The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the $264.5 million New River Valley Rail Project in Christiansburg, Va.
The project, part of the Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative, will allow VPRA to extend its Amtrak Virginia service from Roanoke to Christiansburg. Work will include track improvements, an updated signaling system, a new station platform with canopy, an Amtrak layover facility in nearby Radford, a parking lot and access roads.
“Today’s groundbreaking represents a lot of hard work, determination and collaboration,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said. “We are here today because people came to the table and worked together to execute a new and dramatically better deal — one that accelerates the return of passenger rail service to the New River Valley years earlier, on a better line, and at a much lower cost to Virginia’s taxpayers — than the one I inherited. I look forward to all that this station will do to support and grow such an important region of the commonwealth.”
The extended service to will be via Norfolk Southern’s N-Line and is the result of an agreement between VPRA and Norfolk Southern. VPRA purchased the Manassas Line and gained access to the N-Line.
Construction will begin this spring.