Amtrak trains won’t cross the Potomac for nine days in mid-October

The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority continues to plan for a future with more service both within the Commonwealth and outward to the rest of the United States. That requires investments in new infrastructure such as the $2.66 billion Long Bridge project which will increase capacity across the Potomac River.

Other equipment is outdated and needs to be replaced. That includes the First Street Tunnel through which Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express trains are routed to Union Station in Washington, D.C. On August 24, Amtrak announced a nine-day “Pause for Progress” in mid-October that will close service at a section of track known as “A-Interlocking.”

“The existing switches and crossovers are beyond their service life, requiring a 10-mph speed restriction that impacts operations,” reads an information release posted on August 24. “A short-term, coordinated outage is more efficient due to the confined tunnel environment and limited access, making phased construction impractical.”

That will mean service reductions and outright cancellations between the end of October 16 and the morning of October 26.

The Northeast Regional in Virginia will continue to run but will only travel once a day roundtrip between Roanoke and Alexandria as well as one round trip to Norfolk. Passengers seeking to cross the Potomac could then take a “Bus Bridge” to Washington D.C that runs three times a day.

Amtrak will also provide one roundtrip bus service from Charlottesville to Union Station each day as well as one roundtrip that would serve Roanoke and Lynchburg.

The Cardinal service between Chicago and New York will not operate in Virginia during the duration of the pause and that train will only travel as far as Indianapolis, Indiana. The Crescent Service between New Orleans and New York will also be truncated.

For more information, visit Amtrak’s page on the outage.

As for Long Bridge, ground was broken in October 2024 and expected to be completed in 2030. The “Pause for Progress” will allow more work to be done on a project to build a fourth track on the approach to Alexandria as well as construction on Long Bridge itself.

“That means we have a longer work window, possibly up to 12 hours, on those days instead of the current 5 hours that we implemented in January,” said Karina Romero, communications manager for VPRA.

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