Starting in the fall of 2013 or sooner, it will be all aboard for Amtrak’s new passenger rail service to Norfolk, Virginia. Dubbed Next Stop Norfolk, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation is partnering with Amtrak, Norfolk Southern, and CSX Incorporated to realize passenger rail service from Norfolk to the Northeast Regional Corridor.

To realize this project, DRPT and its partners have been hard at work at planning, designing, and constructing improvements along the Petersburg to Norfolk rail corridor. Those efforts include:

• Construction underway of the Harbor Park passenger rail platform

• Construction underway of the Norfolk train turning and servicing facility

• Discussions and design work of the Norfolk multimodal station facility improvements to connect the following services:

o Tide Light Rail (noted in red on map)

o HRT Ferry

o HRT Bus Service (noted in blue on map)

o Amtrak connector bus service

o Amtrak Passenger Rail service (noted in orange on map)

• Survey and design underway for Portlock Rail Yard improvements (circled in red)

• Design work on Petersburg Collier Connection (circled in red) completed by CSX and under review by DRPT

• Grading work on Norfolk Southern’s component of Collier Connection is complete; track work near completion – adjustments to be made upon CSX connection work

• Facility coordination meetings being held between DRPT, CSX, and Norfolk Southern

• Coordination between Norfolk Southern, DRPT, and Petersburg on minimizing impacts to the Johnson Road highway construction project (circled in blue)

• Design work complete for Norfolk Southern running track between Poe and Walnut Hill (marked by white box); Construction to start in early 2012

• Bi-weekly update meetings between partners to efficiently advance and deliver the project

• Field surveys continue on the design of the US 460 corridor signal and crossover improvements

• Amtrak technical service agreement has been executed; work underway on service design

For additional information and project updates on Next Stop Norfolk, consult DRPT’s project website at: http://www.drpt.virginia.gov/activities/norfolk.aspx

Sources: Maps- Google Maps; Amtrak Train -Flickr @ Rob Shenk