All aboard in Hampton Roads

Amtrak Virginia — the state-supported Amtrak rail service — has been experiencing record ridership for more than a year, with passengers in Newport News and Norfolk making up the lion’s share of the traffic.

In March, with the state recording a high of 123,658 train riders, 79,158 came from Norfolk and Newport News. In June, ridership decreased to 111,489, with 73,303 riders coming from Hampton Roads and the Peninsula.

In 2023, Newport News and Norfolk logged 378,441 riders in the first half of the year, compared to 421,239 over the same period this year.

“We’ve actually had record ridership [statewide] for 12 of the past 13 months,” says Karina Romero, a Virginia Passenger Rail Authority spokesperson.

Some of that additional traffic is due to more roundtrips added to Amtrak’s schedule in Virginia.

In August, the Newport News Transportation Center opened for Amtrak customers and regional bus riders on Bland Boulevard, and also serves as a transfer point for local taxis and airport shuttles. The $53 million, 8,066-square-foot train station dwarfs the old, 750-square-foot station, Romero notes, and it will offer two daily roundtrips between Newport News and Richmond, Alexandria, Washington, D.C., and cities in the Northeast U.S.