Newport News station

Early postcard of the 1892-built station

The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (C&O) under Collis Potter Huntington completed the Peninsula Extension to the small town of Newport News in 1881. This allowed the C&O to transport West Virginia coal to Hampton Roads – the largest warm-water port on the East Coast – and directly compete with the Norfolk and Western Railway. Between the coal exports and Huntington's Newport News Shipbuilding Company, Newport News soon became a major shipping and industrial area.[2]

Ferry service between Norfolk and Newport News began in 1883, though the first passenger train station at Newport News was not built until 1892.[3] The multi-story brick structure, Victorian with a large clock tower,[4] was built on the waterfront at 23rd Street. A train shed stretched onto a pier so that passengers could transfer directly between trains and ferries.[2]

By the 1930s, the station was in poor shape, having settled significantly due to the soft soil. It was demolished in 1940 and replaced with a smaller two-story brick station.[3] The new station was constructed on a concrete base 1 foot (0.30 m) above the 1933 Chesapeake–Potomac hurricane flood level, and its pilings were driven 90 feet (27 m) underground to prevent settling.[3]

Between 1953 and 1954, the C&O stopped using Phoebus, Virginia to the east as the terminus of its Norfolk/Hampton Roads area passenger trains. The company shifted that terminus, by then being for the George Washington and other passenger trains, to Newport News station.[5][6]

When Amtrak took over intercity passenger service in the United States on May 1, 1971, the C&O had served Newport News with three daily round trips: the Newport News sections of the George Washington and Fast Flying Virginian/Sportsman, plus a Newport News-Richmond trip.[7]

The 1940-built station in 1978

Amtrak kept only one daily round trip to Newport News – a section of the Newport News-Cincinnati George Washington. It was combined with the James Whitcomb Riley on July 12, 1971, to provide through service to Chicago.[8]^: 38 The George Washington name was used for the eastbound section until May 19, 1974.[8]^: 41 On June 14, 1976, the Newport News section of the Riley was replaced with the Washington-Newport News Colonial.[2]

Ferry service had been replaced by buses through the Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel upon its 1957 opening, making the waterfront location less desirable for a train station. The station was moved to its current location along the CSX line in October 1981. The 1940-built station remains standing and now serves as a restaurant.[3]

Service was reduced to one daily round trip from 2020 to July 11, 2022.[9]

Future Amtrak station under construction near the airport

The current facility was planned to be replaced with two new stations—a large intermodal station near the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport and a smaller station in downtown Newport News. The city planned to begin design work for the larger station in the summer of 2011, for an opening sometime before 2016.[10] As of 2011, the cost was estimated at $24 million.[10] As of 2019, the project was further delayed, until 2021, with plans for a new downtown station dropped and the intermodal station to serve as the new terminus.[11]

Construction for the new intermodal station near the airport began in July 2020. The project will cost $47 million and was originally expected to be completed by the summer of 2022.[12][13] However, the city of Newport News announced in October 2022 that the new station would not be open until the fall of 2023, citing unexpected construction delays.[14] In March 2023, a further delay to April 2024 due to supply chain issues was announced.[15]

A third Northeast Regional weekday round trip is planned, as of 2020, under a major spending initiative by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.[16]