I've put a call into VHSR. If VIA is ordering ... VA would probably need 15-20 of them (6 Regionals, soon to be 7, and you effectively need two locos per frequency given how far they run, plus spares and so on) ...
How do you figure more Amtrak Virginia Regional frequencies? I'm counting on one to Roanoke and two more to Norfolk as soon as upgrades Richmond-Petersburg permit it. Total 3. Am I getting ahead of myself?
Ok, the order is as follows:
-Present: NPN (2), NFK (1), RVR (2), LYH (1). Six.
-We're going to add another one out to ROA/LYH before too long. Seven.
-Onto the RVR-WAS/Hampton Roads-Richmond studies. Plan is a total of nine trains/day. Three are already heading to the area, two to be extended (the RVR two), but that adds four. Technically speaking the plan is for
ten trains per day: One will originate/terminate at RVR heading north, one will be a short-hop train between RVR and NFK, but both portions will have 9x daily trains. That brings us to 11 total on deck.
-Now we go to NC. Right now they have 2x daily Piedmont frequencies and the Carolinian. The Piedmonts are set to double before too long. SEHSR suggess 4x daily trains (the exact mix varies based on the report, but I know one version terminated a frequency at RGH while initiating an additional Piedmont there while another version just ran all four through. Bottom line? 4-5x Piedmonts, 3-4x CLT-WAS[-NYP] trains, plus the Carolinian.
Figuring that you can flog 5 frequencies out of four Piedmont sets, you're looking at roughly:
-4 Piedmont sets
-8 CLT-WAS sets
-2 Carolinian sets
-18 Hampton Roads sets
-1 NFK-RVR set
-4 LYH/ROA sets
Basically just under 40 sets of equipment with plans which are arguably "on deck". Of these, in the projected timeframe the Piedmont sets, Carolinian sets, LYH/ROA sets, and Hampton Roads sets (albeit with some terminating at RVR) are usable within the next 6-10 years (depending on some project timelines). For example, remember that once a second train goes to NFK that opens up a parking space at RVR (much like the ROA extension opens up a space at LYH, and any further extensions out west would open up space at ROA or LYH).
Granted, a lot of this equipment is redundant with the NEC itself, but at the same time extending a ton of trains into VA will, at some point, play merry hell with turning patterns at WAS (particularly if Amtrak and VA want to avoid lots of bad-hour trains...I may be an exponent of overnight trains, but I also see those as being 2-3 trains out of a few dozen, not half of the timetable).