ground: Earlier this month, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and NC Governor Roy Cooper broke ground on the first segment of the higher speed rail corridor between Raleigh, NC and Richmond, VA. The $1.3 billion project will improve rail corridor infrastructure between Raleigh and Wake Forest on the first segment of the higher speed rail connection between the Virginia crescent (Northern Virginia-Richmond-Hampton Roads) and the North Carolina crescent (Raleigh-Greensboro-Charlotte).  A federally funded study is underway to identify the capacity needs for the Wake Forest to Petersburg portion of the corridor as construction begins on the first segment. Read more HERE from the NC Newsline. Virginia Moves to Purchase Manassas Line from Norfolk Southern: In what is one of the most exciting developments this summer, the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority has announced that they are in negotiations with Norfolk Southern to purchase the Manassas Line which extends from Broad Run to Alexandria line from Norfolk Southern. This corridor’s purchase would greatly benefit the Commonwealth’s commuter rail service, Virginia Railway Express, and allow Virginia to extend Amtrak service from Roanoke to Christiansburg along Norfolk Southern’s mainline. This improvement returns service to the New River Valley community for the first time in nearly 50 years! Learn more HERE. Federal Railroad Administration recommends new Houston-NY Amtrak Train:  As part of the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) on-going Long-Distance Service Study (LDSS), they reviewed dozens of potential corridors and over 47,000 comments to create a long-range vision for a connected national Amtrak network. Virginians for High Speed Rail’s own Meredith Richards served on the LDSS working group for the Southeast. The great news is that the FRA started from a baseline that the Cardinal and Sunset Limited would first become daily trains! From that baseline, they recommended 15 new Amtrak corridors, including a new Houston to New York service, that would also serve stations in New Orleans, Atlanta, and Chattanooga, and Virginia stations in Bristol, Christiansburg, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Culpeper, Manassas, and Alexandria. Review the latest presentation HERE. It is nearly 200 pages long. Lastly, let me finish by saying thank you to YOU. Our members, supporters, and donors are what make Virginians for High Speed Rail so successful. I hope you’ll join us at our 30th Anniversary Luncheon, but if you’re unable to make it, please consider making a small contribution to help us continue our work fighting for better passenger rail service. Regards, Danny Plaugher
Executive Director
Virginians for High Speed Rail | 
