PRESS RELEASE: Initial Step in Transition of Out-of-Service Shenandoah Rail Line
Norfolk Southern preparations may pave the way for future state and local corridor planning
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 2026
WOODSTOCK, Va. – As Norfolk Southern Railway (NSR) prepares to begin the formal federal process to end the company’s use of the corridor, Friends of the Shenandoah Rail Trail welcomes this important next step toward transitioning the corridor to public ownership and preserving the potential for future rail use.
The best way to ensure that Virginia and the corridor’s communities can shape the future of this right-of-way is to shift it to public ownership. Norfolk Southern’s action is the first step to ensure the corridor remains intact for future rail while enabling an interim public use that serves communities along the corridor.
The process that NSR is preparing to initiate, formally called “abandonment”, would extinguish the railroad's obligation to provide service. It allows NSR to transfer or sell the corridor to be converted to other public uses via railbanking, which preserves the corridor as a continuous transportation asset and maintains the possibility of restoring rail service in the future, a key goal for the Friends of the Shenandoah Rail Trail.
Earlier this month, NSR informed a variety of federal, state, and local agencies that it is preparing to seek abandonment of the entire 48.5-mile corridor, and noted that it is exploring opportunities to “transfer or sell” it, stating that the corridor may be “available for redeployment for alternative public use(s).”
Rail service along the corridor was discontinued in segments starting in 1989 as rail shipping declined and became unprofitable. Despite efforts by state and local governments to maintain rail operations, service along the final segment ended in 2020 following the loss of the last shipper. The rail infrastructure has deteriorated in the interim, and an assessment completed by the Virginia Department of Transportation last fall noted the enormous cost of restoring rail service to the corridor, including completely rebuilding a third of the rail line and constructing 16 new bridges.
About Friends of the Shenandoah Rail Trail: Friends of the Shenandoah Rail Trail is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports and furthers the work of the Shenandoah Rail Trail Exploratory Partnership. Both groups share the vision of transforming an unused single-track railroad corridor from Broadway to Front Royal into a multi-use 48.5-mile trail reconnecting communities, businesses, schools, and many local cultural and historic resources.
