Amtrak plays an essential role in our nation’s transportation system. Here in Virginia, more than 900,000 passengers use rail services each year, with Amtrak operating more than 20 trains daily including regional service to Danville, Richmond and Newport News.



Investing in long-term and diversified infrastructure projects, including Amtrak and the Virginia Railway Express (VRE), is a means to combat the ever-growing congestion in Northern Virginia. Provisions of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, which I cosponsored in 2007 to improve the safety, efficiency and reliability of passenger rail service, were signed into law on October 16, 2008.
  

Additionally, to accommodate the VRE’s double digit ridership growth since 2001, I secured $4 million for the purchase of new locomotives in the FY 2010 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act that will address the immediate need for more reliable trains to service current ridership levels, and enable the expansion of service by permitting the Virginia Railway Express to lengthen existing trains.
 

Besides its mass-transit value to commuters, Amtrak employs close to 1,000 Virginians and brings revenue to our Commonwealth.