Submitted by pizzatongs t3_z8s6bl in rva
Amtrak just released through annual ridership report and there were some huge increases through the Richmond area. The specific Washington-Richmond route was up 20,050%. I realize there are some obvious pandemic-related factors, along with some increases in service, but this seems....good?
​
Comparing for FY21 is silly and meaningless. One should compare to FY19 or FY18 if they want to glean any insight.
I think what we’re seeing is more a return to pre-pandemic tourism norms. I don’t see a flood of 2021 NoVa remote workers accounting for 93,000 riders.
Like the first thing they all want to do after moving down here is… go back? I think no.
At that rate that's an Average daily ridership of 265 ish passengers. It's absolutely related to the amount of DC based employees seeking not DC real estate prices.
It’s certainly possible, we’d have to know the years previous to this chart for that. Also, I believe the ridership number is the number of tickets, not riders. I’d bet many of those are repeat rides.
Obviously FY21 was a weird one. Still, if you compare to other routes, it's a much higher than average jump.
ETA: Maybe the 463 is a typo, like another poster said...
Love the train, love to see it doing well.
I'm one of those infamous former-Nova folk who is happy to use the train to go back and forth between WAS and RIC via train. Sometimes you want to avoid 95 and visit friends/family/museums/bigcitystuff and the train is an easy decision to make. Also, if you only have to go into the office for meetings a few times a month, Richmond makes a lot of sense for someone priced out of the close-in neighborhoods. I love my new home, but easy rail access to DC is part of Richmond's appeal.
I'm having trouble buying those numbers without more context. The chart says 463 people used the Washington-Richmond line in 2021 (1.26 persons per day - which seems unbelievably, unrealistically low), and then out of the blue, 90,000+ people are using it in 2022? 🤔.
What are the numbers for prepandemic on that line?
Are they comparing apples to apples?
Edit:. The expansion to Main St station has had an effect, but not 20,000%:
Edit 2: if you look at ridership for 2017/18 for the same line, 90,000 in 2022 is a ~43% drop (PDF file):
https://media.amtrak.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/FY18-Ridership-Fact-Sheet-1.pdf
Edit 3:. To delve deeper in these numbers, here's the ridership report for 2019/2020. For the line we're discussing, ridership was at ~50,000 in 2020, so 46,300 (not 463) might make sense for 2021. We're now in an upswing from those pandemic lows towards previous levels (2019 had 127,000 riders on the Washington-Richmond line, approx 40,000 people more than 2022), but we're not there yet, and nowhere close to exceeding ridership levels of years past.
https://media.amtrak.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/FY20-Year-End-Ridership.pdf
> easy rail access to DC
I wish it were a bit easier. It should take 1 hour, not 3 hours.
I think the route that originates in Richmond and goes to DC started just before the end of FY21 - https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/new-amtrak-train-route-51, which obviously means those numbers are low. But good to see that the route is getting lots of use and not necessarily taking away from the other routes that come through town.
If we were a modern developed country with high speed rail, it could be a 20 minute ride
IDK if you saw my second edit, but the chart you posted from 2021/22 shows ridership significantly down on the Washington-Richmond line (and over all lines ) compared to 2017/18. (Probably related to more 'work from home' solutions for riders, but not necessarily a good thing for mass transit in our region (less riders=less demand=less funding))
If they can manage to get dedicated rail lines, and get the higher speed engines south of DC, this place is going to be fully absorbed into the NE megalopolis. It's currently a dingleberry.
I don't mind the 3hr ride, but when the train is crawling through certain stretches of it, it feels like you're paying for a shit-tier service.
>Not sure that’s good.
[deleted]
it doesn't look right to me either. could it mean people who rode just from Richmond to DC. it's probably 46,300
I go to DC from Richmond a few times a year for work or fun, and it used to be you could sit by yourself the whole trip. Now it's common to be on a packed train and have to sit next to somebody. I understand, though. It's so lovely being able to read a book on the train to DC instead of being stuck in traffic.
Maybe 146,300 or 246,300 or 463,000 - just comparing it to the other routes, both numbers look way low. I've gotten on the Amtrak to go RIC - DC several times and the train is usually pretty empty when I get on so I would be surprised if there's more ridership from Newport News or Lynchburg/Roanoke to DC than Richmond to DC. In context the 93,298 number looks funny too.
Heck yeah, love to see it! More people taking the train the better, because it shows the demand for alternatives to car and plane travel. Hopefully one day we have high-speed rail all along the east coast.
I believe it was established late in 2021, so it's only a few days worth of use.
I love taking the Amtrak to dc!
I take it just to avoid I-95. Plus if you are getting a room in DC finding one with parking is a hassle and more expensive. Driving in DC isn't my idea of a nice weekend getaway either.
It would be nice if they added a dedicated Richmond to Union Station option with no stops to decrease the ride length.
I love the train as well, but boy do I wish it were higher speed rail so it could get to D.C. faster than driving.
They apparently looked at the possibility of a maglev from Richmond to DC and decided it wasn't cost effective. So the 20 minute train idea won't happen in our lifetimes, if ever.
But a non-maglev, higher speed rail would still be amazing, even moreso if they could extend it all the way to the Hampton Roads area. But even that is probably at least a decade away from happening.
Will never happen
> It's currently a dingleberry.
Some people hope Richmond will remain a dingleberry forever.
Took a trip to NYC 10 years ago. Total was $800 for 2 adults and child. Looked up prices just now and it was under $250. Some of the times were more expensive but has the train gotten cheaper?
I hear ya, if we took 1% out of the defense budget over the next fiscal year I think we could - but, you know politics
bruxalle t1_iycy3sp wrote
Just seems like a bunch of people moved here from dc/nova. Not sure that’s good.