Dominion Energy briefs Manassas Park on stray‑voltage link to malfunctioning railroad crossing arms

Dominion Energy representatives told the City Council they are working with Norfolk Southern and an external consultant to investigate recurring railroad crossing‑arm failures on Manassas Drive that Norfolk Southern has linked to tracked stray voltage.

Calvin O’Dell, the city’s director of community development, said Norfolk Southern reported it had been tracking stray voltage near the crossing for about 15 years and that staff observed a recent increase in the spikes coincident with Dominion’s transmission line work in the corridor. “We’ve actually been tracking those... we contacted Norfolk Southern, and Norfolk Southern sent a technician out to the tracks,” O’Dell told the council.

Rob Mason of Dominion Energy’s transmission operations engineering group described technical work to model the power system and to “turn it on and off” in simulations to identify causation. He said the city’s team, Norfolk Southern and Dominion collected synchronized measurements on rails and power lines and that “that preliminary study...is expected to be completed likely by the end of next week,” after which Dominion plans to work with the consultant on a mitigation strategy.

In response to council questions, Mason said local data centers increase load flows on the system but are not the direct cause; he said an abnormal operating state during nearby transmission upgrades channeled larger power flows onto a single line, creating conditions that correlated with the July incidents. City staff and Dominion said they will continue coordination with Norfolk Southern and other stakeholders to validate the model and design fixes.

No formal action was taken; the presentation was informational and staff said they had requested Norfolk Southern representatives to brief the council but had not yet received a commitment from the railroad to appear.