Hampton Roads, and the rest of the country, appear to have dodged the threat of a passenger rail shutdown as Congressional leaders have fashioned a bipartisan bill to extend the deadline on new safety regulations.
The deadline is Dec. 31, but the compromise, which still needs an official vote and a signature from the president, extends the deadline to 2018, with provisions that could push it to the end of 2020.
Norfolk Southern Railroad and CSX, two key track owners in Virginia, said recently that they couldn’t meet the deadline and wouldn’t allow passenger trains, or trains carrying certain chemicals, on their tracks after Dec. 31. Amtrak uses Norfolk Southern and CSX track for many of its East Coast routes, including lines running to Norfolk and Newport News.