New plan would bring Amtrak to the New River Valley sooner, and at a lower cost

The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority is set to consider on Tuesday a way to bring passenger rail service to the New River Valley a year or two earlier than previously anticipated and at a cost of at least $100 million less.

The authority will review a proposal under which Amtrak service would be extended on Norfolk Southern’s main line to Christiansburg’s historic Cambria train station, and the authority would buy Norfolk Southern’s Manassas line in Northern Virginia, according to agenda documents published online ahead of the authority’s Tuesday board meeting.

The new deal would cost the authority a net $444 million and would bring passenger rail service, which currently ends in Roanoke, to the New River Valley no later than in 2027. Under the authority’s earlier plan, passenger service would instead begin in 2028 using a different rail line and train station in Christiansburg, and even the least expensive of several options would cost $545 million, an estimate that has risen as design work has progressed since the concept was developed in 2022, according to the agenda documents.

In June, the authority, which oversees Virginia’s state support of Amtrak service, said it was in early talks with Norfolk Southern about the newer, alternative plan and called it a “mutually beneficial framework for both passenger and freight rail service.” Cost estimates were unavailable at that time; Tuesday’s meeting agenda provides new details on the potential price and timeline differences between the plans.

“By extending service using the main line, we will save money on necessary infrastructure and have the ability to begin service sooner,” Virginia Passenger Rail Authority spokesperson Karina Romero said in an email.

Romero said that as a part of the deal, Norfolk Southern would construct the platform, pocket track and layover facility at the Cambria station and the rail authority would own those assets once complete.

A Norfolk Southern spokesperson declined to comment on the latest details.

Supporters of extending passenger rail service to the New River Valley say it would serve tens of thousands of customers annually, connecting the region to major metropolitan areas to the northeast and relieving Interstate 81 of some traffic congestion.

In 2022, Virginia bought a 28-mile stretch of the Virginian Line, or “V-Line,” from Norfolk Southern, intending to use it for the New River Valley passenger service plan because Norfolk Southern wanted the project to avoid its busier main line, called the “N-Line.” If officials move forward with service on the N-Line, the commonwealth would sell the V-Line back to the railroad.

The authority has said it went back to Norfolk Southern to revisit finding a way to use the N-Line after it received more information on the V-Line plan’s cost and timeframe, and after surveys and public meetings showed that residents preferred an N-Line option.

The V-Line plan had three options with different price estimates that went up to $951 million. The two most expensive choices called for building a new train platform at the New River Valley Mall and running the line through the mile-long Merrimac Tunnel near Christiansburg, which officials have said would be necessary to extend service farther southwest to Bristol.

But earlier this year, the authority said that the tunnel, which was built in 1908 to haul coal, is not up to current safety standards for getting passengers out during an emergency and that upgrading it would be so expensive that adding service to Bristol would be impossible.

The latest plan using the N-Line would avoid the tunnel and its costly renovations, possibly making a future extension to Bristol more feasible.

The new plan’s total price tag would be $599 million, but the Virginia Railway Express, a commuter train service in Northern Virginia, could potentially contribute $155 million to bring the rail authority’s cost to $444 million, according to agenda documents.

Buying Norfolk Southern’s Manassas line would provide the VRE an opportunity to add more trips there, including evening and weekend service, the rail authority has said.

Romero said selling the V-Line back to Norfolk Southern was included in the $444 million price tag but declined to specify how much the authority anticipates receiving specifically from that sale.

The new plan provides opportunities to add stops in Bedford and Radford, but there is no timeline for them yet, she said.

The Cambria station in Christiansburg that would be a key part of the new plan served rail passengers from the early 1900s until 1979, when Amtrak discontinued service there.

In 2009, Amtrak added daily service between Lynchburg and Washington, D.C., on its Northeast Regional line, and in 2017, it expanded service to Roanoke.

In spring 2021, Virginia reached an agreement with Norfolk Southern to bring passenger rail to the New River Valley and increase service from Roanoke to the Northeast corridor.

Tuesday’s Virginia Passenger Rail Authority meeting begins at 10:30 a.m. and is expected to be viewable on the authority’s YouTube channel .

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