Public Transportation and Smart Growth

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.
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