New VA Railway Agreement To Boost Amtrak, VRE Service

ARLINGTON, VA —An agreement announced Thursday between Virginia and CSX has massive implications for rail travel, including increases in Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express service. The $3.7 billion agreement is being finalized and will allow the first actions to be carried out in the latter part of 2020.

The agreement means Virginia will acquire 350 miles of railroad right-of-way and 225 miles of track. A bypass of Franconia-Springfield will be part of 37 miles of new track improvements.

The state negotiated with CSX to allow passenger and commuter train service increases be phased in over 10 years. This will include nearly hourly Amtrak service between DC and Richmond, doubling Amtrak trains in Virginia and increasing service to Newport News. For VRE, the Fredericksburg Line will see service increase by about 75 percent, including new weekend service.

"This partnership creates an unprecedented opportunity to unlock the potential of rail and commuter rail, and allows Virginia to focus on customer service, reliability, and performance," said Virginia Secretary of Transportation Shannon Valentine in a statement.

WTOP reported Amtrak could add one more train serving Norfolk, Richmond and DC continuing to New York near the end of 2020. One new round trip could be possible for VRE's Manassas and Fredericksburg Lines around the same time.

Another part of the agreement will be a new Virginia-owned Long Bridge to accompany the CSX-owned bridge over the Potomac River from DC. The new bridge will have tracks solely for passenger and commuter trains, while freight trains will use the existing CSX-owned bridge. That change seeks to address bottlenecks from the current Long Bridge, which has two tracks shared between passenger, commuter, and CSX freight trains. The Washington Post reported the earliest estimated completion date of the bridge is 2027.

Phasing in rail service increases could provide relief in problem areas of the Interstate 95 corridor. A preliminary finding of the state's study of the corridor indicates adding a travel lane in each direction of I-95 for 50 miles could cost $12.5 billion. Officials believe congestion could persist during peak travel periods even with those additional lanes.