Commentary: Future use of rail corridor must meet shared objectives

An open letter from the Mayors in all 9 towns along the corridor making the case for the Shenandoah Rail Trail

This letter originally appeared in the Northern Virginia Daily on 4/14/2026. View the original letter here.

What should the Shenandoah Rail Trail look like? Folks in the Shenandoah Valley and beyond have been discussing and debating this question for years, further back than many of us remember.

As VDOT prepares for public engagement, as the final task of its rail-with-trail assessment started last year, this is a good time to remind ourselves how we got here. The story is not all that complicated.

In the 1990s, as the Valley’s industries shifted more of their freight to Interstate 81, Norfolk Southern declined offers of public funding to help maintain service and stopped running trains on segments of its single-track line between Broadway and Front Royal. As it became likely that Norfolk Southern would sell the corridor, local governments began to explore a trail as a way to keep the unused rail corridor intact and ensure it could continue to serve the region’s economy and communities.

Our towns joined the other localities and organizations along the corridor to form the Shenandoah Rail Trail Exploratory Partnership in 2019. Since then, our goal has been clear — we have been seeking a solution that would achieve these objectives:

• Keep the corridor intact, preserving the potential for rail for future generations.

• Deliver a positive economic impact for each of the communities along the corridor, for the Shenandoah Valley, and for the Commonwealth.

• Benefit the Valley’s residents and their quality of life.

• Do all of this in a fiscally responsible, cost-effective way.

As the name of our partnership implies, we have explored the concept of a 49-mile destination trail as the option that best achieves all of these aims.

A trail bringing increased visitation supports revitalization and small businesses in our towns. Further, as VDOT noted in Phase 1 of its study, no localities have indicated a strong interest from the business community for freight rail service, whereas economic development professionals tell us that as a recreational asset, a well-designed, multi-use trail makes the Valley a top-tier location to attract companies prioritizing employee quality of life.

Finally, a 2021 state study confirmed the trail’s feasibility, and VDOT’s Phase 3 report completed last fall confirmed that of all the options studied so far, a trail is unarguably the least expensive alternative.

We are grateful that the Commonwealth Transportation Board voted in February to move forward with purchasing and owning the corridor as a public asset, using the funds set aside by the General Assembly for the trail. We’re glad to know that the corridor will now remain intact as we seek a collaborative vision for its use.

Are there uses that, alongside the trail, could accomplish our remaining objectives? Maybe. Maybe not. So far, we’ve not seen evidence of additional viable options that can check every one of the above boxes. But the Partnership is open to the conversations we’ll have as VDOT conducts its promised public engagement.

Mayor Lori A. Cockrell, Front Royal

Mayor Brandy Hawkins Boies, Strasburg

Mayor Lisa Currie, Toms Brook

Mayor Jeremy D. McCleary, Woodstock

Mayor Daniel J. Harshman, Edinburg

Vice-Mayor Rod Shepherd, Mount Jackson

Mayor Peter Hughes, New Market

Mayor Donald Delaughter, Timberville

Mayor Dave Jordan, Broadway