Aug. 5—Back in 2020, Virginia announced a rail expansion program with a long-range plan to improve and expand passenger train service.
Four years later no construction work has started.
Initially work on a Stafford County project, called the Potomac Creek Third Track, was scheduled to possibly start this year, but that has changed, according to the Virginia Passenger Rail Association, which oversees the rail expansion program and has a project information page on the projects.
The project's webpage says the expansion remains under design, with that effort expected to be 60% complete by the end of the year.
Residents will have a chance to get updated details on the project's plans at a public meeting in September.
According to a tweet on X by the Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, the VPRA has scheduled the meeting for Sept. 18 at Conway Elementary School.
No other details are available concerning the meeting, but the FAMPO tweet said more information will be released later.
In the multi-billion-dollar plan, the state agreed to buy 386 miles of railroad right of way and 223 miles of track from CSX Transportation. The expansion will add 44 miles of new track between Washington and Richmond.
The program plan has two phases that focus on three corridors, one of those being Interstate 95.
The projects are scheduled to be completed by 2030.
The Potomac Creek project is in the first phase. The preliminary plans call for adding a new third track next to the current two rail lines between Stafford's Brooke Road station and the Fredericksburg station. That project will include modifications to the tracks at Dahlgren Junction in the Chatham area as well as new rail bridges at Harrell and Leeland roads in Stafford.
The Leeland Road bridge, which carries automobile traffic over the tracks, needs to be rebuilt because of the track expansion's impact on the span's piers. The Harrell Road bridge carries trains over the narrow, two-lane road and also will be replaced to accommodate the new track.
Two other area projects are included in phase two of the rail expansion program.
One of those projects, in Stafford, will add 2.3 miles of new third track to be added from the Brooke station to the Aquia Creek bridge. Development of the project is slated to start in 2025, with construction scheduled for 2027 — 2028.
The other phase-two project runs from Spotsylvania County to Stafford, adding four miles of new track from south of the Virginia Railway Express station to Harrell Road in Stafford.
No work has started on that project. Plans call for development work to start in 2025 and construction to happen from 2028 to 2030.
The second phase also includes the Long Bridge project, which will expand the rail bridge crossing the Potomac River between Virginia and Washington from two to four tracks.
Scott Shenk: 540/374-5436
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