The $5 million project comes as Virginia Railway Express plans to increase service in the coming years and extend the length of its trains. The work is occurring in conjunction with the Long Bridge project to build a new rail crossing over the Potomac River between Arlington and Washington, D.C.
When complete, the wider bridge will untangle the east coast’s worst rail bottleneck and allow VRE to provide bi-directional, evening, and weekend service. Amtrak trains between Washington and Richmond will also double in frequency.
“We’re already talking about….reverse service so people could come from other areas to Fredericksburg or earlier afternoon service so people can get back and forth,” said Fredericksburg City Councilor Matt Kelly, who represents the city on the VRE Operations Board. “Basically, expanding our clientele, as it were so that more people can enjoy being here in Fredericksburg and go up to Washington, or go from Washington, come down here and spend the day.”
Crews will expand station platforms 125 feet to accommodate longer trains. They’ll also work to shore up, resolve drainage issues, and make cosmetic improvements to a set of bridges — often the target of over-height trucks that collide with the structure — at the station that carries rail traffic over Caroline and Princess Anne streets.
Work will begin later this spring and should take a little over a year to complete. VRE will fund the project through its $1.1 billion capital improvement fund.
Ridership on Virginia’s only commuter railroad has declined significantly since the start of the pandemic. The railroad saw about 2,500 daily riders in December 2021, compared to 17,600 in December 2019.
“Work patterns are definitely changing, and we understand that,” said Kelly. “What we’re being told right now is people will be going back to work. We will get back up to a level of movement that we had in the past.”
