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Virginia to build Long Bridge and acquire CSX right of way to expand passenger train service
Transportation
Virginia to build Long Bridge and acquire CSX right of way to expand passenger train service
By Luz Lazo
Dec. 19, 2019 at 3:47 p.m. EST
Virginia will build a new rail bridge over the Potomac River connecting Arlington and the District to significantly expand commuter and passenger train service over the next decade, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced Thursday. ... The state will own the new two-track span, to be constructed alongside the aged and overburdened Long Bridge. It will allow a 75 percent increase in frequency of Virginia Rail Express commuter trains and a doubling of Amtrak service between the District and Richmond, officials said.
The bridge will be built by as early as 2027 as part of a $3.7 billion investment that also includes adding new track in the Washington-to-Richmond corridor and acquisition of hundreds of miles of passenger right of way from the private company CSX. ... The agreement with CSX is designed to make future expanded train service possible across the state, including from Doswell west to Clifton Forge, and from Richmond south to the North Carolina border, officials said. ... The 10-year project will be paid for with local, state and federal money, Virginia officials said, but the state still needs a funding commitment from the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia.
This is the second time in just over a month that Virginia has committed to financing a major river crossing. Last month Northam and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced a joint, billion-dollar plan to rebuild and widen the American Legion Bridge. It was a major breakthrough for a long-desired expansion that promises to relieve congestion at the Washington region's worst traffic bottleneck.
....
Further south, plans are to add a third track from Franconia to Occoquan at a cost of $220 million and a $330 million rail bypass at Franconia-Springfield, which will allow the movement of trains when other trains are serving the station. ... “Our vision is definitely on growth,” Mitchell said in an interview earlier this week. “We would like to get to a place where we have nearly hourly service between Richmond and D.C. We would like to continue expanding trains to places like Newport News, Norfolk and Petersburg. We would like to be able to continue expanding VRE service, because they do relieve congestion on the 66 and 95 corridors.”
The acquisition from CSX also includes the 186 miles of tracks in the Buckingham Branch Line between Doswell and Clifton Forge, which would allow Virginia to launch an east-west train route from Norfolk to the Roanoke area. As part of the deal, Virginia will also acquire rights to use the abandoned S-Line from Petersburg to Ridgeway, N.C., an investment that would facilitate plans for high-speed train system in the Southeast. ... Under the agreement with CSX, the railroad will give Virginia permanent rights to increase the number of Amtrak and VRE trains operating on CSX tracks. ... Today Amtrak runs five Northeast Regional trains to Richmond. Officials anticipate adding six additional daily roundtrips to Richmond and one extension to the Hampton Roads area.
Virginia Railway Express, which runs eight trains on the Fredericksburg line, will add five new roundtrip trains during the rush hour and introduce three roundtrips on Saturday and Sunday. The agreement, officials said, will also allow VRE to add special Friday evening trains to give Virginians the option to use VRE after hours. ... Some trains could start as soon as the deal with CSX is finalized next summer and additional trains by 2026.
Robert McCartney contributed to this article.
Luz Lazo is a transportation reporter at The Washington Post covering passenger and freight transportation, buses, taxis and ride-sharing services. She also writes about traffic, road infrastructure and air travel in the Washington region and beyond. She joined The Post in 2011. Follow https://twitter.com/luzcita
Virginia to build Long Bridge and acquire CSX right of way to expand passenger train service
By Luz Lazo
Dec. 19, 2019 at 3:47 p.m. EST
Virginia will build a new rail bridge over the Potomac River connecting Arlington and the District to significantly expand commuter and passenger train service over the next decade, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced Thursday. ... The state will own the new two-track span, to be constructed alongside the aged and overburdened Long Bridge. It will allow a 75 percent increase in frequency of Virginia Rail Express commuter trains and a doubling of Amtrak service between the District and Richmond, officials said.
