Virginia DOT Holds High Speed Rail Project Meeting

Nicole Raz
WMAL

WASHINGTON — (WMAL) The dream of a high speed rail between DC and Richmond is on its way to becoming a reality. Virginia’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation is holding its third public meeting on the project this evening.

So far the public seems on board, says Emily Stock, who manages rail planning at the department.

“Most of the people that we talk to want to see improvements in the corridor for passenger rail. They’d like to see more trains, they’d like to see better reliability, and they also want to see this project happen sooner rather than later,” Stock told WMAL.

Construction is slated to begin in 2025. Right now the Department is conducting a study.

“We know that in this corridor there are improvements that can be made to the efficiency to the infrastructure that we have. The study is going to recommend places where a third track would be most appropriate to this two-track system that we have now, locations for crossovers so that trains can pass each other, and we’ll also be doing some station improvement recommendations,” she said.

A high-speed train would go up to 90 miles per hour in some places, and would shave at least 15-20 minutes off of total trip time. Currently it takes about two-and-a-half hours with Amtrak.

A third track would also improve rail service in general by adding capacity.