Speakers from throughout Southwest Virginia said all aboard Thursday to a panel of state transportation leaders checking whether there is public support to restart passenger rail service in the region.

Rail can be faster, cheaper and cleaner, Jim Overholser of Roanoke said during a public hearing that drew more than 50 people to the Salem Civic Center. It's something the commonwealth needs to be looking at, he said.

The commonwealth is looking. The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation is staging meetings like the one in Salem across the state to advance a long list of proposals to move more people and freight by rail.

The agency has found that Virginia has slightly fewer miles of railroad track today than in 1930 but nearly 10 times the miles of highway. DRPT leaders are calling for a major rail system upgrade in the coming years because the rail system is nearing capacity as demand for service soars. Rail, they say, can reduce vehicle traffic, fuel consumption and pollution, while positioning the state for economic growth.

High-speed passenger trains for southeast Virginia, expanded commuter trains in Northern Virginia, new city-to-city Amtrak routes and beefed-up freight capacity appear in the draft 2008 Statewide Rail Plan that is now up for public consideration. At a cost of nearly $5 billion for capital expenses alone, the list far exceeds what Virginia can pay for on its own. Officials think it might be possible to get help with the cost of some or all of the plan from local governments, federal sources, railroads and passengers.

Of interest in Southwest Virginia is the proposed TransDominion Express, a concept for a new train, slated to get rolling in 2010, that would make one daily round trip between Lynchburg and Washington. Officials are proposing that as ridership warrants, they would add a second train to run to Roanoke and, as ridership increases further, beyond Roanoke to Bristol.

"I hope we have this soon," Claudine Ratcliffe of Salem told a panel of state transit leaders that included DRPT Director Matthew Tucker, the agency's deputy director, its chief of rail transportation and three members of the budget-writing Commonwealth Transportation Board.

CTB member Dana Martin, representing the Salem transportation district, said he sympathizes with the plight of consumers who want better transportation.

"High prices for fuel are fueling the demand for choices," Martin said.

The TransDominion Express would restore a vital transportation service that was widely available in an earlier age. But today, the only passenger trains that pass through Southwest Virginia, stopping in Lynchburg and Clifton Forge, run long, multistate routes.

The Amtrak train that passes on a regular basis through Lynchburg bound for Washington is often sold out to people who wish to ride only to Charlottesville or the nation's capital and back, said Kevin Page, DRPT chief of rail transportation. Amtrak reserves most all the seats for long-distance travelers whose fares come closer to covering the cost of the trip, he said.

The TransDominion Express would change that by putting new trains on the tracks dedicated to moving people from one end of the state to the other and stopping at various points in between.

Roanokers are ready to ride the rails again, said Mayor David Bowers, adding his endorsement to many others. He said the restored, former Roanoke passenger station downtown has space to handle ticketing.

Wayne Strickland, executive director of the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission, said the agency found good citizen support for passenger service in the Roanoke Valley when it conducted a survey. He urged the panelists to consider starting the Roanoke service the same time it starts the Lynchburg-D.C. service, targeted for 2010.

The audience clapped.

To see the draft statewide rail plan, go online at www.drpt.virginia.gov. Public comments will be taken until Aug. 25.