Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Can passenger rail return to Roanoke?
After nearly three decades without passenger service, a plan is in motion to relink the Roanoke area to the state.
The Roanoke Times | File 1974
The Pocahontas passenger train ran in Roanoke for 55 years.
The Roanoke Times | File 1979
The Hilltopper was the Roanoke area's last passenger train.
Related
Message board
Voice your thoughts
- Thursday, 6 p.m. at the Salem Civic Center. Speakers will be allowed three minutes each at the public hearing.
Riding the rails
Passenger rail in Roanoke dates to the 1880s, shortly after the railroad reached the community.
- 1893: Service from Norfolk to Cincinnati through Roanoke began; in 1926 that train was named the Pocahontas.
- May 1, 1971: The Pocahontas made the last passenger run through Roanoke.
- March 24, 1975: Amtrak’s Mountaineer brought passenger service back to Roanoke.
- May 4, 1977: The Mountaineer was discontinued. On June 1, 1977, service through Roanoke resumed as The Hilltopper, which ran to Washington, D.C.
- October 1, 1979: The Hilltopper made the last Amtrak passenger run through Roanoke.
- August 1994: State and local officials agree to fund a feasibility study for passenger rail service from Bristol to Washington, D.C.
- July 2004: Norfolk Southern Corp. offered to run passenger trains from Bristol to Washington, D.C., through Roanoke, on the proposed TransDominion Express.
- March 2006: A Senate bill that would have established the TransDominion Express Authority to examine passenger rail was killed in the House of Delegates.
- July 2008: The draft 2008 Statewide Rail Plan proposes adding passenger rail service from Roanoke to Lynchburg.
- Source: Belinda Harris, The Roanoke Times
State transportation officials are drafting the latest proposal to restart passenger rail service in and out of Roanoke, which ended almost 30 years ago.
Although it looks to one lawmaker as cost prohibitive just now, restarting is likely to get strong public backing at an open meeting Thursday called by the state Department of Rail and Public Transportation to discuss a wish list of improvements in statewide rail transit.
Some local government leaders, on behalf of residents, have backed the concept for years.
"Roanokers like to think of our area and city as a railroad center," Roanoke Mayor David Bowers said.
But Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said he isn't convinced there's sufficient demand to support the service. Without ample numbers of business travelers to supplement anticipated leisure riders, he said he believes operating such a service would cost more than the state would be willing to pay.
"I do think there will be a day when it's appropriate. I just don't think we're there yet," Griffith said Monday.
The concept on the table is to link Roanoke to a statewide passenger rail network through Lynchburg, where passenger trains already pick up and let off passengers. Bristol would be added in a future phase, according to the draft 2008 Statewide Rail Plan from the office of DRPT Director Matthew Tucker.
Such rail service would lessen highway congestion along the U.S. 29, Interstate 81 and U.S. 460 corridors, the draft notes. "The project consists of improved travel times, more frequent service to Lynchburg and Charlottesville and expanded service to Roanoke, Bristol and Richmond."
Dubbed the TransDominion Express, it is going by the acronym TDX.
Roanoke-area residents boarded trains bound for distant points since as early as 1883, shortly after the railroad reached the community. But regular passenger service has not been available since 1979.
Some people are still riding. Amtrak sold out an early train from Lynchburg to Union Station in Washington, D.C., this morning. But riders can't board or disembark in Roanoke.
Even if it's ultimately approved, passenger service in Roanoke is likely years away.
To get it going once again, $206 million for trains, track work and related capital costs must be found. An operating subsidy must be funded. And the state must arrange with Norfolk Southern Corp. for more passenger trains to run on tracks already busy with freight shipments that move tens of millions of tons a year in the Roanoke area.
Under several conditions, NS "is open to allowing passenger trains to operate on its lines," company spokesman Robin Chapman said. The conditions include that there is enough track to move people and freight without delaying either, that there is capacity for both to grow and that there's compensation and legal protection for the company.
At this week's hearing, DRPT personnel will give residents up to three minutes to speak on any of a host of passenger and freight rail projects in the pipeline or on one wish list or another.
After the meeting, officials intend to gather more comments in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads before publishing the new plan, last updated in 2004. It is intended to guide lawmakers on the best uses of public funds for railroad transportation.
After the plan is done, DRPT intends to issue a draft Rail Action Plan with concrete proposals, gather more comments and publish it.
By about the end of the year, state leaders intend to make public a cost estimate and timeline for construction to allow Roanoke passenger service to become a reality.
The various reports "will give people a much clearer sense of what's necessary to get the project up and running," said Jennifer Pickett, DRPT spokeswoman.
Such a project could not come too soon to some observers.
"In terms of economic development, it's some of the best news you could hope for," said Lisa Garst, a member of Salem City Council.
The TDX would open the Roanoke Valley to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area without the congestion of automobile traffic, she said. She added it was a good option as the Roanoke airport loses commuter flights, too.
"If you're perceived as being easy to get to, people are more likely to do business with you," said Garst, vice president with Salem's Sterling Engineering.
Pete Dybdahl and Mason Adams contributed to this report.
