The City of Lynchburg Office of Economic Development & Tourism, with local artist Elizabeth Gray, has installed a new mural at the Kemper Street Amtrak Station.
One matter is where a New River Valley station will be located.
Work led by the New River Valley Regional Commission recommended some years ago a spot near the Christiansburg Aquatic Center off of North Franklin Street, and the town bought land in that area primarily for that purpose. But a few people close to the passenger rail extension project now say itâs highly unlikely that will happen.
The stateâs approximately $257 million investment into the Western Rail Initiativeâthe program that covers the planned return of passenger rail to the New River Valley and the upcoming addition of another train from Roanoke to Washington D.C.âincludes the acquisition of right of way and track from Norfolk Southern Railway for just under 29 miles of the Virginian Line from the Salem Crossovers to Merrimac.
You probably missed a couple of remarkable events Wednesday before sunrise in Roanoke. One was, Gary Duerk turned 75 â more about his atypical birthday plans below.
The second occurred just off Salem Avenue between First and Second streets downtown about 6 a.m. Shortly after Duerk and his wife, Barbara, arrived on their bicycles at Roanokeâs Amtrak platform, they dismounted and pushed them onto a passenger train.
That was a milestone â those were the first wheeled-on bikes ever in a Northeast Regional passenger car in Virginia. They wonât be the last. Beginning next month, itâll occur throughout the commonwealth.