Navy Move Could End Tidewater Rail Line As STB Weighs Abandonment

A short but strategically placed rail line in the Tidewater is headed for the chopping block, with the U.S. Navy’s push to buy part of the corridor helping trigger a federal bid to abandon the track and end service.

Canonie Atlantic Co. and the Buckingham Branch Railroad filed a joint petition on March 9 asking the Surface Transportation Board to exempt them from the usual approval process so Canonie Atlantic can abandon, and Buckingham Branch can discontinue service over, about 2.3 miles of track running from Little Creek in Virginia Beach to Camden Heights in Norfolk.

The line is stub-ended, carries no overhead traffic and has seen local business from two shippers in the past two years, according to the petition. But the bigger issue isn’t carloads — it’s geography.

Buckingham Branch says the northern end of the line includes the Little Creek Yard, a cluster of tracks and facilities it describes as the base of its local Tidewater operations. The railroad says the yard supports rail-to-truck transloading, serves as its only locomotive staging and servicing point in the region, and includes adjacent office space for administration and crew reporting.

Then the Navy came calling.

In spring 2025, the Navy approached Canonie Atlantic about acquiring a portion of the line and the yard — identified in the filing as “Parcel 4B” — citing national security needs and a desire to extend control of the waterfront. Buckingham Branch argues that without that parcel, operating what’s left of the line becomes operationally and economically impracticable.

Canonie Atlantic, which has owned the line since 1985 but has never operated it, says it lacks the resources to run the service itself and doesn’t believe another carrier would step in.

The STB has opened an exemption proceeding and said it will issue a final decision no later than June 26. Replies to the petition are due April 16.

The case also starts the clock for anyone looking to keep rail service alive or convert the corridor to another public use. Formal expressions of intent to file an offer of financial assistance are due April 6, and requests for public use conditions or interim trail use/railbanking are due April 16.