Lynchburg, VA (LYH)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2012

$5,637,646

Station Ridership

FY 2012

86,498

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

The Kemper Street station, at the southern edge of Lynchburg’s downtown, began serving passengers on the Southern Railway line when it opened in 1912. The early version of this facility included walkways over the tracks to the platforms, which are no longer there. Over the years, the building was neglected and fell into disrepair. The Lynchburg City Council’s determination to save the structure led to redevelopment effort. In 2000, work began on an extensive restoration including the roof, utilities, boiler system, a historic museum display and new visitors’ center. Emphasis in design was on maintaining period lighting, finishes and the existing historic fabric of the train station.

On April 26, 2002, the city of Lynchburg celebrated the restoration of the Kemper Street station, which is now home to a Greyhound bus terminal and a GLTC bus stop, in addition to the Amtrak station, which has been relocated to track level. The station building also houses businesses, the Central Virginia Industries and the Woods, Rogers & Hazelgrove Law Firm.

The City Council worked with the Great American Stations Foundation to obtain one of the first ten $30,000 grants awarded by the foundation, which helped move restoration efforts along. Rehabilitation required $2 million, with another $750,000 to $1 million in site-related work. Other funding sources included the federal ISTEA program and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (Virginia DRPT).

Beginning October 1, 2009, Amtrak Virginia, a partnership between the Virginia DRPT and Amtrak, oversaw the extension of one daily roundtrip Northeast Regional train between Lynchburg, Washington, D.C. and points north along the Northeast Corridor. The popular new service provides communities along the US 29 corridor with more travel options and direct links to Northeast destinations as far as Boston.

The citizens of Lynchburg are also currently engaged in trying to establish another rail line that would pass through the Kemper Street station, the Trans-Dominion Express from Bristol to Lynchburg, branching to Washington, D.C. in the north and Richmond in the east from Lynchburg.

This city was named for its founder, John Lynch, who at the age of 17 started a ferry service across the James River in 1757. In 1786, the Virginia General Assembly granted a town charter to Lynch. Lynchburg was incorporated as a town in 1805 and as a city in 1852. The Society of Friends was the first religious group to settle here. Lynchburg today is often called the “City of Churches” for the large number and variety of religious buildings found in the city.

Tobacco, iron, and steel were the chief industries in early Lynchburg, making it one of the wealthiest cities per capita in the United States in the latter part of the 19th century. Transportation facilities included the James River Batteau, and later the James River and Kanawha Canal, then four railroads through the city, including the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad and the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad.

Lynchburg served as a major storage depot during the Civil War, as well as a burial place for many of the war’s casualties. The breastworks for the defense of the city can still be seen at Fort Early. Lynchburg is also close to the Appomattox Court House, where the Civil War ended on April 9, 1865.

The facility has a waiting room and is staffed by Amtrak employees.

Lynchburg is served by two daily trains.