Virginia funds will bolster rail projects

State transportation officials this week recommended spending $247.7 million over six years on 15 freight and passenger rail projects, including five in Hampton Roads.

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation received applications for 35 projects through its Rail Enhancement Fund, according to agency documents. The department chose the projects it believes will benefit the state the most, for example, by removing trucks from highways and reducing air pollution.

Local or private funds must pay for at least 30 percent of each project. The state's portion comes from a rental car tax and bonds.

The five local projects are:

- A $40.1 million expansion of the rail yard at the Virginia Port Authority's Norfolk International Terminals, with the state paying $14.7 million, or 37 percent.

- A $20.2 million rail line to the state-controlled Port Authority's proposed cargo terminal on Portsmouth's Craney Island, with the state paying $14.1 million, or 70 percent.

- A $13.9 million CSX Corp. project to upgrade its rail line between Newport News and Fredericksburg to better accommodate passenger trains, with the state paying $9.8 million, or 70 percent.

- A $765,000 CSX project to extend rail sidings near Suffolk, with the state paying $535,500, or 70 percent.

- A $3.8 million Port Authority project to upgrade a rail yard across from its Norfolk terminal, with the state paying $1.9 million, or 50 percent.

Four of the recommended projects belong to Norfolk-based Norfolk Southern Corp. Among them is a $17.8 million project to build a freight terminal near Petersburg, with the state paying $10.7 million, or 60 percent.

The biggest allocation of funding - $163.4 million - went to the state's rail plan. That plan, to be released in June, will consist of another batch of rail projects that haven't been identified yet, said Jennifer Pickett, the rail department's chief of staff. It may include some more Hampton Roads projects.

The state's Rail Advisory Board and the Commonwealth Transportation Board will review the rail department's recommendations. Before those reviews occur, a series of statewide hearings on the selected projects will be held, including one at 6 p.m. April 24 at the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, 723 Woodlake Dr. in Chesapeake.

Gregory Richards, (757) 446-2599, gregory.richards@pilotonline.com