By Julie Sneider, Senior Associate Editor
Virginia transportation officials have described the past two years as “transformative” when it comes to rail development in the state. Transformative by design.
Unveiled in late 2019, the state’s nearly $4 billion “Transforming Rail in Virginia Initiative” (TRV) was deployed to separate and advance passenger- and freight-rail service. The aim: to reduce traffic congestion, speed up the flow of goods and people, and boost Virginia’s economy.
The largest TRV developments involve agreements between the state, CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway, the two Class Is that serve Virginia. Combined, CSX, NS and nine short lines operate about 3,000 miles of freight-rail lines in the state.
“While a lot of the talk about those agreements has been about the benefits to passenger rail, the agreements are going to have significant freight-rail benefits,” says Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) Director Jennifer Mitchell.
The pacts with CSX and NS are designed to help increase the frequency and reliability of passenger-rail service via Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express. But the long-term goal in both agreements is the separation of freight and passenger traffic, particularly in the Interstate-95 corridor into Washington, D.C., and Richmond, one of the state’s most congested areas. It’s also a major corridor for north-south freight traffic for CSX, Mitchell says.
The rail projects are necessary for two reasons: One, capacity along the interstate system in Virginia is shrinking; and two, population in the TRV corridors continues to grow.
Solution? Increase access to passenger-rail service to reduce the number of cars on the I-system and adjacent highways. Doing so is cheaper than building more highway capacity, Mitchell says. The cost to expand a 50-mile segment of the I-95 corridor would cost about $12 billion, according to a study the state did several years ago, she says.
“We realized that we could provide the same capacity at a third of the cost by investing in the rail system that runs adjacent to that [corridor],” Mitchell says.
Building a new Long Bridge
But passenger-rail service cannot increase without expanding existing infrastructure, which is why the deals with CSX and NS were so important.
Under the CSX agreement, the state will build additional infrastructure, including construction of a new Long Bridge over the Potomac River. Currently, the CSX-owned Long Bridge is the only rail bridge connecting Virginia to the District of Columbia. Lack of capacity makes it one of the most significant rail bottlenecks along the entire East Coast, Virginia and rail industry officials say.
The new two-track structure will be built adjacent to the two-track CSX bridge and be used exclusively for Amtrak and VRE trains. Virginia will own the new bridge, which is expected to be completed by 2030.
“We’ll have a fully separated passenger and freight network with two tracks for freight and two tracks for passenger trains,” Mitchell says of the project.
A new bridge will provide enough room for more than 18,000 freight and passenger train crossings over the river annually, according to the DRPT’s recently released 2021 annual report. That would remove up to 1 million trucks and 5 million vehicles off the highway and help improve safety by reducing highway crashes.
Virginia also will fund six new sidings that CSX will be constructing on the network between northern Virginia and Richmond. The sidings will help create additional capacity for CSX freight trains.
“All these improvements that we’re making will have benefits for CSX,” Mitchell says.
A rail bridge crosses the James River in Richmond, Virginia. A new life for an underused asset
Meanwhile, in May 2021 Virginia officials announced a $257 million agreement with NS to improve rail reliability and expand passenger rail to southwest Virginia. Under the arrangement, the state will purchase from NS a 28-mile, under-used rail line that extends between Roanoke and Christiansburg, Virginia, which will be used to introduce passenger-rail service between Roanoke and the New River Valley region.
“That’s really a win-win for both of us,” Mitchell says. “In addition, we’re going to be funding improvements to their Roanoke Yard that will improve the fluidity in that yard, and then also fund a 7-mile segment of double track, which will create a contiguous 22-mile stretch of double track between Manassas and near Culpeper, Virginia. That will have additional benefits for Norfolk Southern in terms of being able to maintain the fluidity of their network.”
DRPT’s rail division administers freight-rail planning and short-line preservation programs. In prior years, DRPT oversaw passenger-rail projects, but in FY2021 the oversight moved to the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, which the Virginia General Assembly created in 2020.
Legislation passed that year also created a new grant program, titled the Freight Rail Enhancement to Increase Goods and Highway Throughput fund, which was designed to support rail infrastructure projects that expand Virginia’s rail network. Managed by DRPT, grant applications for the first round of funding were due Feb. 1. Up to $8 million in funding could be issued annually for projects such as freight-rail capacity expansion and right-of-way acquisitions, Mitchell says. Projects awarded grants must be able to demonstrate the investment has positive economic benefits and meets some of the state’s transportation priorities, she says.
Also under the DRPT’s purview is the state’s Rail Enhancement Program, which invests in projects to improve rail throughout to ports operated by the Virginia Port Authority. During FY2021, the program awarded about $45 million, with nearly $20 million in matching funds. Those funded projects are expanding rail terminal capacity at Norfolk International Terminal and Virginia Inland Port. Additionally, the program’s funds are helping to expand capacity of rail lines that serve those ports and the Virginia International Gateway.
Looking ahead, Mitchell says the DRPT will continue to seek “creative ways” to partner with the Class Is and short lines.
“The agreements that we developed with CSX and Norfolk Southern were both designed to come up with creative solutions that benefit the railroads and us,” she says. “So, we’ll continue to look for those kinds of innovative partnerships. It’s an exciting time for rail in Virginia.”
