VPRA breaks ground on New River Valley Rail Project

    April 28, 2025
    When completed, the New River Valley Rail Project will allow for the VPRA to extends its Amtrak Virginia service from Roanoke to Christiansburg, Va.
    Related To:
    Amtrak
    Through the VPRA Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative, the New River Valley Project encompasses railroad infrastructure upgrades.
    Through the VPRA Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative, the New River Valley Project encompasses railroad infrastructure upgrades.

    The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) celebrated the groundbreaking of its New River Valley Rail Project in Christiansburg, Va. Through the VPRA Transforming Rail in Virginia (TRV) initiative, the New River Valley Project encompasses railroad infrastructure upgrades that VPRA says will allow for an extension of its Amtrak Virginia service from Roanoke to Christiansburg, Va., and return passenger rail service to the New River Valley for the first time since 1979. 

    “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 New River Valley Project includes: 

    • A new station platform with canopy. 
    • Parking lot and access roads. 
    • Track improvements and updated signaling system. 
    • An Amtrak layover facility in nearby Radford.
       

    “I want to thank VPRA and Norfolk Southern for coming together last year to reach an all-around better deal for Virginians,” said Virginia Secretary of Transportation W. Sheppard Miller III. “The new agreement between VPRA and Norfolk Southern is the reason we are here breaking ground on a project that will provide additional connectivity and promote economic growth in the New River Valley.” 

    VPRA says the extension of service to Christiansburg will be via Norfolk Southern’s main line (N-Line). This plan is the result of an agreement between VPRA and Norfolk Southern completed last September through which VPRA purchased the Manassas Line and gained access to the N-Line. By expanding service from Roanoke to Christiansburg on the N-Line, VPRA says it will use existing infrastructure with a focus on developing a station stop at the Cambria site, which previously served the community from 1904 to 1979. The project will also enhance Norfolk Southern’s freight service through the area. 

    The New River Valley Passenger Rail Station Authority—created by the Virginia General Assembly in 2021—will be called the New River Valley Station and renovations are expected to begin in 2027. 

    VPRA estimates the cost of its New River Valley Project to come to $264.5 million. Preliminary construction began in late February 2025 with full construction commencing this spring. 

    VPRA expects Amtrak Virginia service to begin in 2027 with two daily roundtrips between Christiansburg and Washington, D.C., with stops in Roanoke, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Culpeper, Manassas, Burke Centre and Alexandria, Va. Trip times are estimated to be 50 minutes between Christiansburg and Roanoke and just under six hours between Christiansburg and Washington, D.C. From Washington, D.C., the service will continue onto Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor to Philadelphia, New York, Boston and points in-between.