Recent proposals to use part or all of the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Regional Park for future transit options are non-starters, the body controlling the right-of-way says.
“Similar proposals have been discussed previously and have been determined to not be viable,” NOVA Parks officials said in a March 11 posting on the regional body’s website.
The agency “opposes any conversion of the trail from its current recreation and park use,” the posting notes.
Justin Wilson, the agency’s executive director, confirmed that position to FFXnow.
The comments come after the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) received dozens of requests to study the possibility of a commuter rail line parallel to the trail, which runs from Purcellville to Shirlington. In response, NVTC board members on March 5 asked executive director Kate Mattice to contact Wilson, her NOVA Parks counterpart.
The March 11 statement from NOVA Parks suggested there would be no way to incorporate transit along the 45-mile route without impacting the approximately 2 million annual users:
“NOVA Parks’ current priorities for the W&OD Trail are to enhance the natural ecosystem of the trail by addressing invasive species to support native plants, expanding Dual Trails beyond the city of Falls Church to provide separation between cyclists and other trail users, and enhancing intersections between the trail and cross streets with overpasses and traffic-control measures.”
“The trail is a unique recreation amenity and natural space,” NOVA Parks leadership said in the statement.
The Northern Virginia Transit Revitalization Advocacy Coalition (NOVA-TRAC), a group of community members who began advocating for the return of train service to the W&OD right of way in 2024, expressed surprise and disappointment at NOVA Parks dismissing their proposal without an updated study.
“NOVA-TRAC is simply advocating for a neutral, state-led feasibility study of the plan to determine whether the rail and trail can actually coexist, while measuring the benefits of rail to our communities,” the NOVA-TRAC board said in a statement provided to FFXnow. “We want to give residents the information they need to engage with the plan and make their voices heard.”
The coalition’s push for a feasibility study gained traction in February 2025 when the Town of Hamilton became the first locality in the region to endorse it. The group argues that the addition of rail would also benefit the existing W&OD Trail by drawing more users and encouraging new investment.
“W&OD Rail-with-Trail has strong community support from local businesses, community groups and residents, and they deserve to learn the facts,” NOVA-TRAC said. “We encourage NOVA Parks to support a feasibility study of W&OD Rail-with-Trail that can truly address the questions, concerns and transportation needs of our communities, without committing to construction until we’ve gone through an objective engineering and planning analysis.”
Passenger service on the Washington & Old Dominion rail line ended in the early 1950s. Freight service continued for more than 15 additional years before the line’s owner, Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, successfully petitioned the federal government to allow the money-losing operation to close.
In both 1965 and 1967, consideration was given to having the state government purchase the right-of-way for transit use.
Despite receiving NVTC’s backing then, the proposal never evolved into action. The W&OD line was sold to Virginia Electric & Power Co. (now Dominion Energy), which kept what it needed to maintain power lines and sold the rest to NOVA Parks, then known as the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority.
Wilson, a former Alexandria mayor, was chosen to lead NOVA Parks last year. He succeeded longtime executive director Paul Gilbert.
