New River Valley Rail Project
About New River Valley Rail Project
In the Summer of 2024, VPRA signed a new agreement with Norfolk Southern to purchase the Manassas Line and gain passenger rail access to Christiansburg on the main line or N-Line. The New River Valley project will return passenger rail service to the historic Cambria Yard, which served rail passengers from 1904 to 1979. The Project will construct a high-level platform, canopy, parking lot, siding track, and layover facility.
The Virginia General Assembly established The New River Valley Station Authority in 2021 to lead the construction and maintenance of the station building project. Norfolk Southern is managing the design and construction of all other aspects of the building project not related to the station.
The project includes:
- Platform with canopy
- Parking lot
- Track improvements
- Updated signaling system
- Access roads
- Norfolk Southern staffing and maintenance facility
- Amtrak layover facility in nearby Radford
- Renovation of the historic Christiansburg station
Pictured to the right: rendering of the station building, platform, and tracks.
Project Status: Construction
Site preparation and preliminary construction began in late February 2025. The new Norfolk Southern staffing and maintenance facility will be completed first, followed by the new track, platform with canopy, parking, and access roads. The station renovations are expected to commence in 2027 after the NRV service begins.
- Increased rail capacity that enables more frequent passenger rail service with better on-time reliability
- Modernized and renovated historic rail station that provides access to the expanded Amtrak Virginia passenger service
- New access for Radford University, Virginia Tech and the entire New River Valley area
Total Budget: $326.7M*
Cambria Platform & Radford Layover: $71.5M
*Total cost of Western Rail Corridor, for more information view the VPRA Budget
Project Details
What's New
More information to come.
Public Involvement and Community Outreach
Spring 2024 Public Outreach Materials
Documents and Reports
New River Valley Passenger Rail Station Feasibility Study (June 2022)
- Executive Summary – 655KB (PDF)
- Entire Study – 3MB (PDF)
- Appendix A: Public Outreach Summary – 3MB (PDF)
- Appendix B: Screening Results Tables – 43MB (PDF)
- Appendix C: Full Screening Analysis – 190KB (PDF)
- Appendix D: FRA Grade Crossing Database – 18MB (PDF)
- Appendix E: Cultural & Historical Resources Report – 3MB (PDF)
- Appendix F: IPaC Reports – 3MB (PDF)
Fact Sheets and Project Materials
FAQs
Project FAQs Coming Soon! Check out the General FAQs to learn more about VPRA and the Transforming Rail in Virginia program.
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