The Tech Town! series is showcasing how Roanoke and the region are leveraging biotechnology to foster growth. The premise of the series is that “Railroads built Roanoke, but Norfolk Southern methodically deemphasized the ‘Magic City’ that it had sparked, setting the city on a decades-long decline.” Instead of ignoring those railroading roots, they should be embraced for the future.
It was a bit disheartening to read in part four of the series the quote from Heywood Fralin, who said, “he would like to see a freeway connecting Roanoke to the North Carolina line.” He is correct, though, when he said, “Getting from FBRI to North Carolina’s Research Triangle universities — and to Wake Forest University, which partners with Virginia Tech — should not be as difficult as it is on U.S. 220.” However, over many years of discussion, it has been established that Interstate 73 as a new interstate highway or any major improvements to U.S. 220 are unworkable, too expensive and up against massive resistance from people who live along any proposed route.
There is an alternative that calls on Roanoke’s roots as a railroad town. Virginia could take a page from North Carolina and look to expanding state-run passenger trains. There is an underutilized Norfolk Southern rail line between Roanoke and Winston-Salem that would connect those two cities as Fralin suggests. North Carolina operates The Carolinian passenger service that has stops in Raleigh, Durham, and Greensboro before ending in Charlotte. It wouldn’t take much to extend the service to Winston-Salem to complete the connectivity that Fralin says should exist. Such an option, tied in with improved passenger rail service to the New River Valley, would be a much more eco-friendly way to travel between Virginia Tech, Roanoke, Winston-Salem and the Research Triangle area.
With two train sets initially, there could be a morning departure from each end of the line with an afternoon/evening return. The time riding the train instead of fighting traffic could be used to get work done or have meetings, either planned or impromptu. An ultimate goal would be to upgrade the line to offer higher-speed service.
To improve connections between Roanoke, Blacksburg and the New River Valley, the state should negotiate to repurchase the former Virginian line from Norfolk Southern. The plans that were drawn up to use that line to extend Amtrak service to the New River Valley still have merit. The line could be used for an interurban-type passenger service between the proposed Cinnabar Road station near Blacksburg to downtown Roanoke and just beyond to stop near the Riverside Center. The service could run on a schedule comparable to the Smartway Bus to provide an eco-friendly connection between Roanoke and the New River Valley and reduce traffic on Interstate 81. This would be in addition to and supplement the Amtrak service planned to run to Christiansburg (and beyond). Double-ended battery-operated transit-type trains would provide a smooth ride with no need to turn the train at either end of the trip.
Implementing these plans would require a change from the “we need highways” mindset but would be a better use of taxpayer funds to use ideas from the past (frequent passenger train service) to solve the needs of the present and future.
Bruce Harper is retired from Virginia Tech, where he served as the university webmaster. He is a local historian and author with an interest in railroads and Virginia Tech history.
