What’s New

TDX Reaffirms Support for Entire Route
July 25, 2005

With several years of work supporting us, 2005 marks the most exciting advances for the TDX yet! Between plans for the TDX Demo and passage of the Rail Enhancement Fund, we are inundated with preparations!

Even with all the good news to be reported, there remains a need to set the record straight. It has never wavered from its original mission. TransDominion Express, Inc. reaffirms its original goal to establish modern passenger rail to connect southwest Virginia to both Richmond and Washington, D.C., following the originally established route with Lynchburg as the hub from which a leg to Richmond and another to Washington, D.C. will extend.

Anything published or spoken to the contrary is simply disinformation. The Committee, working closely with the administration, has held steadfast to this commitment to the communities previously slated for inclusion. Farmville, alone, due to Norfolk Southern’s decision to move existing track elsewhere, will require modified and rerouted service.

A recent proposal to replace the northern Virginia TDX connection with Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is neither a part of the Commonwealth’s current plan, nor entirely in variance with the overall plan for a unified passenger rail system. Although there have been precursory discussions of coordination between TDX and VRE, this is better described as a facet of long range planning for future overlapping or supplementary services.

From our perspective, a VRE replacement would do nothing to connect anyone south or west of Charlottesville to northern Virginia, or to D.C., so it is not a viable response to our goal of uniting the Commonwealth by rail.

The TDX committee is working to qualify the proposed Demo line for the newly established Rail Enhancement Fund. The demonstration route serving the Bristol to Richmond segment is in the planning stages. This incremental start has encouraged serious advances for passenger rail not only in Virginia, but in neighboring Tennessee, as well!

Having been a primary proponent for rail funding over the past several years, Barbara Hartley, liaison for the TDX, was an invited guest at the June 17 signing of the Rail Enhancement Fund bill, in Norfolk. Working with Senator William Wampler (Bristol) and VDRPT Director, Karen Rae, the TDX was named in Virginia’s budget language, as a potential recipient of some of those funds.

The Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce staffs the Committee to Advance TransDominion Express, Inc., providing it with a headquarters and a legislative liaison.

For more information, please contact
Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce
(434) 845-5966, or email: info@lynchburgchamber.org

News Archive:

February 13, 2007: TDX Progress Stifled in Richmond

February 13, 2007: Letter to Governor Kaine on Behalf of TDX

February 13, 2007: A Message from TDX Chairman, French Moore, Jr.

June 27, 2006: The Three-Foot Rule

June 27, 2006: Legislative Progress and Administrative Changes

June 27, 2006: Meanwhile... Back at the Ranch, TDX Reaches Critical Juncture

July 25, 2005: TDX Discusses Next Steps: Organizational Models/Funding

July 25, 2005: TDX Reaffirms Support for Entire Route

July 25, 2005: Tennessee Connection - DC to Memphis!?

July 25, 2005: Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer: A New Perspective

March 31, 2005: Demonstration Project May Open Door for TDX

March 31, 2005: Track and Other Norfolk Southern Concerns

June 28, 2004: TransDominion Express Prepares for “Starter Train”

July 2003: Track Development at Farmville

July 2003: General Assembly 2003 and Beyond - TDX Making Headway

March 2003: TDX to Move Forward, Thanks to Successful Combined Efforts

June 22–26, 2002: TDX Committee sponsors successful study tour to Oregon and Washington State.

April 26, 2002: Train Station Revitalization in Lynchburg Attracts More Than 4,000.