Union Station Track Work to Disrupt Virginia Trains

USA: Union Station track work will restrict Amtrak service between Washington and Virginia from October 17 through October 25, with buses replacing several train connections.

The outage begins after the last trains on Friday, October 16 and ends before service resumes on Monday morning, October 26. Amtrak calls the concentrated program “Pause for Progress.”

Union Station track work changes Virginia service

No Amtrak passenger trains will operate between Washington Union Station and Alexandria during the shutdown. Northeast Regional trains north of Washington will continue between the capital, New York and Boston, while the Virginia portion of the service will be sharply reduced.

One Northeast Regional round trip will run between Norfolk and Alexandria, with another operating between Roanoke and Alexandria. Amtrak Virginia will provide three round-trip buses timed to connect with those trains between Alexandria and Washington.

Passengers traveling directly to central Washington can also walk about 0.2 miles from Alexandria station to King St–Old Town Metrorail station. Yellow and Blue Line trains run every eight to 15 minutes, with the trip downtown taking about 20 minutes.

Amtrak Virginia also plans the following express bus services to Washington:

• One round trip from Roanoke via Lynchburg;
• one round trip from Charlottesville;
• two round trips serving Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Newport News and Williamsburg;
• one round trip serving Norfolk, Newport News and Williamsburg;
• two round trips from Richmond Staples Mill;
• one round trip from Richmond Main Street Station.

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Carolinian and long-distance trains will be split

The Carolinian will run as a train between New York and Washington and between Alexandria and Charlotte. A bus connection will bridge the gap between Union Station and Alexandria.

Five long-distance routes will operate only on selected segments. The Cardinal will run between Chicago and Indianapolis. The Floridian will operate from Chicago to Pittsburgh and from Jacksonville to Miami. The Silver Meteor will run between New York and Washington and between Jacksonville and Miami. The Palmetto will operate between New York and Washington, while the Crescent will run from New York to Washington and from Atlanta to New Orleans.

What the outage means for VRE passengers

A-Interlocking handles every Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express movement between Washington and Virginia. VRE expects to use a modified weekday timetable from October 19 to 23 and is working toward serving every station except Union Station, subject to host-railroad approval. The commuter operator plans to publish the final timetable once it is settled.

VPRA also plans to use the interruption to advance work on the Long Bridge and Alexandria Fourth Track projects.

Why Amtrak is closing the tunnel

A-Interlocking sits in the First Street Tunnel south of Union Station, where several tracks converge. The switches and crossovers have exceeded their service life and now require a 10-mph speed restriction. Amtrak says the confined tunnel and limited access make a single coordinated outage more efficient than phased construction.

During the shutdown, crews will replace the old switches and crossovers, rehabilitate the tunnel track base and install modern electric switch systems. Amtrak says the work is intended to improve safety and reliability, reduce delays and support future demand.