Bedford station (Virginia)

Bedford, VA
Former Norfolk and Western Railway and Amtrak station
The Mountaineer at Bedford in March 1975
Location	515 Bedford Avenue, Bedford, Virginia
Coordinates	37°20′13.75″N 79°31′39.43″W / 37.3371528°N 79.5276194°W / 37.3371528; -79.5276194Coordinates: 37°20′13.75″N 79°31′39.43″W / 37.3371528°N 79.5276194°W / 37.3371528; -79.5276194
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	2
History
Opened	March 24, 1975[2]
Closed	April 30, 1971 October 1, 1979[1]
Former services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Roanoke toward Tri-State Hilltopper toward Boston South Roanoke toward Chicago Mountaineer toward Norfolk Preceding station Norfolk and Western Railway Following station toward Cincinnati Main Line toward Norfolk
Future services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Roanoke toward Christiansburg Northeast Regional Lynchburg toward Boston South or Springfield

Bedford station was an intercity rail station located in Bedford, Virginia. It was served by Norfolk and Western Railway passenger trains until 1971. It was later served by Amtrak's Mountaineer from 1975 to 1977, then the Hilltopper until 1979. The station building remains extant and is used as a restaurant.

History[]

The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was built through Bedford in 1857; stations at Bedford were served for over a century. Even as local service petered out in the 1960s, the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) continued to run the crack Norfolk–Cincinnati Pocahontas and the local station counterpart on the same route, the Powhatan Arrow. The N&W also operated the Birmingham–Washington Birmingham Special (unnamed after February 1970 and cut back to Bristol in August 1970), the New Orleans-Washington Pelican (discontinued, 1970) and the Memphis-bound Tennessean. When Amtrak took over intercity passenger rail service on May 1, 1971, it chose not to continue service on these trains, thus ending service to Bedford.

Amtrak service[]

Service was restored on March 24, 1975 with the introduction of the Mountaineer service between Norfolk and Chicago.^[2] The Mountaineer was replaced by the Hilltopper on June 1, 1977.^[3] The Hilltopper was discontinued on October 1, 1979, ending rail service to Bedford for the second time.^[1] The station building was later repurposed as a restaurant.

Proposed new service[]

Amtrak's Northeast Regional service was extended to Roanoke station on October 31, 2017. The town of Bedford requested an intermediate station stop, but this was denied because of low projected ridership. However, in 2016, the town hired a consultant to further study the potential for a station.^[4]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bedford station (Virginia).

• Citizens For a Bedford Train Station
• Liberty Station Restaurant
• TrainWeb USA Rail Guide – Bedford

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