B-Line (Norfolk Southern)

This article is about a US rail line in Virginia. For the rail route in Indiana, United States, see Bee Line Railroad.

A Norfolk Southern merchandise freight passes through Markham on the B-Line in 2011.

The B-Line is a railroad line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The most heavily-used section of the line runs from Front Royal east to Manassas along a former Southern Railway line. The B-Line extends west into Strasburg, although only one local train per day frequents that section of it. Its east end is at the Washington District, and it crosses the Hagerstown District at Front Royal. Since the 1999 breakup of Conrail, when Norfolk Southern acquired the Lurgan Branch from the north end of the Hagerstown District into Pennsylvania, the B-Line east of Front Royal has been a major connection, allowing traffic on the Washington District to bypass Washington, D.C.. The B-Line supports mainly intermodal and manifest trains, although beginning in late 2018, Norfolk Southern began running coal unit trains on it more frequently than before.

History

The Manassas Gap Railroad opened in 1854 from Manassas to Harrisonburg, past the current end at Strasburg. It became part of the Southern Railway and Norfolk Southern through leases and mergers.