Amtrak plans to launch a third roundtrip between Washington and Norfolk, Virginia, on July 11.
The new train will depart Norfolk in early afternoon and supplement existing service that departs there in early and mid morning.
On the same day Amtrak plans to restore the second Washington-Newport News, Virginia, roundtrip and add a second roundtrip between Washington and Roanoke, Virginia.
All of these trains operate under the Northeast Regional brand.
Bridge work being conducted by Norfolk Southern will affect the operations of some Amtrak trains serving Virginia.
The bridge work is being conducted between March 5-7, March 12-13, and March 19-20.
On Saturdays, Train 87, which normally operates between New York and Norfolk, will terminate in Washington.
Passengers are advised to take Train 99 to Newport News and transfer to Thruway Bus 6099 between Newport News and Norfolk. In a service advisory, Amtrak said there will be no alternate transportation to the intermediate stations of Alexandria, Woodbridge, Quantico, Fredericksburg, Ashland, Richmond-Staples Mill and Petersburg.
On Sundays, Train 88, which normally operates between Norfolk and New York, will originate in Washington.
Affected passengers are advised to take Thruway Bus 6096 between Norfolk and Newport News and transfer to Train 96. There will be no alternate transportation to the intermediate stations of Petersburg, Richmond-Staples Mill, Ashland, Fredericksburg, Quantico, Woodbridge and Alexandria.
On March 7, Train 84, which normally operates between Norfolk and New York, is canceled with no alternate transportation provided.
Train 94, which normally operates between Norfolk and New York, will originate in Washington with alternate transportation being provided on Bus 3894 between Norfolk and Washington. It will make no intermediate stops and depart Norfolk at 9 a.m.
There will be no alternate transportation to intermediate stations of Petersburg, Richmond – Staples Mill, Ashland, Fredericksburg, Quantico, Woodbridge and Alexandria.
Adverse weather conditions have led to a spate of Amtrak train cancellations.
Heavy snowfall in West Virginia was cited by Amtrak for multiple cancellations of the Chicago-New York Cardinal this week.
Trains magazine reported on its website that on Tuesday night Train 50 was terminated after reaching Rennselaer, Indiana, with passengers returned to Chicago by bus.
The westbound Cardinal was cancelled on Wednesday and Friday. The eastbound Cardinal was canceled on Thursday.
On Saturday morning the Amtrak website was showing Train 50 as still set to depart later that evening for New York.
Amtrak could have operated the Cardinal Thursday night to Indianapolis and then had that equipment turn Saturday morning to return to Chicago. But it elected not to pursue that option.
The Trains report said about 8 inches of snow fell in the region around Charleston, West Virginia, on Thursday and four more inches was expected in Northern Virginia on Friday morning.
Heavy snow that downed tree limbs across tracks led to operational issues that led to passengers being marooned for hours aboard trains in Virginia earlier this week.
Elsewhere, Amtrak cancelled the Chicago-Seattle/Portland Empire Builder trains that were to have departed Thursday from Portland and Seattle.
Stalled BNSF freight trains were blocking the route and also prevented the westbound Empire Builder on that day from getting through.
Saturday morning Amtrak posted on Twitter that today’s westbound Empire Builder from Chicago has been canceled due to severe weather.
The Empire Builder that was to have originated in Seattle on Friday instead originated in Spokane, Washington.
Mudslides near Kelso, Washington, prompted Amtrak to cancel all service between Seattle and Portland on Thursday through Saturday. The cancellations did not affect trains operating between Portland and Eugene, Oregon.
In the east, Northeast Regional 171 to Roanoke, Virginia; No. 93 to Norfolk, Virginia; and train 85 to Richmond, Virginia; were canceled on Friday along with their counterparts from the same destinations, trains 176, 84, and 86.
The Silver Meteor from Miami to New York was canceled on Friday along with the southbound Meteor that was to have departed New York on Friday.
Eight additional Northeast Regional trains were cancelled Friday. Trains that did operate were subject to hours-long delays between Washington and Richmond.
Sleeping car service is returning between Boston and Washington on the Northeast Corridor starting April 5.
The Viewliner sleepers will operate on Trains 66 and 67 with a scheduled running time of nine to 10 hours depending on the direction and the day of the week of travel.
No. 67 operates as Train 65 on Friday and Saturday nights.
Passengers will receive a complimentary continental breakfast box in the evening and may either go to the train’s cafe car for coffee and juice in the morning or have the car’s attendant deliver it to their rooms.
Amtrak also will offer passengers one complimentary alcoholic beverage.
Passengers will be able to make use of first-class lounges in Boston and Washington.
However, the lounge in Philadelphia will be unavailable and New York passengers will need to board through Penn Station because the Moynihan Train Hall and its Metropolitan Lounge are closed overnight.
The Northeast Corridor has always had sleeping cars operating on long distance trains that continue beyond Washington.
But sleeping car service between Boston and Washington has been absent since 2003.
For many years Amtrak offered an overnight train between the two terminals named the Night Owl. That train had a New York-Washington “Executive Sleeper” that was dropped off or picked up at Penn Station.
