The Committee to Advance the TransDominion Express is pleased to announce that the FY 2003-2004 state budget includes language expressing the intent to spend the already appropriated $9.3 million on pre-engineering.
Item 491 #16c-Language. “It is the intent of the General Assembly that the $9,339,000 in funding for the Trans Dominion Express (Bristol Rail) authorized in the Virginia Transportation Act of 2000 can be used to finance the pay-as-you-go cost for preliminary engineering, track upgrade, and rolling stock requirements as part of a comprehensive agreement established for such passenger rail under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995.”
TDX Steering Committee Chairman, Dr. Charles Warren said, “This indeed is encouraging and allows the TDX to move forward.”
With the dire condition of the Commonwealth’s budget this year, lobbying efforts focused on protection of the $9.3M and the assurance that alternate funding for the TDX completion was a viable solution. Use of the new brochures and video tapes, combined with telephone calls, letters, and emails from our many supporters to our representatives and the conferees had the desired effect.
Alan Tobias, working with the Committee through his position with the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, recently reported on a newly completed study. “Norfolk Southern has estimated a cost of $120 million for the improvements it considers necessary to operate the TransDominion Express trains. Our negotiations with NS are continuing. We are focusing our discussions on developing a package of improvements that accomplish NS’s interests in improving freight movement and our interests of implementing passenger rail service.”