Meanwhile, Main Street Station sits in a strategic position in the heart of the business district, at the seat of multiple governments, with exploding population and commerce in great density all around it — and more to come. The Pulse will give it transit access and reach not seen before. Great, effective rail captures multiple ridership streams, and “downtown to downtown” is just as crucial to ridership as is leisure travel. The two stations thus satisfy business and general travel, and position us well for the future. Trying to find an in-between solution might work, but not without loss of convenience on the one hand, and lesser essential usefulness on the other.

Second, unknown to the general public is the arrangement of the rail lines themselves. By force of history, there are three remaining core passenger rail lines that move through our region. One is the CSX track from Newport News through downtown Richmond, with a stop at Main Street; the others split at Centralia to the south with one, the “A” line, bending to the west to Acca yard (what you see from I-195) and the other, the “S” line, going through Main Street Station and downtown to Acca as well. Only the two-station solution properly leverages both rail lines while providing greater options to the rail-traveling public of the future, and preserves the Main Street Station service for Hampton Roads.