2011: Free Fare and Plenty of Passengers Mark the Debut of Virginia’s First Light Rail System

August 19, 2011

In southeastern Virginia’s Hampton Roads metropolitan area, operations began for the light rail system based in the city of Norfolk and named the Tide. This light rail system was the first one to go into service in the Old Dominion. The Tide, which took a little over three years to build, is owned and operated by Hampton Roads Transit. The 7.4-mile (12-kilometer) system consists of 11 stations altogether; the EVMC (Eastern Virginia Medical Center (EVMC)/Fort Norfolk station marks this line’s western terminus while the Newtown Road station is the eastern terminus.

The first series of train runs for the Tide took place early on a Friday morning, and the Associated Press (AP) reported on both the large gathering of people and overall enthusiasm for this public transportation milestone. “Hampton Roads’ light rail system was so popular in its debut Friday that officials announced they would give passengers even more time to ride the Tide for free,” stated AP in its news story. “Rides originally were scheduled to be free through the weekend, but that period was extended until Aug. 28 because officials said the turnout was so high.”

Paul Fraim, mayor of Norfolk from 1994 to 2016, and several other public officials were among those who showed up at the Newtown Road station for the Tide’s inaugural train ride. “The first train that left the station was at full capacity, and the crowd cheered when it arrived at the stop,” according to AP. “By midmorning, the trains were so packed that an extra train was put into service.” Another one of the Tide’s first passengers on that Friday morning was Tom Arrington. “I’m here for a joy ride,” he explained. “I wanted to be part of the experience.”

Photo Credit: Mike Steinhoff (https://www.flickr.com/people/83985752@N06) – licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

For more information on the Tide, please check out https://www.downtownnorfolk.org/go/hampton-roads-transit-light-rail

Additional information on the opening of this system is available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadot/6059687053/in/photostream/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jaTl29XHJY