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Virginia applies for $74.8 million in federal money to build third railroad track in Prince William and Stafford Date published: 8/25/2009
By KELLY HANNON Virginia has entered a national competition for high-speed rail funds. If it wins, passengers in the Fredericksburg area will see a direct benefit. Yesterday, Virginia filed an application for $74.8 million in federal stimulus funds to build a third railroad track over 11.4 miles in Prince William and Stafford counties. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act sets aside $8 billion for high-speed rail projects. Virginia will compete with other states for the money. The Federal Railroad Administration is evaluating the applications. Virginia wants to start high-speed passenger trains between Washington and Richmond, cutting a one-way trip between the cities to 90 minutes. Trains would reach a speed of 90 mph. State officials consider a third track crucial to providing that service. A third track would provide more room for freight and passenger trains to travel between Richmond and Washington, and would limit the ability of a disabled train to halt all train traffic in the corridor. Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express trains currently mingle with freight trains on the two existing tracks, which are privately owned by CSX Corp. The Virginia Railway Express Operations Board passed a resolution Friday supporting the state's high-speed rail application. In June, Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation director Chip Badger told the Commonwealth Transportation Board that Virginia has several advantages in the national competition for the stimulus money. "Amtrak has stated repeatedly they want to see the Northeast Corridor extended from Washington down to Richmond," Badger said. Also, Virginia has good working relationships with freight train operators, and starting high-speed rail from D.C. to Richmond would not require acquiring excessive amounts of new property, Badger said. Working with North Carolina, Virginia has completed initial feasibility studies on the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor. Eventually, the two states would like high-speed rail to continue from Richmond to Raleigh and Charlotte, with a spur to Hampton Roads in Virginia. Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
to 600K people in the next 20 or so years. That will
probably be double the commuters we have right now.
where are you going to put them - on VRE?
are you gonna add 3 more lanes to I-95 that will connect to
what? a supersized Springfield Interchange and a 16-lane
beltway?
VRE is a part of the picture and if a 3rd rail comes.. it (and
possibly other rail) may play a much bigger role but at the
end of the day.. the NoVa jobs that are not along that rail
line will need bus and vans...and lots of them.
for more room for solo-driven cars? DREAM ON. First, you
need to convince the EPA to remove the non-attainment
status for the region and then you need to figure out where
you are going to find a couple billion dollars.
People are totally not connected to realities here. You
cannot build your way out of the congestion and VRE is not
going to make much more than a minor dent in it.
multi-passenger vehicles on I-95 is about the only path to
deal with every increasing congestion -
it's not getting vehicles off of I-95 folks - it's getting SOLO-
driven vehicles off of I-95 via - VRE, carpools, slugging,
buses, and van pools.
that's the concept. and it does not mean we are trying to
everyone on I-95 to use VRE.
VRE is 2% of commuters.. Van/Buses are 15%. If you totally
max out VRE - you MIGHT get to 3 or 4%... then what in a
VRE-only world?
Springfield and 600 million not "working" - why? solo-
driven cars at rush hour... that's the reality.
you want to add capacity to I-95? CONT
Mixing bowl was $676 Million, not $1.5 Billion. Sorry, looked at wrong #. Still, $676 Million, and results dubious...
The funding request is not all about VRE, even though the majority of the responses are. It is about VRE, Amtrak and Freight rail. Widening I-95 is fiine, but the boondoggle known as the Springfield interchange spent all that money. $1.5 Bil for what? I still come to a dead stop 4 out of 5 times I approach the interchange, when not in HOV, even with 5 lanes in each direction (not counting HOV). Sure, pave it, that's the answer to all our problems. P.S., LarryG How did this become about buses/vans, Again?
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