Feds provide another big chunk of money for Raleigh-Richmond high-speed rail
The federal government is putting more money into helping establish high-speed passenger rail service between Raleigh and Richmond, Virginia.
The Federal Railroad Administration announced Thursday that it is giving $57.9 million to North Carolina and Virginia to begin the engineering work necessary to revive and rebuild the so-called S-line, a railroad corridor between Raleigh and Petersburg.
The two states have been planning for high-speed passenger trains between their capital cities since 1992 and settled on the S-line as the best route years ago.
Now the effort is gaining momentum. The federal grant announced Thursday is the most significant step so far, said U.S. Rep. David Price of Chapel Hill, who heads the House appropriations subcommittee for transportation.
“This is a project of regional significance, and the cooperation that we’ve seen demonstrates that both states fully understand that reality,” Price said. “The investments we’ve made and continue to make are key to unlocking the full potential of a Southeast corridor for passenger rail from Washington, D.C., to Charlotte and eventually all the way to Atlanta.”
Price was speaking under a tent in a parking lot in downtown Wake Forest, across the tracks from where the town’s depot once stood. Among those joining him were Wake Forest Mayor Vivian Jones, Gov. Roy Cooper, Amit Bose, head of the Federal Railroad Administration, and Mitch Landrieu, the former New Orleans mayor chosen by President Joe Biden to implement the $1 trillion infrastructure package Congress passed last fall.
All of them spoke about intercity passenger rail as an important part of moving people in the future.
“We want to make sure that North Carolinians can get where they need to go in a faster, cleaner and more reliable way,” Cooper said. “Even if it is to the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
Passenger trains haven’t stopped in Wake Forest in more than 40 years, and the depot is long gone. The plan now is that passenger trains capable of going 110 mph will begin stopping here between Raleigh and Richmond some time in next three to seven years, said Jason Orthner, director of the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Rail Division.
The depot may also be used one day for commuter rail service between downtown Raleigh and Wake Forest, Orthner said.
The two states are buying the S-line from freight railroad CSX. Virginia has already signed an agreement to acquire 75 miles of rail corridor between Petersburg and Ridgeway, North Carolina, just south of the state line. The tracks in this part of the corridor were removed in the 1980s.
Meanwhile, the N.C. Department of Transportation is close to signing a deal with CSX to buy the rest of the rail line between Ridgeway and Raleigh. NCDOT will pay for the line using a $47.5 million federal grant it received two years ago.
There are still tracks on that stretch of the S-line that CSX uses to serve freight customers with one to two trains a day. That freight service will coexist with passenger trains in the future, whether on a single track or two, Orthner said.
A project with bipartisan support
To prepare for high-speed passenger trains, NCDOT is working to eliminate railroad crossings on the CSX line in Wake County by building bridges, including at Durant, East Millbrook and New Hope Church roads in Raleigh and Rogers Road in Wake Forest.
The S-line grant is the largest of 46 awarded by the federal government Thursday for railroad projects nationwide, totaling $368 million. The program has existed for years but was given a boost by the infrastructure bill Congress passed last fall.
“This is really a beautiful example of what the bipartisan infrastructure law is designed to do,” said Landrieu, the president’s infrastructure coordinator. “It’s about creating a fast train that makes it go faster, safer, smarter and gets people from where they are to where they want to be. We’ve been wanting this for a long, long time. This is a fantastic down payment.”
The high-speed passenger rail project, now known at R2R, has had bipartisan support in North Carolina, at least in Congress. While Price, a Democrat, helped make the announcement Thursday, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican, was first to disclose the grant earlier this week.
“This grant is a huge win for Wake County and the entire state of North Carolina,” Tillis said in a statement. “The Raleigh to Richmond corridor project will improve mobility opportunities for the entire region, including under-served communities, and provide economic opportunity for generations to come. I am proud to have advocated for this project and look forward to the progress this will bring for both North Carolina and Virginia.”
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Feds provide another big chunk of money for Raleigh-Richmond high-speed rail."
