According to some reports Amtrak is working on an extension to the Northeast corridor connecting Lynchburg to Roanoke. This would be really helpful to the folks from up north who are traveling to and from Virginia Tech. The last report I could find in the news was from August 2016 and it said the extension should be ready in the fall of 2017.
Anyone have any real-time updates?
This will be helpful for my S’s decision.
I am not seeing an update for this. For now there is a Smartway Connector bus from Lynchburg Amtrak station.
http://smartwaybus.com/connector.html
@raclut This is helpful, but Lynchburg is still pretty far from Roanoke - the connector is a 90 minute bus ride. So after a 7 1/2 hour train ride, getting on a bus for 90 minutes would be torture. The direct to Roanoke is what we really need. Son could then share a car ride to Blacksburg.
Hopefully the project is well under way and will be complete sometime this year.
This page maybe helpful.
https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2016/11/adm-pt-holidaytransportation.html
I’m surprised that VT doesn’t have a regular bus from Blacksburg to DC, given that so many of its students are from NoVA and DC area. My S17 has VT as one of his choices, but the lack of an organized bus service from campus to NoVA is kind of surprising. When my S14 attended UA for a year, he took advantage of their excellent self-organized ridesharing program and FB page to arrange rides with another student who drove back and forth from UA to NoVA during breaks.
@novadad99 There is homeride which comes to Vienna Metro station here in Northern VA.
http://www.homeride.com/
@raclut Thanks! That’s very good to know.
Just saw an article in The Roanoke Times today on a possible bus service between Blacksburg and Union Station in Washington, DC. with potential stops in Christiansburg, Roanoke, Staunton, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Front Royal, Gainesville and Dulles International Airport. Federal Government would subsidize up to $60.00 per ride. FYI, Home Ride charges $71.00 one-way to the Vienna Metro Station. Here is the link to the article: http://www.roanoke.com/news/local/blacksburg/state-looks-to-launch-subsidized-bus-service-between-blacksburg-and/article_567292d4-3185-5dca-b174-bf8e56cb769c.html
I heard the service to Roanoke is a definite but has been slightly delayed. Service will not be available Fall 2017. Hopefully however, spring 2018! 
Thanks @xaviermom2017 !
There are a couple good and active ride sharing sites for VT students but a VT email address is required for registering to be part of them. So these are strictly used by the students to arrange things, not their parents. You can ask about it at orientation… There’s also a couple VT parent closed FB groups and some ride posts are posted there. Those are very good and supportive groups for parents, very helpful
Thanks so much @JustGraduate! Nice to know there is some parent support and communication channels for the kids regarding rides! I’m impressed by some of the U’s parent connections and alumni support. @JustGraduate do you have any knowledge of the VT alumni connections? Is it strong? I know Maryland and Ohio State are very big in terms of keeping connected for job help, relocating etc.
I will share what I found out for anyone interested in travel from CT:
Driving seems to be at least a 8/12 hour - 9 hour trip no matter how you slice it. Avoid 95.
Amtrak drops off about 90 minutes to 2 hours away but is putting on a run to Roanoke which was supposed to be operating this Fall but will not be ready - shooting for Spring of 2018 (This will be a great option)
There are no direct flights from CT to Roanoke. Flights out of Bradley and New Haven connect in Philly and most have at least 1 1/2 hour to 4 hour down time, resulting in an 8-9 hour travel anyway 
LaGuardia NY is one of a few airports that fly direct to Roanoke! Flight time is only 1 1/2 hours the fares are between $400-$500 roundtrip, parking will add to your cost if you have to keep car there during travel - appx $47.00 a day. Add gas and tolls (one at $7.00). I booked roundtrip transportation service from my University for only $200 door to door for both of us. Many businesses and Universities in CT offer this if you are employee or have a child student so check that out as it is worth it due to parking and gas costs and peace of mind in avoiding road rage on the 95 stretch through Stamford - NY lol!
