State transportation officials say Amtrak ridership for the first six months of the Lynchburg line’s extension to Roanoke has been impressive — and an obvious boost to the train that heads to Washington and beyond. It helped increase ridership on the route by more than 8% from the same time year before, this at a time when the Amtrak numbers are down a bit both nationwide and in Virginia. WLNI’s Evan Jones has the story: