Alexandria Union Station will be busier than usual for nine days in October as it replaces D.C.’s Union Station for some Amtrak trips.
Amtrak announced Monday that it will be replacing aging track components for nine days, prompting a service suspension at the control point between D.C. and Virginia. Work will start after service ends on Friday, Oct. 16 and be completed before morning service on Monday, Oct. 26.
Work will be done at the “A-Interlocking” track and control point within D.C.’s First Street Tunnel. The point controls routing of all Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express trains between D.C.’s Union Station and Virginia.
During the work, two train lines will run in segments, with the southern segment starting or ending in Alexandria.
On the Northeast Regional line, trains south of D.C. will run from Norfolk to Alexandria. Trains traveling north will run between D.C., New York and Boston. Amtrak will provide three roundtrip buses each day between Alexandria and D.C. Travelers can also walk to the adjacent King Street-Old Town Metro Station and take the Yellow or Blue Line to D.C.
The Carolinian Line will run normally between New York and D.C. To the south, trains will run between Alexandria and Charlotte, with a bus bridge connection between D.C. and Alexandria.
“Customers traveling to or from Washington, D.C. from the south should expect significant service reductions and train cancellations,” Amtrak said in a release.
VRE, which runs between D.C.’s Union Station and Virginia’s suburbs, has not yet announced schedule changes for the October track work. Metro runs on separate tracks from Amtrak and VRE and should not be impacted.
According to Amtrak, the upgrades seek to improve reliability in its Northeast Corridor and into the Southeast. Currently, switches and crossovers run with a 10 mph restriction since they are beyond their service life.
