Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 23, 1993                   TAG: 9309230198
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AMTRAK, STATE AGREE TO STUDY PASSENGER RAIL VIABILITY

During the study, Amtrak and the state will evaluate the potential for a demonstration project that would provide rail service between New York and Atlanta via Virginia and Tennessee.

The project would be in operation during the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

The study agreement was announced jointly Wednesday by the four-member congressional delegation for Western Virginia: Sens. John Warner and Charles Robb, and Reps. Rick Boucher and Bob Goodlatte.

The four met in Washington with Roanoke Mayor David Bowers and the mayors of several other cities in Virginia and Tennessee along the proposed route.

Amtrak officials attended the meeting, along with several business leaders from Southwest Virginia and staff members for congressmen in Eastern Tennessee.

Boucher said he has assurances from Virginia Secretary of Transportation John Milliken that the state will participate in the study.

Robb said he was encouraged by the meeting. "Everyone has a lot of work ahead to make this plan a reality, but this is a significant step in the right direction," he said.

Goodlatte said rail service would be a solution to transportation needs and an improvement to the overall economy of the Roanoke Valley. But he said it "must be cost-justified before Amtrak and the state consider implementation."

A year ago, Amtrak did a preliminary study that showed the equipment for the route would cost $60 million and would need an annual subsidy of up to $10 million.

The new study would cover in greater detail the cost estimates and provide a projected source of revenue to be derived from passenger traffic. It will examine all sources of potential revenues.

Boucher said a new study is needed. "We must understand both sides of the equation - both the costs and the revenues - before we can knowledgeably evaluate the effect on our constituents," he said.

Bowers has said he won't abandon his campaign for an Amtrak train through Roanoke and Southwest Virginia, even though Norfolk Southern Corp. Chairman David Goode has said it's a bad idea.

Goode doubts there is a market for passenger service through Roanoke as part of a New York-Atlanta route.

Passenger service also could restrict NS freight traffic, he said.

And Goode predicts the cost would be much higher than Amtrak's estimate.