Transforming Rail in Virginia Program: Expanding Passenger and Freight Rail Services

How do you enhance reliability and service on one of the largest railroads in North America? In Virginia, the answer is the Transforming Rail in Virginia program, a rail improvement program that separates passenger and freight operations along the I-95 (Washington, DC to Petersburg, VA), I-64 (Doswell, VA to Clifton Forge, VA), and I-85 (Petersburg, VA to Ridgeway, NC) corridors.

The Transforming Rail in Virginia program stems from agreements between the Commonwealth of Virginia, CSX Transportation (CSXT), Norfolk Southern (NS), Buckingham Branch Railroad, Amtrak, and the Virginia Railway Express. The program includes real estate transactions with CSXT and NS that cover a total of more than 350 miles of freight railroad right-of-way (ROW) and 225 miles of track. Capacity improvements—including Long Bridge, a new bridge across the Potomac River with tracks dedicated only to passenger and commuter rail—are planned to total $4.5 billion.

Our team is providing VPRA with critical support services for the Transforming Rail in Virginia program, including:

• Service planning and performance monitoring
• Capital program management
• Capital projects development and delivery
• Real estate and asset management
• Engineering design reviews
• Construction oversight
• Grant application development
• Financial planning and cost estimations
• Appraisals
• ROW acquisition
• Permitting
• Scheduling support
• Stakeholder coordination
• Legislative support
• Agreement negotiations/agreement development
• Executive-level guidance and support on policy development
• Program communications

Continued Partnership with Virginia Passenger Rail Authority

Kimley-Horn led the development of successful grant applications for VPRA, with our efforts resulting in $729 million in Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail funding and $100 million in Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements funding for projects in the program in 2023. In 2025, multiple projects moved into construction. With our multidisciplinary services, we have served as a trusted partner to VPRA through its inception in 2020, the formation of the Transforming Rail in Virginia program, and now to program development and execution.

Currently, our team is advancing a program of capital improvements through incremental phases, helping ensure that benefits to riders in the corridor are delivered along the way. The Transforming Rail in Virginia program is projected to be fully completed by 2030. With incremental updates, passenger rail users in Virginia will see tangible results sooner.

Advancing Future Mobility and Sustainability

The improvements will allow for the expansion of Amtrak service from Roanoke to the New River Valley; the separation of passenger rail and freight rail services between Washington, DC, and Alexandria, VA; and a bypass in Franconia-Springfield that will allow passenger trains and freight trains to cross over each other to serve the opposite side of the corridor without any scheduling conflicts, making both services more reliable. In addition, the Long Bridge project—a critical series of new bridges designed to alleviate the railroad bottleneck between the Northeast and Southeast rail networks—will remove one of the largest bottlenecks on the East Coast.

By 2030, Virginia will double the number of Amtrak state-supported trains to deliver hourly, all-day service. Virginia Railway Express (VRE) will transform from a commuter rail service between Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia into a regional rail system. This new system will run all day, late into the night, and on weekends, thereby serving a broader market and providing more frequent and reliable services. The program is also anticipated to provide a more competitive freight rail network for the Port of Virginia.

The Transforming Rail in Virginia program will reshape the availability and performance of Amtrak and VRE services while improving the competitiveness of freight rail service, and with Kimley-Horn’s continued partnership, will support the people of Virginia for decades to come.