page_title: Colonial (Amtrak train)
section_title: Later service
hierarchical_section_title: Colonial (Amtrak train) / History / Later service
caption_attribution_description: English: Northbound Regional #66 at Williamsburg station in February 2008
context_page_description: The Colonial was an Amtrak intercity passenger train that operated between Boston, Massachusetts, and Newport News, Virginia, from 1976 to 1992. It was introduced on June 15, 1976, to replace the lightly-used Charlottesville-Newport News section of the James Whitcomb Riley. Certain trips were known as the Senator and Tidewater beginning in the late 1970s. The Richmond-New York City Virginian was added in 1984, with some trips called Potomac from 1985 to 1988.
  The Colonial was renamed Old Dominion on October 24, 1992, as part of a series of service changes. Several name changes of Virginia service over the next three years created the Chesapeake, Gotham Limited, James River, New England Express, Tidewater Express, and Manhattan Express, and added a second Richmond trip. Virginia service was merged into the NortheastDirect brand in 1995. A second daily round trip was added as the Twilight Shoreliner in 1997. After subsequent service changes, Amtrak service to Newport News continues as part of the Northeast Regional brand.
context_section_description: Amtrak made a series of changes to corridor service in Virginia beginning on 1992. On October 25, 1992, both the Virginian and Colonial were cut back from Boston to New York City, and the latter was renamed Old Dominion. A Friday Tidewater round trip was also added. May 2, 1993 saw the additional of Tidewater round trips on Thursday and Saturday southbound / Sunday northbound, plus a southbound-only Sunday trip from Richmond to Newport News. A station stop was added at Williamsburg Pottery Factory. Service levels of the added weekend round trips were adjusted the next February. The southbound weekend Virginian became the Chesapeake on May 1, 1994, with the northbound weekend Old Dominion in turn renamed Virginian. On October 30, 1994, the Sunday Richmond-Newport News trip and a late Friday Newport News-Richmond move (a former deadhead move) were called the James River.
  Amtrak began showing Virginia services as part of Northeast Corridor timetables on April 2, 1995. The Old Dominion and Virginian were renamed New England Express and the Lee Hall stop was dropped. A daily Richmond-New York City round trip—the southbound Chesapeake made daily and a new northbound Old Dominion—was added to replace the discontinued Amtrak City Express. On September 10, 1995, the northbound New England Express was renamed Tidewater Express (except for a single Sunday trip from Springfield, which became the Old Dominion), and the northbound Old Dominion was replaced with the Manhattan Express. On October 28, 1995, most of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor services (except for the premium Metroliners and commuter-based Clockers), including the Richmond and Newport News trains, were rebranded as NortheastDirect and lost their individual names.
  Train names were re-added under the NortheastDirect brand the next year. The daily Newport News train became the Old Dominion, with Tidewater, Virginian, James River, and Potomac assigned to other trips. The daily Richmond trains became the Virginian and the Bay State, the latter of which ran to Boston via Springfield and the Inland Route. The Williamsburg Pottery Factory stop was also discontinued in 1996. On July 10, 1997, the Washington-Boston Night Owl was replaced by the Newport News-Boston Twilight Shoreliner, providing a second daily round trip to Newport News. The Bay State was cut back to Washington and replaced by the Springfield-Richmond Charter Oak, and the Potomac was renamed Gotham Limited. On October 26, 1997, the Chesapeake was cut to New York and renamed Colonial. NortheastDirect trains except for the Twilight Shoreliner again lost their individual names on May 16, 1999. The NortheastDirect brand—including the Virginia trains—was renamed Acela Regional in 2000-2001, Regional in 2003, and finally Northeast Regional in 2008. Virginia began funding further expansion of Northeast Regional service in 2009.
caption: A Regional at Williamsburg in 2008
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