CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. — A study to determine what is needed to bring Amtrak service to Christiansburg and the New River Valley has been placed on hold because Norfolk Southern has halted its involvement.
The Roanoke Times reports that the $350,000 study has been put off indefinitely because NS wants to focus on other matters, according to officials with the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.
“They have told us that they are reluctant to talk to us now about extending passenger rail,” Michael McLaughlin, the department’s chief of rail transportation, told the newspaper, “due to problems in their freight network, especially south of Virginia.”
The railroad’s participation is needed because a potential site for the Amtrak station in Christiansburg involves tracks owned by the railroad.
Christiansburg is about 28 miles southwest of Roanoke, which is currently served by one Northeast Regional round trip daily.
… And, what about Bristol, Virginia? Christianburg would just be a brief way stop en route.
Hey Brad, yeah, if they don’t boarding unboarding in the middle of the night. LOL.
Do a little research….the problem on NS is WEST of Atlanta. The marginal line is Bristol-Redford.
It is NOT going to happen.
The only “marginal line in VA” that this would effect would be from Christiansburg to Roanoke. That part of the old N&W is mostly double track and certainly isn’t marginal. The train would travel the exact same route from Roanoke to Lynchburg and then up the old Washington Division of the Southern Railway from Lynchburg to Charlottesville, Alexandria to Washington without adding any additional service at all.
Maybe NS is thinking that they are going to be adding additional freights to the Knoxville – Bristol – Christiansburg – Roanoke main line to help relieve congestion south of Knoxville.
This service would certainly support additional travel options for students at Va. Tech and Radford as well as the travelling public from the towns all I-81 south of Roanoke.
The reason the current service makes sense and is popular because of timing. 730-900 am load times in Lynchburg and Charlottesville with early evening arrivals make the train popular. A Bristol train would have to depart at 130 am to keep the same schedule. That same train would get back at 2 am. Given that Amtrak is trying to run a business, this doesn’t make any sense.
And yes, NS has big problems west of Atlanta. Check train 19/20 running times west of Atlanta.
NS management has pressure from the market due to cSX’s financial success, so the last thing they need is another passenger train on marginal lines in VA.
I take the train to Philly a lot on this route and can say with confidence that any tinkering to the current schedule would be detrimental to what has been a successful route.
Or a intra-Virginia service: Bristol, Lynchburg (connection to Charlottesville and Washington), Petersburg (connection to Richmond and Washington), and Norfolk.