Governor Northam has proposed a major long-range expansion of passenger rail service in the Commonwealth. The broad outline was released last December and the means to implement it are included in the administration’s omnibus transportation bill (HB 1414 and SB 890).
The Plan
The details of the plan are too extensive to set out in this post. They can be found here on the website of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation and in a press release from the Governor’s office. Also, both the Washington Post and the Richmond Times-Dispatch have run major stories on the plan.
The plan is the result of an agreement between Virginia and CSX. In summary, the state would build a new rail bridge across the Potomac River, acquire more than 350 miles of railroad right-of-way and 225 miles of track, and make 37 miles of new track improvements.
The key to the whole plan is Long Bridge. This is a 116-year old rail bridge, owned by CSX, connecting Virginia and D.C., across the Potomac River. It carries every passenger, commuter, and CSX freight train that crosses the river and its two tracks are near 98% capacity in peak times. It is a major bottleneck in the system — limiting the ability to expand passenger and commuter service. Under the proposal, the state would build and own a new Long Bridge with two tracks that would handle passenger and commuter trains, while freight trains would exclusively use the existing Long Bridge.
The administration foresees the following service improvements over the next ten years:
- Doubling the number of Amtrak trains;
- Providing nearly hourly Amtrak service between Richmond and D.C.;
- Increasing Virginia Railway Express (VRE) commuter service by 75% along the I-95 corridor, with 15-minute intervals during peak periods and adding weekend service;
- Increasing Amtrak service to Newport News and Norfolk;
- Laying the foundation for Southeast High Speed Rail; and
- Preserving an existing freight corridor for future development of east-west passenger service.
More immediately, by some time next year, it is anticipated that there will be one new Amtrak roundtrip between D.C. and Norfolk and one new roundtrip on VRE’s Fredericksburg line.
The Implementation
HB 1414/SB 890 would establish a new entity, the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, to implement the plan. The Authority would have the following powers, among others:
- To acquire, lease, or grant rail facilities, and other lands, property and equipment;
- To grant others the privilege of designing, maintaining, operating, and maintaining rail facilities, as well as granting concessions, etc. related to rail facilities;
- To issue bonds up to a total of $1 billion;
- To charge fees for the use of rail facilities;
- To exercise the power of eminent domain;
- To vacate or change the location of any public highway, street, utility, or other equipment of the state and political subdivisions and reconnect them in a new location.
Presumably, the acquisition of track and right-of-way and the construction of a new Long Bridge that are part of the agreement with CSX would be implemented under the name of the Authority.
A question that naturally arises, and which was broached earlier on this blog, is whether the Commonwealth intends to get into the passenger rail business. A provision in the substitute for HB 1414 addresses that question directly, “The Authority shall not directly operate any passenger, commuter, or other rail service.”
It is not explicit in the bill whether the Authority would be responsible for maintaining the tracks it purchases from CSX, as well as any new track it would establish. However, it is reasonable to assume that it would be so responsible and that it would contract with a private vendor for that work to be done.
The Cost
The details on the cost of the project are a little murky. The cost of the ten-year program is projected to be $3.7 billion. Of that amount, $525 million would be paid to CSX over the next three years for the acquisition of track and other property.
According to the information provided by the administration, the cost will be divided roughly equally among the federal government, the state, and “local and regional sources.” It is expected that Amtrak will “contribute” $944 million to the project and financing would also be provided by VRE. It is not clear whether the Amtrak contribution is part of the federal share, is in addition to the federal grants, or is what is anticipated as fees that would be paid for access to the tracks that would be owned by the Authority.
It is not set out explicitly in the information sheet and Governor’s press release what would be the source of the state’s one-third share of the cost. State officials have said that “funding for the program has been identified” and the program “would not require any new state money,” according to press reports.
As noted earlier, the proposed Authority would be empowered to issue up to $1 billion in bonds. The purpose of these bonds would be to finance the construction of the new Long Bridge, as well as the acquisition and construction of tracks, track upgrades, ad property related to the new bridge. The HB 1414 substitute clearly identifies the source of the debt service on these bonds: tolls on I-66 inside the Beltway.
The Impact
The administration projects that, when completed, the rail expansion will remove five million cars and one million trucks from Virginia highways each year. The decrease in truck traffic will occur, presumably, because CSX will be able to operate more freight trains over its tracks, thereby moving more containers from the Port of Virginia by rail.
From my Soapbox
I do not have much experience or knowledge in this area, but, on its face, the proposal looks like a highly promising step for the Commonwealth. It certainly is a daring and ambitious proposal. If it can be smoothly implemented and produce the results predicted by the administration, in the future, Northam will be ranked along with Baliles as the governors who did the most for Virginia transportation in the last fifty years.
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