Northam proposes $50 million to advance goal of bringing passenger rail to New River Valley

Gov. Ralph Northam unveiled his proposed changes to the state’s two-year budget, which include funding for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations and other pandemic assistance and $50 million to advance a goal to extend Amtrak passenger rail service to the New River Valley.

New River Valley government and community leaders have been eager to restore passenger rail to the region to boost economic development and provide long-distance transportation for students enrolled at Virginia Tech and Radford University.

“I’m really excited about this, and I know people in the New River Valley are, too,” said Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, a longtime advocate of bringing a passenger train to the New River Valley. “This is the shot in the arm we needed to get passenger rail to that area.”

The plan has been chugging along for some time, but speaking to the House and Senate’s budget-writing committees on Wednesday, the Northam administration said the $50 million would go toward right-of-way and easement acquisitions and anything that would help reduce bottlenecks to make way for a passenger train in the New River Valley.

Read more: https://roanoke.com/news/northam-proposes-50-million-to-advance-goal-of-bringing-passenger-rail-to-new-river-valley/article_e0568878-3f50-11eb-9f61-2b7fa5052ff3.html