Exclusive: After a nearly 4-year delay, Potomac Shores will get its VRE station 

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — Four years after the groundbreaking, developers are ready to begin work on a new Virginia Railway Express station at Potomac Shores. 

The $20 million station is considered to be the transportation centerpiece of the transit-oriented, mixed-use community nestled on the Potomac River near Dumfries. 

Potomac Shores developer SunCal will pay for the construction of the station. 

Taken from a SunCal statement sent to Potomac Local: 

“Potomac Shores is contributing nearly $20 million toward the train station in partnership with the various agencies, and it anticipates construction of the station’s head house will move forward later this year. The 16,000 square-foot head house will offer scenic views of the Potomac River, and will serve as the entrance to the boarding platforms at the track level below. A two-story design, the head house is planned to offer restaurants, a coffee shop, office space, dry cleaners, outdoor patios and other uses.  Current estimates are that the station would be ready for passengers sometime in 2020.

In the Potomac Shores town center, much of the site has been cleared and graded in preparation for development. The first commercial pads are complete and accessible from Dunnington Place, and a large portion of the main parkway into the town center will be complete later this year. Final site plans for each development phase will be custom designed for the ultimate end-users.”

The station will be built at the top of a bluff overlooking the train tracks and river. Passengers will use an elevator to access the train platform alongside the tracks below the station. Commerical and retail buildings are expected to surround the station, which is located nearby the Potomac Shores Golf Club.

The depot should be opened by 2020 and will be located on VRE’s Fredericksburg line between the Rippon and Quantico stations, six years after the groundbreaking for the station. Since that time, the station’s price tag ballooned $6 million.

A federal project to build a nine-mile third track along the line, between Arkendale in northeastern Stafford County and Powells Creek in Prince William County is blamed for delaying construction of the station. 

“It’s all about the third track and it skipped us,” said Prince William Potomac District Supervisor Maureen Caddigan.

A portion of the third track was built from Arkendale north to Possum Point, stopping just south of where the new Potomac Shores station will be located, she added. 

That forced developer SunCal to go back to redesign the station for two tracks, not three. 

“While it will be ideal to have a third track, we’re now going to have a station with or without it,” added Caddigan, who will meet with representatives from SunCal and VRE on Thursday, March 15.

The new station will accommodate the new track when it is built, a project that has been 20 years in the making.

The third track is part of the Atlantic Gateway Project designed to improve traffic along Interstate 95 and will help accommodate high-speed rail service in the corridor.

SunCal representatives say they’ve worked hand-in-hand with officials from local and state government, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the railroad’s owner CSX to design the rail station.

“The signing of the agreement to identify improvements to be completed in the near future, and the interim condition for the corridor until additional funding becomes available, will allow the Potomac Shores station to move forward; we’re very elated.” said Andrew Wagner, Project Manager, Potomac Shores. “This new station will be a huge convenience for residents, allowing them to commute to jobs in Washington and elsewhere, and the station will be easily accessed from our future town center.”

Potomac Shores covers 1,920 acres and features nearly two miles of shoreline. Its master plan also includes two public schools, multiple sports fields, 10 miles of trails and over 3,800 residences. The community offers the 13,000 square-foot Shores Club, a private recreation and fitness complex, and has sold over 500 new homes.