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A friend who lives outside of Staunton, Va told me the area is all a buzz. Rte 81 is the main highway throuh the area up to DC. It is always congested with many trucks and there are constant accidents. Rte 11 doesn't have the trucks but it goes through all the litte towns and is getting congested. "They" are planning to put a rail line parallel to 11 from Norfolk to north of DC. She had no other info but it doesn't make sense to me. There already are tracks to Staunton and south. I asked if these were to be new tracks or will they use the existing ones. She says they are putting in new ones. I asked if it was to be passenger,freight or both but she didn't know. Has anyone heard anything about this? Sounds like a pipe dream to me.
notelvis Member # 3071
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Hi Train Lady,
I have heard that the Norfolk Southern Corporation is seeking federal monies for something called a 'Crescent Corridor' project.
They would expand the freight capacities of their existing railroad (former Reading, Norfolk & Western, and Southern) from New Jersey to New Orleans via Reading and Harrisburg, PA, Roanoke and Bristol, VA, Knoxville and Chattanooga, TN, and Birmingham, AL.
This would be an 'expansion' with longer sidetracks and double-tracking added along the existing route. It would not go to Norfolk but, rather, would benefit the Norfolk Southern Corporation who would run the additional freight trains over their railroad.
Norfolk Southern, in their lobbying efforts, has said that these improvements would 'relieve congestion' on parallel I-81. The route in question passes through Waynesboro, VA which is about 15-20 miles east of Staunton.
I'm thinking that your friend has heard these reports....it was mentioned in the Trains Newswire a week or two ago and likely picked up (and distorted) by some local news outlet....because much of what she has reported has basis in what Norfolk Southern has said.....at least in their propaganda.
I doubt that this would impact Amtrak much as the only portion Amtrak uses is between Birmingham and New Orleans for the Crescent.
train lady Member # 3920
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I figured I could depend on you to come up with some answers,thanks David She did say it was in the local paper. I asked her to save any further articles for me. your explanation starts to make sense of the article. Anythng that will get the trucks off 81 would be a blessing. There are times when they drive across in tandem so no one can pass.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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The Staunton VA newspaper site does not return anything for "rail passenger service", but I have previously learned that a provision of seeking public funding to upgrade the NS/N&W line Hagerstown-Roanoke is passenger service.
I am not certain to what extent NS (disclaimer: author holds position in NSC) is really interested in public funding to upgrade that route; I guarantee you the idea that a public agency could impose the operation of passenger trains would definitely "sour the pot".
rresor Member # 128
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This is actually a "follow on" to an earlier discussion between NS and Virginia DOT. VDOT was planning to widen I-81, and NS suggested that it would be cheaper to add capacity to the railroad. The focus then shifted to how much truck traffic could indeed be taken off the highway. The problem was that a study indicated that much of the truck traffic was "just passing thru", so just improving the railroad in VA would not help NS much, competitively. So NS then upped the ante, proposing improvements from Harrisburg all the way to New Orleans. The heaviest truck traffic is actually between Harrisburg and Birmingham, AL.
We'll have to see what happens, but VA and probably MD and PA as well are definitely interested in funding rail improvements. VA is paying for part of the "Heartland Corridor" clearance improvement project (Norfolk to Columbus, OH) and PA already paid to clear the former PRR across the state for double-stacks. Don't know about the attitude of TN, AL, MS, and LA, although TN has been talking about restoring the Tennessee Central from Algood (current end of track) through Monterey to a connection with NS. All of this work is for freight movement; any passenger service would be incidental.
train lady Member # 3920
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Do you mean Harrisburg, Pa or Harrisonburg, Va?
notelvis Member # 3071
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quote:Originally posted by train lady: Do you mean Harrisburg, Pa or Harrisonburg, Va?
He is meaning Harrisburg, PA in this case. Remember that NS also operates the former Pennsylvania Railroad mainline across the Keystone State. Harrisburg is a major junction for rail freight.
As for Interstate 81, I became very familiar with it in the early 1990's spending about 300 miles on it each way making trips home to Western North Carolina from grad school in College Park, MD. (Staunton was a little north of the halfway point.....once or twice I was lucky enough to be there at the same time the 'Cardinal' passed through!) By then it was already becoming the nightmare it is today.....a far cry from the pretty drive down the Shenandoah Valley that it had been in the late 1970's.
George Harris Member # 2077
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Go to Virginia Dept of Rail and Public Transit web site. This is a study being done for a freight route. Anyone who drives I-81 knows the huge percentage of trucks on it, which then go west across Tennessee on I-40. If you are on I-40 late at night it can appear to be up to 3/4 trucks.
Unfortunately, I would consider this project to be in the highly unlikely category.
What is happening is that there are government loans (grants?) being combined with a goodly chunk of money from NS to enlarge the tunnels across Virginia and West Virginia to enable double stacks to use the former Norfolk and Western main line into Norfolk. This is being pushed hard by the Port of Norfolk and therefore by the state of Virginia. Norfolk want to improve its status as a port by being more accessible. This program is similar to what the State of Pennsylvania did a few years back in combination with Conrail for the ex-Pennsylvania railroad main across the state. Some points on the line used by the D&H were also involved.
George
notelvis Member # 3071
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Here is a link to the article on the Trains Newswire. I'm afraid that you'll probably have to be a Trains Magazine subscriber to access it though. Says the work could start in 2009 and be done in 2013.
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