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OPINION

Cost of extending Amtrak to Christiansburg could triple, raising concerns
about future extension to Bristol.

There's a cheaper option but that site raises concerns that Amtrak might
never go further west.

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by Dwayne YanceyJanuary 29, 2024

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The Amtrak train in Roanoke. Courtesy of Virginia Department of Rail and
Public Transportation.

For all those who want to see Amtrak extended to Bristol, pay attention to
what's happening in the New River Valley, where efforts to locate a
passenger rail station have hit what one key legislator calls "a setback"
that has raised alarms about likely it will be for trains to go further
west.

Here's what the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority was told at last week's
meeting:

Norfolk Southern, which owns the tracks, wants Amtrak's New River Valley
extension to avoid its busy mainline route and instead go from Roanoke to
Christiansburg on its lesser-used Virginian line that goes through the
Ellett Valley. That would seem a reasonable request except for what that
sets in motion down the line. Instead of coming into Christiansburg from the
east, the train would be coming in from the west.

The plan had been for the New River passenger rail station to be near the
New River Valley Mall. To get the that site from Norfolk Southern's mainline
is fairly straightforward. However, to get to that site from the Virginian
line involves a big complication - it would need to go through the Merrimac
Tunnel.

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The renovations needed to make the Merrimac Tunnel suitable for passenger
rail. Courtesy of Virginia Passenger Rail Authority.

That tunnel, built before World War I, is not set up for modern passenger
rail standards, the authority was told. It's a mile long and there's no way
to evacuate passengers in an emergency. The tunnel is narrow, making it
difficult for passengers to get out of the train if they had to. To get the
tunnel up to National Fire Protection Association standards, it would need
three ventilation fans and two vertical shafts - one the equivalent of 15
stories, the other the equivalent of 20 stories - to be able to get rescue
workers in and passengers out. Geological studies have found that the soil
around the tunnel is "largely poor to very poor quality," which makes
construction difficult - and more expensive.

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The location and cost of the proposed route to the New River Valley Mall
location. Courtesy of Virginia Passenger Rail Authority.

The cost of extending Amtrak's route from Roanoke to Christiansburg had
initially been estimated at at $257.2 million, with service originally
expected in 2025. With the need to renovate the Merrimac Tunnel, the cost
has now risen to $785 million, with service not possible until 2030, the
authority was told.

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The proposed location of a New River Valley passenger rail station that
avoids the Merrimac Tunnel. Courtesy of Virginia Passenger Rail Authority.

There is a cheaper option: The authority was told the train could stop short
of the tunnel, somewhere on Cinnabar Road. The cost of that would be $366
million, with service not starting until 2028.

The problem with that: Some authority members worried that meant passenger
rail might never get extended to Bristol. For the train to get from the
proposed platform on Cinnabar Road to the Norfolk Southern route, it would
still need to go through that Merrimac Tunnel - or it would need to back up
perhaps as far as the Roanoke Valley to get on the mainline that Norfolk
Southern would like it to avoid. Throughout the meeting, authority member
Beth Rhinehart - who heads the Bristol Chamber - repeatedly urged fellow
members not to do anything that would preclude or complicate a future
passenger line to Bristol. In theory, a platform on Cinnabar Road wouldn't
preclude the train from going on to Bristol, but not dealing with the
Merrimac Tunnel now raises the question of whether the state will ever be
willing to bear those costs.

Two state legislators who have been closely aligned with the push to get
Amtrak to Bristol have expressed concern about the rising costs and
complications of the New River Valley project.

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Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt County. Photo by Bob Brown.

"I'm disappointed in the rail situation," said Del. Terry Austin,
R-Botetourt County, and a member of the House Transportation Committee. "If
we don't get on the west side [of the tunnel] we don't have a direct
connection to get to Bristol."

There's the prospect of a temporary platform on Cinnabar Road in 2028 with
an extension through the Merrimac Tunnel to a permanent station near the New
River Valley Mall in 2030, but the cost of that was estimated at $951
million.

"We've got to get there, we have to get there," Austin said, "but this is
really a big setback."

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Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County. Photo by Bob Brown.

In a statement, state Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County, said: "This is
exactly why it is important for Bristol/SWVA to have a seat at the table and
why I sponsored the legislation to make that so. What happens in the NRV has
a direct impact on extending rail to/through Bristol. I remain committed to
working with all stakeholders to ensure we're looking at the bigger picture
and understand how site selection in the NRV can be advantageous to both
regions. We do not need anything getting the train to Bristol off the
fastest track."

This isn't the first time that the geography and rail lines around the New
River Valley has posed a complication for an Amtrak extension to Bristol.
About a year ago a study showed that one option through New River would
involve a tunnel under the Vickers Heights section of Montgomery County that
would drive the total price of a Christiansburg to Bristol route to $1.5
billion. A cheaper alternative, which would avoid the Vickers Heights
section, was put at $585 million.

That alternative also envisioned Amtrak taking Norfolk Southern's mainline
to Christiansburg, not the Virginian line. With the Merrimac Tunnel, Amtrak
could still avoid that Vickers Heights section, and presumably keep the
Christiansburg to Bristol route at the same price, but now the price of
getting from Roanoke to Christiansburg has gone up - tripled, in fact, to
the point where getting from Roanoke to Christiansburg appears more
expensive than getting from Christiansburg to Bristol.

Austin said when looking at the cost of rail, we need to factor in how much
traffic that takes off Interstate 81. "Every time we've implemented rail
access in the west, it's taken cars off Interstate 81 and Roanoke has
exceeded expectations on the two trains we currently have and now we have
the opportunity to offer more - every bit of that is redirecting traffic
from the surface road."

There's a public meeting about New River passenger rail in Christiansburg on
Monday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the community center on 725 Patrick
Henry Drive.

 

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