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6/30/2023
Virginia Railway Express yesterday announced it has opened its $52.7 million Lifecycle Overhaul and Upgrade Facility (LOU), which will enable the commuter railroad to maintain its rolling stock in Spotsylvania County.
The 33,000-square-foot LOU features a drop table to remove locomotive and rail-car trucks and wheelsets; a wheel-truing machine to reprofile rolling stock wheelsets; an overhead bridge crane with two lift points; and two tracks, each holding up to four locomotives or rail cars, VRE officials said in a press release. The facility also can accommodate technology upgrades for rail cars and locomotives.
VRE partnered with the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) to complete the project. VPRA purchased the east side of the rail corridor to allow for additional track to be laid and construction to be accelerated, VRE officials said.
The project received $11.7 million in state funding and more than $39 million in federal funding for state-of-good-repair work, said DRPT Director Jennifer DeBruhl. VRE provided a $1.7 million match.
"The LOU is the largest single investment in a VRE station or facility in the rail system’s 31-year history," said DeBruhl.