The bridge will be built by as early as 2027 as part of a $3.7 billion investment that also includes adding new track in the Washington-to-Richmond corridor and acquisition of hundreds of miles of passenger right of way from the private company CSX. ... The agreement with CSX is designed to make future expanded train service possible across the state, including from Doswell west to Clifton Forge, and from Richmond south to the North Carolina border, officials said. ... The 10-year project will be paid for with local, state and federal money, Virginia officials said, but the state still needs a funding commitment from the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia.
This is the second time in just over a month that Virginia has committed to financing a major river crossing. Last month Northam and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced a joint, billion-dollar plan to rebuild and widen the American Legion Bridge. It was a major breakthrough for a long-desired expansion that promises to relieve congestion at the Washington region's worst traffic bottleneck.
....
Further south, plans are to add a third track from Franconia to Occoquan at a cost of $220 million and a $330 million rail bypass at Franconia-Springfield, which will allow the movement of trains when other trains are serving the station. ... “Our vision is definitely on growth,” Mitchell said in an interview earlier this week. “We would like to get to a place where we have nearly hourly service between Richmond and D.C. We would like to continue expanding trains to places like Newport News, Norfolk and Petersburg. We would like to be able to continue expanding VRE service, because they do relieve congestion on the 66 and 95 corridors.”
The acquisition from CSX also includes the 186 miles of tracks in the Buckingham Branch Line between Doswell and Clifton Forge, which would allow Virginia to launch an east-west train route from Norfolk to the Roanoke area. As part of the deal, Virginia will also acquire rights to use the abandoned S-Line from Petersburg to Ridgeway, N.C., an investment that would facilitate plans for high-speed train system in the Southeast. ... Under the agreement with CSX, the railroad will give Virginia permanent rights to increase the number of Amtrak and VRE trains operating on CSX tracks. ... Today Amtrak runs five Northeast Regional trains to Richmond. Officials anticipate adding six additional daily roundtrips to Richmond and one extension to the Hampton Roads area.
Virginia Railway Express, which runs eight trains on the Fredericksburg line, will add five new roundtrip trains during the rush hour and introduce three roundtrips on Saturday and Sunday. The agreement, officials said, will also allow VRE to add special Friday evening trains to give Virginians the option to use VRE after hours. ... Some trains could start as soon as the deal with CSX is finalized next summer and additional trains by 2026.
Robert McCartney contributed to this article.
Luz Lazo is a transportation reporter at The Washington Post covering passenger and freight transportation, buses, taxis and ride-sharing services. She also writes about traffic, road infrastructure and air travel in the Washington region and beyond. She joined The Post in 2011. Follow https://twitter.com/luzcita
Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation
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BREAKING TOP STORY
Virginia has $3.7 billion deal to expand rail service between Richmond and Washington
By MICHAEL MARTZ Richmond Times-Dispatch 19 hrs ago
Trains will run almost every hour between Washington and Richmond — including Main Street Station downtown — within 10 years under a deal between Virginia and CSX Corp. that will open the gateway for expanded rail service in the region and other parts of the state.
The blockbuster $3.7 billion agreement that Gov. Ralph Northam and CSX announced Thursday will give Virginia control over hundreds of miles of railroad track and underlying right of way in three rail corridors, including the former RF&P line that parallels Interstate 95 between Richmond and Washington. It will not expand the two-track rail line that runs through Ashland, which the state already has promised to preserve.
The cost of the project would be split roughly three ways between Virginia, Amtrak and regional partnerships, but would not require any new state money, state officials said.
....
Virginia will send $525 million to CSX, based in Jacksonville, Fla., for right of way and existing track on three rail lines.
The agreement will allow the state to build and own track for high-speed passenger rail service, including expansion of Long Bridge, a 115-year-old railroad bridge across the Potomac River that is critical to passenger and freight service along the Eastern Seaboard but operating at near full capacity.
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The deal also includes:
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mmartz@timesdispatch.com
(804) 649-6964
Staff writer C. Suarez Rojas contributed to this story.
