Railway construction on the Long Bridge Project will prompt some service changes to Amtrak and the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) in Alexandria, starting next month.
Construction is expected to begin Jan. 12 and continue through 2030, the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) announced this week.
The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) has a series of capital projects in the region on the horizon could benefit rail service in the area but have some additional impacts for Alexandria specifically.
In a memo (page 9) from Hillary Orr to the Transportation Commission ahead of a meeting yesterday, Orr said the VPRA is working on installing a fourth track along the rail corridor between Witter Field in Alexandria and the Arlington Aquatic Center.
Got a Christmas tree yet?
The Alexandria Police Department has already sold more than 300 trees in its annual sale at 110 Callahan Drive — just outside Alexandria Union Station.
The much-needed replacement of Alexandria’s most-strikable bridge could come with some benefits to the cramped sidewalk beneath.
At a City Council meeting last week, City Council member Sarah Bagley said the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is moving forward with the replacement of a pair of bridges that passes over King Street and Commonwealth Avenue.
Pipeline company Kinder Morgan SE Products, formerly Plantation Pipeline, will begin a pipeline relocation and replacement project next month along the rail lines running through the Braddock and Potomac Yard neighborhoods.
The project will replace approximately 2.4 miles of pipeline in the CSX right of way.
WMATA will be slowing its above-ground trains due to the extreme heat.
In a release, WMATA said rail temperatures are measuring in at 135 degrees and can cause problems for the rail lines.
Amtrak said last year was one for the books for train travel around Virginia and the Alexandria station had the state’s second-highest ridership in the southeastern United States.
Just behind Richmond at 424,617 riders, Alexandria Union Station had 327,285 riders in 2023.
The Office of Historic Alexandria has debuted its annual holiday ornament: a solid brass decoration depicting Potomac Yard’s rail yard history.
The 3 x 2.75 inch ornament features a steam-powered locomotive in the foreground and the Capitol Building in the background. The ornament is $25.
As Metro stares down potentially devastating cuts, City Council member Sarah Bagley said the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is grappling with similar funding struggles as it tries to redefine itself.
Bagley, who serves on the VRE Operations Board, said the rail service’s new plans to add weekend service represent an effort to broaden the ridership beyond commuter traffic.
Like one of the many oversized trucks stuck there over the years, a regional partnership will impact the long-troubled Virginia Railway Express (VRE) bridge over King Street and other nearby infrastructure projects.
At an open house next week, the City of Alexandria, the VRE and Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) are planning to discuss the broad range of projects around the area where the rail lines cross over King Street and Commonwealth Avenue.
(Updated 1:20 p.m.) Train riders bound for D.C. are disembarking in Alexandria instead after a derailment this morning.
Police were deployed to Alexandria’s Amtrak station at 101 Callahan Drive to help handle unruly passengers frustrated by the delays, according to scanner traffic, but so far police at the station said that’s been “theoretical” only.
