Rail transportation was not the hottest or most divisive issue during Virginia’s 2026 legislative session, but lawmakers made a number of changes they say will help prepare the Commonwealth for expanded train travel in the coming years.
“Yea know my son has started using the new Amtrak services to Roanoke, he’s at Virginia Tech now,” said Fairfax-area Democratic Delegate Marcus Simon who successfully carried a technical fix for the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, or VPRA.
“He’s able to get back and forth from Falls Church to Blacksburg by taking the train most of the way,” Simon added.
The delegate's fix will make it easier for the agency, created in 2020 to expand train travel in the Commonwealth, to take land for new rail lines.
“Nobody wants to have land taken, but if it's going to happen you want some predictability, you know what the process is, know what your rights are," he added. "And know how to seek the maximum compensation you’re entitled too.”
Loudoun County Democratic Delegate David Reid had another, broader technical fix for the VPRA that put it more in line with other state transportation agencies. Reid said the changes, “Can really kind of maximize the whole transformative rail in Virginia.”
DJ Stadtler, executive director of the VPRA, said the changes may seem minimal, but once the new bridge between DC and Virginia, known as Long Bridge, opens, the law changes will be invaluable to rail expansion across the Commonwealth.
“Once Long Bridge is done, you’ll see a lot more movement, not only up and down the I-95 corridor, but at least out to Broad Run if not further,” Stadtler told Radio IQ.