Virginia has $3.7 billion deal to expand rail service between Richmond and Washington
By MICHAEL MARTZ Richmond Times-Dispatch 19 hrs ago
Trains will run almost every hour between Washington and Richmond — including Main Street Station downtown — within 10 years under a deal between Virginia and CSX Corp. that will open the gateway for expanded rail service in the region and other parts of the state.
The blockbuster $3.7 billion agreement that Gov. Ralph Northam and CSX announced Thursday will give Virginia control over hundreds of miles of railroad track and underlying right of way in three rail corridors, including the former RF&P line that parallels Interstate 95 between Richmond and Washington. It will not expand the two-track rail line that runs through Ashland, which the state already has promised to preserve.
The cost of the project would be split roughly three ways between Virginia, Amtrak and regional partnerships, but would not require any new state money, state officials said.
....
Virginia will send $525 million to CSX, based in Jacksonville, Fla., for right of way and existing track on three rail lines.
The agreement will allow the state to build and own track for high-speed passenger rail service, including expansion of Long Bridge, a 115-year-old railroad bridge across the Potomac River that is critical to passenger and freight service along the Eastern Seaboard but operating at near full capacity.
....
The deal also includes:
• passenger train rights to 30 miles of track between Richmond and Petersburg;
• 75 miles of right of way on the abandoned S-Line between Petersburg and Ridgeway, N.C., to eventually allow high-speed rail service to the Southeast; and
• 173 miles of right of way and 186 miles of track on the Buckingham Branch Line between Doswell and Clifton Forge for eventual cross-state passenger service.
....
mmartz@timesdispatch.com
(804) 649-6964
Staff writer C. Suarez Rojas contributed to this story.
Virginia’s big buy-in on rail could transform regional mobility
TRANSIT By Wyatt Gordon (Virginia Correspondent) December 20, 2019
“We cannot pave our way out of congestion.” With that declaration, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced a historic 3.7 billion dollar rail deal with CSX on Thursday that will allow the Commonwealth to vastly expand Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express (VRE) service over the next decade.
In the deal, Virginia acquired 225 miles of track and purchased the right of way to a further 350 miles of CSX-owned railroad. Northam also announced funding for the construction of 37 miles of new track to remove rail capacity chokepoints between Richmond and Washington, DC.
The list of projects that will be unlocked thanks to this deal reads like a rail enthusiast’s wish list: VRE service will expand by 75% and add in weekend operations, direct train connections between DC and Richmond will become a nearly hourly affair, VRE and MARC trains will have access to each other’s networks for the first time, high-speed rail to Raleigh is now possible, and planning for a mooted “Commonwealth Corridor”—linking the Blue Ridge Mountains and Hampton Roads by rail—can begin.
Here's what the proposed passenger rail network could look like under Northam's deal. Image by Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.
....
TRANSIT By Wyatt Gordon (Virginia Correspondent) December 20, 2019
“We cannot pave our way out of congestion.” With that declaration, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced a historic 3.7 billion dollar rail deal with CSX on Thursday that will allow the Commonwealth to vastly expand Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express (VRE) service over the next decade.
In the deal, Virginia acquired 225 miles of track and purchased the right of way to a further 350 miles of CSX-owned railroad. Northam also announced funding for the construction of 37 miles of new track to remove rail capacity chokepoints between Richmond and Washington, DC.
The list of projects that will be unlocked thanks to this deal reads like a rail enthusiast’s wish list: VRE service will expand by 75% and add in weekend operations, direct train connections between DC and Richmond will become a nearly hourly affair, VRE and MARC trains will have access to each other’s networks for the first time, high-speed rail to Raleigh is now possible, and planning for a mooted “Commonwealth Corridor”—linking the Blue Ridge Mountains and Hampton Roads by rail—can begin.
Here's what the proposed passenger rail network could look like under Northam's deal. Image by Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.
....