"Rails are the way of the future and I'm glad to see it, its been a long time coming. It's exciting for someone like me that's always been a supporter of the steel wheel on the steel rail. Which is probably still the most efficient way to move the most number of people and goods at the cheapest cost." - Chuck McIntyre

Name: Chuck McIntyre

Job title: Station Agent at Amtrak's Staples Mill station since 1990. He has worked 25 years for Amtrak.

Lives: Glen Allen. He has lived in the Richmond area his entire life.

Amtrak's Staples Mill station: Staples Mill is the main station for the Richmond area and handles 16 daily trains. The station also runs three bus trips a week to the Charlottesville station for passengers headed toward Chicago (cuts out the trip to D.C. and back to Charlottesville). Ticket sales at Staples Mill (as off May 2008) are up two thirds and revenue is up a third, according to McIntyre.

In looking at Amtrak ridership for the fiscal year-to-date (Oct. 1, 2007 thru May 31, 2008) total Amtrak system ridership is 18,417,177, which is 10.9% higher than it was for the same period the previous fiscal year. Amtrak is attributing half of that surge to the increasing price of gas, according to media relations manager Karina Romero.

"Profiles of everyday people who help make the Richmond area a better place." 

Who are they? How do we know them? Why are their jobs or hobbies such big parts of their lives? See and hear in their own words why they like this area and what they do to make it make it better.

With this new video profile series Meet the People we hope to bring you teachers, coaches, referees, bartenders, park managers, artists, small business owners, band directors, paramedics, fire fighters, police officers, garbage collectors and much more.