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• Resolution of Endorsement
<br />For
<br />New Amtrak Passenger Rail Service through the Region.
<br />WHEREAS, Charlottesville and the Central Virginia Region have enjoyed a rich history of passenger rail service
<br />connecting the region to Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., and
<br />WHEREAS, the railroads were vital to the growth of Central Virginia's economy and to the development, strength
<br />and diversity of its educational, cultural and civic institutions, and
<br />WHEREAS, these historical ties to Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. continue to be critical to the strength
<br />of our economy, to the health and vitality of our academic and research institutions, to our tourism industry, and to
<br />Central Virginia's increasing role as host to federal defense agencies and their allied contractors, and
<br />WHEREAS, the Amtrak Crescent is the only daily passenger train connecting Charlottesville to Washington, D.C.
<br />and the Northeast Corridor, supplemented three days a week by the Amtrak Cardinal, and
<br />WHEREAS, neither of these Amtrak trains provides peak hour service to Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.,
<br />nor do they, as part of Amtrak's national system, provide a sufficient level of on-time performance to meet the needs
<br />of the business or non -business traveler who must arrive early in the day, arrive on-time, and return the same
<br />evening, and
<br />WHEREAS, in spite of these limitations, Charlottesville maintains one of the highest, most consistent ridership
<br />levels of any Amtrak station in Virginia, and
<br />• WHEREAS, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce found that 63% of its member businesses
<br />regularly send employees to Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. for business purposes, 84% of the time they
<br />travel there by car, and 66% said they would use a reliable passenger rail link if one were available, and
<br />WHEREAS, multiple state -funded studies over the past decade have identified Charlottesville -Washington as the
<br />route segment having the greatest potential for ridership growth in the US29/I-81 corridor, and
<br />WHEREAS, in a 2008 report to the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT), Amtrak
<br />recommended new service in the Lynchburg -DC corridor "as soon as possible," describing it as "underserved" and
<br />"a route segment that frequently sells out." and Amtrak proposed a new service structure, along with a schedule, and
<br />WHEREAS, both VDRPT and Amtrak expressed interest in providing peak hour service for Washington -bound
<br />passengers; for example, Amtrak described the proposed schedule as offering "...a good service pattern for business
<br />travel to Washington - a first for the region.", and
<br />WHEREAS, Central Virginians rallied around the Amtrak proposal, providing broad-based public input to the
<br />Department of Rail and Public Transportation to demonstrate that current Amtrak service is not currently meeting
<br />the region's needs, particularly for business and non -business travel to Washington, D.C., and
<br />WHEREAS, the City of Charlottesville joined twenty-two political subdivisions in the US29 corridor that executed
<br />a resolution of support for the proposed Lynchburg -DC service, and
<br />WHEREAS, Governor Timothy M. Kaine has secured the necessary agreements with the host railroads, Amtrak and
<br />Virginia Railway Express, and the Commonwealth Transportation Board has appropriated the funds to operate
<br />Lynchburg -DC intercity passenger service for three years as a Demonstration Project, and
<br />• WHEREAS, VDRPT recently released the approved schedule for the Lynchburg -DC train, but this schedule is not
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