Amtrak service to the New River Valley is still on the table for the near future, and this week members of the Christiansburg Town Council received an update on those plans.
John Tutle serves on the marketing committee of the NRV Passenger Rail Study group.
“Plans date back to 2013, and now it’s ready to take the next step,” Tutle said Tuesday night.
His remarks came during town council’s regularly scheduled meeting.
The site chosen for a passenger rail stop in Christiansburg is located off Mill Lane. So far, there is no funding for a passenger platform and/or train station. But the committee received good news earlier this year when the Virginia General Assembly approved $335,000 to fund a feasibility study.
Initially the group had hoped to bring the service to the New River Valley by 2020, but study could push those plans further down the road.
“It took 10 years to get a route from Lynchburg to Roanoke, but we now have it and usage seems to be on the rise,” Tutle said.
The key, according to Tutle, is that rail travel hits a sweet spot for distances too long for automobile travel and too short, costly or inconvenient for air travel.
“The Lynchburg to and from Roanoke route has been very successful (Roanoke service began in October of last year), and we think Amtrak is watching how many people use the service. So, I encourage riders to use the Smart Bus from here to Roanoke and then hop on Amtrak. We need to show them there is a demand,” he said.
The state funding will help determine what improvements will have to be made to current, aging infrastructure.
“Norfolk Southern will conduct the study and determine what will have to be done to the tracks so passenger service can run through the area,” Tutle said.
Nationally Amtrak has come under new scrutiny after several mishaps on the rail, but there are also concerns whether the federal government will continue to fund new routes. The valley’s luck could lie in the hands of communities to the south. Bristol is pushing for passenger service, thus meaning Amtrak would have to pass through Christiansburg.
Early studies estimate 40,000 people would use the NRV service per year, and the committee feels a lot of the numbers will come from Virginia Tech and Radford University students going to and from northern living areas.
Tutle said there are several steps, which will have to happen over the next year. Those include: engaging Amtrak to promote ridership, ask for more support from the Virginia General Assembly and our Congressional leadership, form a local task force on station ownership and continue to monitor Roanoke usage.
Local leaders joined committee members last week during a visit to the proposed site and examined its proximity to the town’s aquatic center.
In other news on Tuesday night:
Council set two public hearings for June 26 on conditional use permit requests by Soul Shack and Due South Bar-b-cue in dealing with the town’s new noise ordinance.
Approved street closures for the Wildness Trail Festival on September 25 to stretch from Radford Road to Roanoke Street.
Appointed Dr. William R. Knocke as a member-at-large for the board of the New River Valley Regional Water Authority.
Approved a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) by Roger Woody to construct seven single-family dwellings at 1145 Roanoke Street in the B-3, General Business zoning district.
A decision to close Hickok Street to vehicular traffic was postponed until town leaders are able to meet with the adjacent Presbyterian Church to listen to their concern over the matter.
The next meeting is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 22 at the Christiansburg Town Hall (100 E Main St.).
