Dive brief:
- Construction began last week on a series of passenger rail-related projects to improve and expand train service in northern Virginia.
- Plans call for a new fourth track spanning six miles between Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia, to increase capacity for Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express commuter trains; improvements to the Alexandria VRE station; and the replacement of two older railway bridges adjacent to this station.
- “Strong rail infrastructure in Virginia is critical to our economy and to people’s ability to get where they need to go,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said in a statement.
Diving knowledge:
A partnership between the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, Amtrak, VRE, CSX freight railroad and the city of Alexandria is carrying out the projects. They relate to the VPRA’s $2.6 billion long bridge project, which will add a second two-track rail bridge over the Potomac River, along with new pedestrian and bicycle bridges, to eliminate a bottleneck for passenger and freight trains running between Virginia and Washington, DC.
The set of projects that started on November 12 and the long bridge project are expected to end in 2030. “We [and our partners] we’ve been able to develop a plan that combines a number of projects to benefit not only rail passengers but also the local community,” DJ Stadtler, VPRA’s executive director, said in a statement.
The projects are part of VPRA’s “Transforming Rail in Virginia” initiative. When completed, the initiative will increase Amtrak’s number of state-supported daily round trips from the current eight to 13 and expand VRE service on two lines, including new weekend service.
The Alexandria station improvements will include replacing a street-level crossing with a tunnel connecting the two platforms and upgrading the platforms to improve passenger safety. The city of Alexandria will lead the creation of a new urban landscape in the area of the station under the new bridges.
Virginia has invested in passenger rail through support for Amtrak trains, the acquisition of nearly 500 miles of railroad right-of-way, and the creation of VRE in 1992. The commuter rail system carries an average of 20,000 passengers daily. Virginia’s state-supported Amtrak trains set a new record in fiscal year 2025, carrying more than 1.4 million passengers.
According to VPRA, “passenger rail offers the most cost-effective solution” to traffic congestion in the state and the Washington, DC metropolitan area. According to the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, the region’s population has grown 74 percent since 1990 and is projected to exceed 3 million by 2040.
