Long Bridge work window leads to fewer daily trains; Amtrak and VRE add buses and equipment changes to mitigate

Arshani Thamie, who identified herself as senior manager of passenger operations for VTRH, briefed the board on how heavy construction in the Long Bridge corridor has affected passenger service and what operators are doing to limit customer impacts.

Thamie said Amtrak Virginia now runs six daily round trips on state‑supported routes (down from eight in January) because of an extended Long Bridge work window and corridor maintenance. "We had to reduce service because of Longbridge work," she said, noting that several trips were replaced or supplemented by express bus service.

To mitigate lost train trips, Thamie said DRPT and partners added express bus routes on Jan. 12 (Hampton Roads–Washington, D.C.) and on March 7 (Richmond–DC) and that buses have been heavily utilized. "This is an express service...and buses have been greatly utilized," she said.

On equipment and staffing, Thamie said DRPT funded a second assistant conductor—an approximately $4,500,000 budget item—to reopen a sixth coach on some trains (opened April 27) and plans to add more coaches as equipment and staffing permit. "To open up the deadhead, we had to add a second assistant conductor," she told the board.

Thamie and an engineer, Ian, explained the safety rationale for the extended work window. Ian described heavy equipment (micropile and drilled‑shaft rigs with booms up to 90–105 feet) and explained that certain construction activities fall inside the train clearance envelope and therefore cannot be performed while trains are operating. He said the work window was extended to 1:00 p.m. to allow crews to use every available minute safely and efficiently.

Thamie credited improvements at Washington Union Station with sharply reduced delays there and said the operations team is focusing on Alexandria, where passenger holds and ADA delay minutes have recently increased because of construction activity.

Board members pressed staff about event coordination for high‑ridership weekends (FIFA/VA250). Staff said they negotiated with the District to curtail some weekend work but that a full pause across 46 weekends was not feasible; instead, a handful of high‑demand weekends will be protected from noisy construction. On equipment constraints for peak events, staff said adding extra trains is unlikely because equipment nationwide is tight, but making trains longer where possible is an option.

What happens next: staff will continue to coordinate construction windows with regional partners, deploy mitigation buses as needed, open additional train capacity as equipment and staffing permit, and report operational updates to the board.