That service ended when Amtrak ceased using Heritage Fleet sleepers.
Starting in 1997, the Boston-Washington sleepers operated south to Newport News, Virginia, when he train was renamed the Twilight Shoreliner.
Amtrak officials have said the resumption of sleeping car service between Boston and Washington is being made possible by the assignment of Viewliner II sleepers to the Silver Star and Silver Meteor between New York and Miami.
Sleepers that had been operating in Silver Service have been reassigned to the Northeast Corridor.
The intercity carrier said it has enough Viewliner II sleepers to cover the resumption of daily service on the New York-Miami run in late spring.
Viewliner II sleepers have already been introduced on the New York Miami route and will be maintained at the Hialeah Maintenance Facility in Miami.
Currently the Silver Service trains are running with just one Viewliner II sleeper, Amtrak plans to soon increase that to two of every three sleepers on each train.
Train 66 is scheduled to depart Washington nightly at 10 p.m., arriving in New York at 1:55 a.m. and Boston’s South Station at 7:58 a.m.
No. 67 leaves Boston Sunday through Thursday at 9:30 p.m. It arrives in New York at 2:30 a.m. and Washington at 7 a.m.
On Fridays and Saturdays No. 65 runs on a slightly different schedule.
Amtrak said fares between Boston and Washington for one person in a roomette could be as low as $288.
A southbound Amtrak Northeast Regional train pauses in Trenton, New Jersey, to pick up and drop off passengers. In the meantime, passengers for a northbound train are getting into position on the opposite platform as their train to New York will be arriving soon. The image was made on May 14, 2016.
Due to the effects of a winter storm, Amtrak extended service modifications for a third day into Feb. 3.
In a service advisory Amtrak said that the modifications affected Acela service between Boston and Washington; Northeast Regional Service between Boston and Virginia via Washington; and Keystone Service between New York and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, via Philadelphia.
The advisory said passengers affected by the service disruptions were being accommodated on other trains with similar departure times or operating on another day.
Amtrak will waive additional charges for passengers looking to change their reservation during the modified schedule.
Amtrak said Monday afternoon that it will continue to suspend some services while modifying others in the East due to a severe winter storm.
Service between New York and Boston, and between New York and Albany-Rensselaer, New York, was suspended at 3 p.m. Monday due to the closure of Metro-North railroad tracks used by Amtrak.
In a service advisory, Amtrak said modified schedules will operate on Tuesday for Acela service between Boston and Washington, Northeast Regional service between Boston and Virginia via New York and Washington, Keystone Service between New York and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, via Philadelphia, and Empire Service between New York and Albany-Rensselaer.
Passengers were advised to contact 800-USA-RAILto determine if their train has been affected.
The latest train operation information is also available at Amtrak.com; via the Amtrak app; or by receiving email or text messages about specific trains, a service available at Amtrak.com/DelayAlerts
Information is also posted on Twitter at @AmtrakNEC and @AmtrakAlerts.
A winter storm on Sunday prompted Amtrak to cancel several services in the East.
Among them was the New York-Pittsburgh Pennsylvanian. Keystone Service between New York and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, via Philadelphia operated on a limited schedule.
Also operating on limited or modified schedules was Northeast Regional Service between Boston and Virginia, and Empire Service between New York and Albany-Rensselaer, New York.
All Acela service between Boston and Washington was canceled.
In a related development, storms on the West Coast also caused service suspensions and cancellation over the weekend.
In a service advisory, Amtrak said all service between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, California, has been suspended until further notice because of storm damage on the Union Pacific line along the Pacific Coast.
Pacific Surfliners that normally serve San Luis Obispo originated and terminated in Santa Barbara Sunday and Monday.
Alternative bus service was provided to San Luis Obispo.
Also affected was the Coast Starlight. In a Twitter message, Amtrak said the Starlight would be originating and terminating on Monday in Oakland, California.
Although most Amtrak service in the Northeast Corridor is back operating today, the passenger carrier said some service remain suspended or are operating on modified schedules.
Cancelled service for today (Dec. 18) includes Northeast Regional No. 181 between Washington and Boston; and Empire Service trains 234, 280, 238, 233, 291 and 239 between New York and Albany-Rensselaer, New York.
Running on a modified schedule is Northeast Regional 67, which will operate from Newport News, Virginia, to Washington only.
Amtrak has canceled numerous trains in the Northeast over the past two days due to a winter storm that dumped heavy snow on large swaths of the region.
Amtrak will no longer accept CTrail Tickets for travel aboard certain trains between New Haven, Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts, effective Sept. 14.
Amtrak said the policy change was a result of the implementation of its RideReserve program that requires holders of multi-ride tickets to confirm their travel.
In a service advisory, Amtrak said passengers wishing to ride Northeast Regional trains between the two cities must have Amtrak ticket.
The intercity passenger carrier said it will continue to accept CTrail tickets on Amtrak Hartford Line and Valley Flyer trains.
Amtrak in the Heartland 