Construction work has officially begun on the €233.9 million (US$264.5 million) New River Valley Rail project in Christiansburg, Virginia. The project will extend the passenger rail transport service operated by Amtrak from Roanoke to Christiansburg. The last passenger trains ran to Christiansburg in 1979. The project is part of the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority's (VPRA) Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative. Plans include the renewal of track and signalling systems, the construction of a new platform, a car park and a storage facility for Amtrak trains in Radford. The station building in the Cambria district of Christiansburg will be renovated and renamed New River Valley. The extension to Christiansburg will be via Norfolk Southern's N Line, for which the VPRA received network access in September 2024. Amtrak transport services between Christiansburg and Washington, DC, with an estimated journey time of just under six hours, are scheduled to start in 2027.
