It took two years, but Richmond’s Main Street Station is now able to offer additional service to Washington, New York and Boston.

Gov. Ralph S. Northam, who announced plans for increased service in 2019, helped launch the new service Monday that results from expensive track improvements.

The new service departs the station daily at 5:35 a.m. and represents the first expansion of service under the governor’s $3.7 billion “Transforming Rail in Virginia” initiative to increase rail options at the Downtown station and in other Virginia cities.

Gov. Northam said the new train would provide “quick, reliable service” that will help travelers avoid rush hour on Interstate 95.

The start of the new train service also signaled the reopening of service to and from the Staples Mill Station in Henrico County. That connection had been severed since March 2020 due to the pandemic; the new train signaled the return to pre- pandemic rail service, according to D.J. Stadtler, executive director of the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority.

Along with the new train, two other morning trains and one evening train stop at Main Street Station.

In addition to the expanded service, the rail transformation plan has included Vir- ginia’s repurchase of the 233 miles of rail line between the state capital and the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., along with $1 billion in track and bridge improvements. A big element of the initiative also includes building a new rail bridge across the Potomac River to relieve train congestion.