Phase 3 and 4 projects will result in dedicated passenger track where Virginia Railway Express (VRE) operates on the Fredericksburg Line.
Phase 3 will result in the completion of the third track to Arkendale by connecting sidings constructed in Phases 1 and 2. Phase 3 incorporates a third track on the Occoquan River crossing and Woodbridge station improvements.
Phase 4 will result in the completion of the third track to Spotsylvania by connecting sidings constructed in Phases 1 and 2. Phase 4 incorporates a third track on the Rappahannock River crossing and Fredericksburg station improvements.
Phases 3 and 4 will start when Virginia has identified funding for those projects. The completion of Phases 3 and 4 will allow for further passenger rail service in the corridor and the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) will continue to apply for additional federal funds to advance these projects.
The Buckingham Branch Railroad Company (BBRC) is the largest short line railroad company in Virginia and operates 275 miles of track over four divisions (between Bremo and Dilwyn, Richmond and Allegheny, Southern, and Norfolk). A short line railroad is a small- or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. CSX Transportation (CSXT) owned all of the BBRR between Richmond and Clifton Forge and held a lease with the BBRC to operate and maintain the railroad. BBRR dispatches trains for CSXT and Amtrak and has eight interchanges each with CSXT and Norfolk Southern, creating freight connections across North America.
With the CSXT transaction, Virginia will own a portion of the BBRR between Clifton Forge and Doswell. CSXT will retain ownership of the line from Doswell to Richmond. Virginia will have an agreement with the BBRC for their continued operation and maintenance of the line. The BBRR purchase preserves this corridor for potential expanded passenger rail service in the future.
The S-Line is an out-of-service rail corridor in Virginia and North Carolina. Virginia is acquiring the entire abandoned right-of-way section owned by CSX Transportation (CSXT) from Petersburg, VA, to Ridgeway, NC. The S-Line is a key link in the Southeast High-Speed Rail (SEHSR) Corridor and the purchase preserves this corridor for potential future passenger rail service. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded North Carolina a $47.6 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant to help the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) purchase and preserve the rail corridor between Raleigh, NC, and Ridgeway, NC.1 If the North Carolina transaction moves ahead, together with Transforming Rail in Virginia, it will create the opportunity for a future passenger corridor to be built between Richmond, VA, and Raleigh, NC, along the selected alignment from the Richmond to Raleigh Southeast High Speed Rail environmental study completed in March 2017.
