Virginia, Norfolk Southern greenlight Manassas line purchase, extension to Christianburg, Va

RICHMOND, Va. —The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority board of directors has approved a recently negotiated plan with Norfolk Southern to acquire the railroad’s former Southern Railway route out of Alexandria, Va., to Manassas, Va., and gain Amtrak train access to the NS main line beyond Roanoke, Va., to Christianburg, Va.

In a press release, the agency notes the board’s acceptance paves the way for the agreement to be finalized, according to D.J. Stadtler, VRPA’s executive director. No dollar amounts were referenced, but Roanoke-based Cardinal News reports some previously revealed details. These include:

— Acquisition of the route between Alexandria and Virginia Railway Express’ Broad Run station south of Manassas, used by eight weekday Virgina Railway Express round trips on its Manassas Line, and three daily Amtrak round trips: two to Roanoke and the New York-New Orleans Crescent. Most NS freight traffic bypasses this segment; the railroad would retain trackage rights. Under state ownership, VRE would be able to add weekend and more weekday frequencies.

— Reversal of a 2022 agreement in which the state would purchase 28 miles of Norfolk Southern’s former Virginian Railway freight route west of Roanoke to the New River Valley. Studies concluded that extending Roanoke-terminating trains to any of three possible station sites in the valley would have cost from $544 million to more than $1 billion, possibly require expensive safety improvements to that route’s 116-year-old Merrimac Tunnel, and preclude eventual extension of passenger service to Bristol, Va.

— An agreement, in place of that deal, to allow trains to operate over the original Norfolk & Western line to a New River Valley stop at the Cambria station in Christianburg, Va. They would continue another 10 miles to Radford, Va., where NS would construct a layover facility. Passenger stations could be added at Radford and Bedford, Va. later, but Stadtler told the news outlet, “We’d be naive not to think [service to those stops] was not part of the next discussion. We’ve got to get to Christianburg first.”

— An estimated purchase price for the state of $599 million, of which publicly funded VRE will contribute $155 million. The net $444 million agreement is substantially less than any of the alternatives considered in the previous New River Valley plan. Service to Christianburg is expected to begin by 2027, a year earlier than if the ex-Virginian line were utilized.

Expansion into this part of the state began with extension of a Northeast Corridor round trip to Lynchburg in 2009, then to Roanoke in 2017, with a second round trip over the entire route added in 2022. Virginia’s robust passenger rail program has been facilitated by the Intercity Passenger Rail Operating and Capital Fund, a part of a transportation trust fund not limited to highways.

In the release, Norfolk Southern Chief Strategy Officer Mike McClellan thanked VRPA “for its partnership and dedication in reaching an agreement that has the potential to benefit generations of Virginians with reliable, convenient rail travel, while also balancing the needs of the freight rail network the economy relies on.”

Until 1979, Christianburg had been served by Amtrak’s circuitous Hilltopper, operating to and from Boston via Petersburg, Va., before switching to the route of Amtrak’s Norfolk-Cincinnati Mountaineer (and previously, N&W’s Pocahontas and Powhatan Arrow). But the coach-only Hilltopper only ran as far the Tri-State, Kentucky, station, arriving at 12:45 a.m. from the east and departing at 5:33 a.m. back to Boston. In its final days, there was no connection at Tri-State with what was then a Chicago-Washington, D.C., Cardinal.

For southwest Virginia residents, the main goal is to eventually see trains restored to Bristol, Va., 118 miles beyond Christianburg. Service ended to the town straddling the Tennessee state line with Amtrak’s debut in 1971. Back then, the remnant of joint Southern-N&W trains that once ventured to Chattanooga, Memphis, and New Orleans was carded at 3 hours between Christianburg and Bristol.