Quantico Station Expansion 

To meet the heightened transportation needs at Marine Corps Base Quantico (MCBQ) and in the Town of Quantico, STV provided final design services to upgrade the historic Quantico Station. The station previously featured two mainline tracks serving both VRE and Amtrak passenger trains, as well as CSX Transportation (CSXT) freight trains. The recent enhancements improve access to the existing tracks and accommodate a new third mainline track, which is being constructed by CSXT as part of the Arkendale to Powell’s Creek Third Track Project. 

The upgrades at Quantico Station extend the existing east platform by 550 feet to accommodate longer trains, replace a temporary west platform with a new 840-foot island platform between the existing west track and CSXT’s new third track and introduce three elevator towers with brick façades to complement the historic station’s appearance. The elevator towers, which required extensive coordination with MCBQ and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), are connected by pedestrian bridges, providing grade-separated access to both platforms and the west side of the rail corridor. Additionally, safety improvements were made to the existing at-grade crossing at Potomac Avenue, including the installation of four quadrant gates. 

STV developed plans for the station and track improvements and designed a 714-foot retaining wall needed for the third track construction to minimize impacts to MCBQ. The new retaining wall features two types—a soldier pile retaining wall with precast concrete panels and a soil nail wall with a permanent cast-in-place concrete facing—both of which allowed for top-down construction to minimize disruption to the base and ensure continued rail operations. 

The project involved coordination with numerous stakeholders, including the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA), CSXT, Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Marine Corps Base Quantico, the Town of Quantico and Prince William County.