Dive brief:
- U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and other officials broke ground last week in Raleigh, North Carolina, on construction of a new passenger rail line along ‘an existing freight rail corridor between Raleigh and Richmond, Virginia.
- Virginia purchased 75 miles of CSX freight rail right-of-way in 2020. North Carolina is in the final stages of completing the acquisition of its portion of the corridor, known as the S-Line. The states have not set a date for when trains could begin running on the line.
- Portions of the route will allow train speeds of up to 110 mph, potentially saving more than an hour of travel time between the two cities, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
Diving knowledge:
Richmond and Raleigh are among the five busiest train stations in the Southeast, the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority said in a Feb. 28 news release. The S-Line project is among the two states’ ambitious plans to expand intercity passenger rail. Last December, the US Department of Transportation awarded the North Carolina DOT federal Corridor Identification and Development Program grants for seven corridors. Three radiate from Charlotte, three from Raleigh and one would connect Asheville and Salisbury, North Carolina.
“The roads are as congested as before [the COVID-19 pandemic],” said Mike McLaughlin, chief operating officer of the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, discussing the growth of rail traffic in the region. The trains are “a much more convenient way to travel,” he said, noting that passengers can work or watch a movie on their laptops and have access to the cafeteria car for food and drinks.
Portions of the S line where the runway has been removed will have to be rebuilt (dotted line).
Virginia’s agreement with CSX allows for higher-speed passenger trains where there are currently no freight operations, McLaughlin said. That would be primarily in the Petersburg, Virginia area and across the state line to Ridgeway, North Carolina, he said. Once Amtrak’s new Airo trains enter service, which is scheduled for 2026, McLaughlin said the trains could run faster and cleaner and save time compared to older Amtrak trains.
VPRA is also looking at where it could straighten parts of the route to allow higher speeds without affecting local property owners. “If we can straighten up and go faster, we will,” McLaughlin said.
The North Carolina DOT received a nearly $1.1 billion grant for the S-Line project. Amtrak and NC DOT will contribute an additional 20% in matching funds.
