Corridor Identification and Development Program

Description

DRPT is participating in a new Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) program that will guide the development of new intercity passenger rail services. The federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act established the Corridor Identification and Development (CID) Program to create a pipeline of projects to advance passenger rail expansion. The program encompasses pre-construction development of selected corridors, which may include planning, environmental review, preliminary engineering, and other corridor development activities.

Process

DRPT entered two corridors into the federal Corridor Identification and Development Program in 2023:

Commonwealth Corridor: An east-to-west corridor between Hampton Roads and the New River Valley that would include service between Richmond and Charlottesville.
Washington, D.C. to Bristol: A further extension of the western corridor that is currently being extended from Roanoke to the New River Valley/Christiansburg.

Two corridors with other sponsors were also selected:

Charlotte to DC sponsored by North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) includes the S-Line
Cardinal Daily Service sponsored by Amtrak

The Corridor ID program is a three-step program to guide corridors through early Systems Planning to Project Development activities to be competitive for federal construction funding.

As of July 2026, DRPT completed Step 1: Creating a Scope of Work, Schedule, and Budget for the Step 2 Service Development Plan for each corridor.

The service development planning process will include:

Purpose & Need Stakeholder Coordination
Alternatives Analysis
Transportation Planning
Environmental Planning
Financial Planning & Economic Evaluation
Governance
Implementation Phasing

Throughout this process, DRPT will continue coordination with FRA, Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA), Amtrak, and railroad partners to explore opportunities for connections with adjoining passenger rail corridors under development.

Schedule

DRPT expects FRA to advance Virginia’s passenger rail corridors into Step 2 in Fall 2026 after federal funding for Step 2 is obligated through an FRA-approved grant agreement. Service development planning for the two corridors is expected to continue for approximately three years.

Public Involvement

The CID process includes multiple opportunities for public engagement in addition to the regular stakeholder coordination. DRPT will host several public meetings during the Service Development Plan related to the different elements. Once corridors move into Step 3, required NEPA public engagement will occur for individual projects.

DRPT is leveraging public engagement through the 2026 Virginia Statewide Rail Plan to inform the CID process to ensure corridor development is aligned with the state’s larger rail transportation plan.

More Information

DRPT has conducted early feasibility analysis on both the Commonwealth Corridor and Bristol Extension as part of General Assembly Studies completed in 2022.

The Statements of Work for both corridors are available below. These will guide the Service Development Plan process.