Richmond-area Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan was in Petersburg Monday morning to hand out $1 million to fix up a local train station.
The leaky, aluminum canopy that runs along the Ettrick train station platform is familiar to McClellan. She said she took the train from here in high school to spend a week in Washington DC to learn how the federal government works.
“To come back here now as a member of congress, to present this funding to help improve the station so other children, their families, will be able to take the train more places in a station that is improved,” Virginia's Fourth Congressional District rep said.
Chesterfield County Supervisor Kevin Carroll was also on-site Monday. He thanked McClellan for helping find resources to support the train line which sits across the street from Virginia State University with a few since-closed restaurants and boarded up buildings in between.
“It’s better for us to have this, it helps attract businesses and investment in our communities," Carroll said. "We know we need some investment in this part of the county for sure.”
DJ Stadtler with the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority said the first step for this project will be external improvements to the Ettrick station. Then the entire station will be replaced. And finally, a new passenger-specific line heading southbound will be rebuilt to better link North Carolina and central Virginia.
“It’s the old rail that was torn up, we’re going to put it back in," Stadtler told Radio IQ. "It’s a more direct route, it's faster.”
But don’t get too excited yet, that new southbound line isn’t set to break ground until 2030.
On Tuesday, the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority will consider a new deal with Norfolk Southern that could get passenger rail service running in the New River Valley quicker than other alternatives.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
