Amtrak halting Virginia routes ahead of Inauguration Day

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Amtrak has issued a travel advisory in Washington D.C. ahead of Inauguration Day.

Amtrak will continue to operate service as scheduled, except for some services in Virginia.

There will be no Northeast Regional service south of Washington D.C., including all Virginia stations on Tuesday and Wednesday,  Jan. 19 and 20. The Carolinian, which travels between Charlotte and New York City, will only operate between Raleigh and Charlotte.

Amtrak says they are taking extra steps to ensure the safety of employees and customers in Washington and across the nation after the violent attacks on the U.S. Capitol.

Detours, as well as pedestrian and traffic patterns, have been put in place around Washington Union Station, which will require more time for people to get to the station.

“After last week’s violent attack on the U.S. Capitol,  we are taking extra steps to continue ensuring the safety of our employees and customers in Washington DC and across our network as we prepare for the Inauguration,” Amtrak officials said.

In addition to limiting ticket sales and requiring masks to be worn at all times, officials are increasing police enforcement to ensure strong compliance, remove non-complying customers, and ban those that don’t follow Amtrak's policies.

This includes, according to Amtrak, deploying additional Amtrak Police officers on board trains and in stations to support frontline staff, and utilizing additional support from TSA and partner law enforcement agencies.