Richmond Staples Mill Road station


The Richmond Staples Mill Road Amtrak station is located in unincorporated Henrico County, about 5 miles north of downtown Richmond. The station was designed by David Volkert and Associates, and was built in 1975 as a replacement for Main Street Station in downtown Richmond, which had been heavily damaged by flooding from Hurricane Agnes. At its opening, it also inherited trains that had called at Richmond's other former union station, Broad Street Station. Although limited Amtrak service returned to Main Street Station in 2003, Staples Mill Road remains the primary rail station for the Richmond area with only the Newport News-terminating branch of Amtrak's Northeast Regional service currently serving Main Street.
The station has an indoor waiting room with restrooms, a snack bar, and a teller window.

Nearby modes of transportation

There are pedestrian sidewalks along Staples Mill Road, but the area surrounding the train station is a suburban sprawl area built in the 1970s. A designated line-up area for taxicabs is onsite next to the train station parking lot. GRTC bus service is available. There are a few rental car agencies within a couple of miles of the station. The payment for parking is through a set of self-service ticketing kiosks. Parking at the station is less than $10/day. The station formerly held 274 spots. As a part of a multi-phase project, additional spots were added by June 2018, bringing the total to 589.

Train service

As of 2017, the station is served by nine routes for a total of 18 trains daily, all of which continue north to Washington Union Station and New York Pennsylvania Station :
As of 2018, Staples Mill Road is the busiest Amtrak station in Virginia, and the busiest in the Southeast, with 373,800 boardings and detrainings yearly. This is mainly due to the large number of passengers traveling to and from Washington and points north.
Rail serviceMajor Destinations
CarolinianAlexandria, Baltimore, Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, New York City, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Washington, D.C.
Northeast RegionalAlexandria, Baltimore, Boston, New York City, Newark, Newport News, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Springfield, Washington, D.C.
PalmettoAlexandria, Baltimore, Charleston, New York City, Philadelphia, Savannah, Washington, D.C.
Silver MeteorAlexandria, Baltimore, Charleston, Jacksonville, Miami, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Savannah, Washington, D.C.
Silver StarAlexandria, Baltimore, Columbia, Jacksonville, Miami, New York City, Orlando, Raleigh, Philadelphia, Savannah, Tampa, Washington, D.C.
Thruway ConnectorCharlottesville, Virginia Beach

Future transportation plans in Richmond

Henrico County began pursuing the development of a new multi-mode transportation system, served by both rail and bus lines; under this proposal, Staples Mill Road Station became the site of a new express bus station and received significant improvements to the station building and platforms. The parking lots were expanded and new taxi/ride-sharing zones were established. The work was completed in 2018.