 Richmond-Staples Mill Road, VA | Amtrak Virginia: Northeast Regional | Norfolk, VA  |
| Carolinian | Rocky Mount, NC  | |
| Palmetto | ||
| Silver Meteor | ||
| Floridian |
Petersburg an Amtrak station serving Virginia State University. The edge of its campus just a sidewalk-less block down Bessie Lane to East River Road from the Amtrak station, although there isn't really a good way to cross the strode that is Granger Street until a block south at the traffic light of Chesterfield Avenue. The station is otherwise on the edge of town in a residential area, although I was able to get a snack at a deli a block away.
The station does have local connecting bus service on Petersburg Area Transit (PAT) Route 12. The bus stop is across the street from the station. The bus stop sign attached to the Yield sign where Bessie Lane turns and becomes South Street opposite the edge of the stations decently sized but in poor condition parking lot. The bus stop is not ADA accessible with no sidewalk at all along Bessie Street. As of 2025, the stop receives bus service from one driver per weekday between 6:35am to 4:35pm, with an hour lunch break, resulting in no 11:35am trip. I did see some people waiting for the bus!
The station is a station stop on all regular Amtrak the trains that pass through it with the he Auto Train passing through Petersburg without stopping. These include the three daily Amtrak Northeast Regional trains to and from Norfolk, Virginia. The first of these new trains began operating on December 12, 2012. These trains branch off the mainline of the Atlantic Coast Railway (now CSX's A line) about 4 miles south of Petersburg Station after crossing the Appomattox River. The CSX A Line is used by Amtrak's Carolinian, along with the long-distance Palmetto, Carolinian, Silver Meteor, and Floridian.
This station's location makes it an informal connection point between the Carolinian, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, and Floridan, and Norfolk, VA. Although connections have been unnecessarily (in my opinion) been programmed into Arrow one-stop north at Richmond-Staples Mill Road, requiring backtracking and longer layovers. I visited the station making a connection after getting on the Carolinian in Greensboro heading to Norfolk by buying a multi-ride ticket.
The station is fully staffed with baggage services provided to all trains (except the Northeast Regional that lack baggage cars). Other than that, the station is a bit of a dump that could use some reinvestment. The single-story brick building with an attached but unused freight area (with boarded up larger openings for freight) was built in 1955 as a station by the Seaboard Coast Line, and has only seen minor updates in the 1980s. The biggest renovation was the removal of a central wall that once divided the waiting room into two because of Jim Crow segregation laws when the station was built requiring separate waiting rooms. The way to tell that there was once an extra wall is an odd lower panel in the very dated white ceiling tiles that are the depot's roof, from when the waiting room was opened up. There are also two separate single gendered restrooms, each next to a separate door out to the station's parking lot, not sharing a wall. The restrooms in separate corners was definitely an intention Jim Crow-era choice, since installing plumbing in multiple locations is more expensive.
Today passengers wait in very dated almost haphazardly placed blue chairs with uncomfortable backs. Along one wall (opposite the separate restrooms, is the Amtrak ticket office combined with baggage check-in). The floor looks dated with a mixture of mainly white with blue splashes in a few places' linoleum tile. In the middle area between the restrooms is a nook with two vending machines and a television for passengers below it.
Passengers board trains along a single very long low-level platform along the two-track line. Trains normally are switched to stop on the track facing the depot with two short level crossings to allow some trains to board from the opposite track. A more than 400 foot long metal and original canopy structure lines the platform. There is no covering from the platform to the depot because the depot is set back from the platform. A few yellow stools and steps line the platform to try and make the step-up onto trains more gradual.
The station has received minimal recent Amtrak improvements except for lots of modern grey with blue text Petersburg signs, that line the platform, along with the trees across the tracks opposite the platform. The station doesn't have an ADA lift enclosure, with a mobile lift just chilling outside on the platform. The station does have modern departure boards inside the waiting room and a few LED departure signs on the side of the building, but none on the platform. There are also the modern automated announcements.
Photos 1-45: May 7, 2025;