Lastly, hotels in Roanoke seem to be nicer and cheaper (about $75.00 a night cheaper than the recommended hotels in Blacksburg) and rental cars at the airport are really cheap - $17.00-24.00 a day for compact to mid-size.
I booked through Orbitz.
If anyone has any questions feel free to reach out!
Hope to see many of you down there on the 8th!
@xaviermom2017 We live in NoVa and around here the alumni support is strong - a lot of organizations and so many VT grads employed in various fields here that there are definitely connections to be had and used. From what my son has seen in CoE, the alum network is very good…especially in the engineering fields that are considered very strong and employ significant numbers of those type engineers in the area. I would think the same type thing would be true in other areas of the country - VT grads go all over.
You have to understand that in general, VT students absolutely LOVE their school. It shows up in publications like the Princeton Review and alumni surveys. And frankly that was something that turned my son off when he was younger - all he heard about was how much the VT alums (who are everywhere) raved about their school post graduating. He honestly just applied so show he could get in. But he finally visited and ended up there - and of course now is one of those who loves the school and couldn’t imagine himself anywhere else. VT grads stick together, are proud of the education and experience they gained, and are typically happy to help other Hokies with jobs, recommendations, etc. There’s such a camaraderie and pride there, and I’ve found the parents to be extremely supportive. Not what my husband and I remember from our college days! Please don’t take me as a rah rah cheerleader for the school - it’s not a fit for everyone and that’s fine. But I’m very thankful it fit my son and that this is where his degree will be from shortly
Best of luck to you!
Thanks @JustGraduate! I suppose it will all come down to my son’s visit on 4/8th! He put off touring the campus until he was accepted in fear of loving it and not getting in. So, now he’s in…question is…will he love it? We shall find out soon!
Look at flying into Charlotte - there are often good connections there. Only a couple hours from campus but not as easy to get rides there as it would be to say Dulles or National. Charlotte works well if the student has a car on campus and can drive to Charlotte, leaving the car there while gone. Or if you’re flying in to visit, rental cars are easy to get and not bad in price
Also consider direct from Dulles - there are so many students who live around there, shouldn’t be difficult to get rides there. Timing of coming back can be more of a challenge, often kids fly back into Dulles one evening, stay the night with their roommate/friend and drive back to Blacksburg the next morning.
@JustGraduate How about NYC kids parking their car at Roanoke airport and flying in and out of there? There are a couple of flights a day from Roanoke to NYC.
Would assume that would work fine. Have seen a couple suggestions about how to avoid paying for parking at Roanoke lol. I hear there’s a cheap way to get from campus to the airport that’s reliable but don’t recall details (sorry). Ask about it at accepted student day or orientation - I’m sure people will know what you’re talking about and can give you the correct info. Will check around and see what I can find out though
ETA: There’s Smart Way Shuttle, Roanoke Transportation (individual rides but can be shared), Hooptie Ride (just saw it mentioned, no info), and of course Uber. The issue can be traffic on I-81 - that’s a stretch that can have accidents so you want to add a bit of extra time, don’t cut it too close. Hope that helps
One more edit - Roanoke Transportation is mostly retired guys in their Crown Vic’s lol who pick up at dorm, drop off at airport. Get really good reviews, said to be very nice guys. Several reviews/comments from moms of daughters so not inclined to blindly trust in this situation, kwim?
Same here. My D is going to see 3 of her 6 tops, including VT that week. No clear leader of the pack yet. We’ll see after 4/8…
Here’s a news story on the ground breaking of the new Amtrak Station from February…
And if you want to watch the progress real time…
@STEM2017 I’m pretty late to this discussion. Amtrak fares are pretty high IMO. There’s a “VA Tech Carpool” page on Face Book. You can join it without a VT email. NOVA rides are plentiful at about $20 per person. Freshmen can have cars. My son has one and loads up three or four riders when he comes home. He’s also met people outside his orbit. Your son can probably get home faster via carpool than taking the bus from the Lynchburg train station to Tech. Roanoke is still about 45 minutes to Tech.