Passenger Rail Coming to New River Valley

Wed May 5 14:58:03 EDT 2021

Ken,  
This is Great New, provided It gets done.
Thanks for the information Cliff Orange

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From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Wed, May 5, 2021 2:49 pm
Subject: Passenger Rail Coming to New River Valley

>From Roanoke.com, May 5, 2021

Interesting!

Ken Miller

Passenger Rail Coming to New River Valley
By  Yann Ranaivo
CHRISTIANSBURG — Gov. Ralph Northam announced Wednesday that Virginia has reached an agreement with Norfolk Southern to extend passenger rail to the New River Valley and increase the intercity service from Roanoke to the Northeast Corridor.

Called the Western Rail Initiative, the deal includes $257.2 million toward an array of infrastructure improvements and the acquisition of right-of-way and track. Of that amount, $38.2 million will be for the state’s acquisition of right-of-way and track from Norfolk Southern for just under 29 miles of the Virginian Line from the Salem Crossovers west of Roanoke to Merrimac.

The remaining $219 million will be for infrastructure improvements by Norfolk Southern and the state along the corridor. Of that amount, $36.5 million is for Roanoke Yard improvements; $131.5 million for infrastructure improvements along the U.S. Route 29/Interstate 81 corridor; and $51 million by the state for improvements between Salem and Christiansburg.

The Salem to Christiansburg improvements include signaling and track upgrades and an investment in a maintenance facility, passenger platform and station.

The plans announced by the governor during a stop in Christiansburg mark a major development in a years-long effort to return passenger rail to the New River Valley and add on to the existing Amtrak service in Roanoke.

The Western Rail Initiative announcement comes more than a month after Northam signed legislation authorizing the creation of the New River Valley Passenger Rail Station Authority, an entity that will allow a number of regional partners to share in the cost of building and maintaining a train station.

Among the other details shared Wednesday is a plan for the state to partner with the new authority to fund the construction of a station building, parking and roadway access to the station.

The town of Christiansburg has already purchased some parcels for a station near its aquatic center off of North Franklin Street.

The infrastructure improvements are expected to be complete by 2025. Afterward, two Northeast Corridor round trips will be extended from Roanoke to Christiansburg.
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