Tuesday Senator Thom Tillis did not wait for the official announcement date but told the Town of Wake Forest and NCDOT about two large grants which will spur existing efforts to build passenger rail lines across the state and connect Wake Forest to the daily trains between Raleigh and Charlotte.
The largest, a $1 billion grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to the S-Line project involving North Carolina and Virginia to rebuild a passenger and freight route connecting North Carolina to Virginia, Washington, D.C. and the Northeast Corridor. That connection currently has to be made through Rocky Mount, a detour that increases the travel time by an hour. Some of the former Seaboard track in Virginia was abandoned and sold or torn up in the 1970s,severing the link between the North Carolina state line and Petersburg, Va.
“This $1 billion grant for North Carolina to make progress on the Raleigh to Richmond Rail Line is a big win for economic development in the region,” said Senator Tillis. “I’m proud this investment was made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that I helped negotiate, write, and pass into law.”
The grant will greatly affect Wake Forest. Mayor Vivian Jones called it great news and said, “This grant is to be used for the first section of infrastructure for the S-Line and will do all the infrastructure needed from Raleigh to Wake Forest. This will include constructing the overpasses needed and straightening the track in a couple of places, etc.
“It is very exciting for the Town of Wake Forest,” Jones went on, “because NCDOT has indicated that once this work is done, the train which goes from Raleigh to Charlotte will be expanded to go from Wake Forest to Charlotte which will make it possible for our residents to travel by passenger rail instead of on our roads. It is my understanding they will begin this work very soon now that the money is available.” She also said, “It means we will get our station.”
In response to a question, Jones said, ‘NCDOT will be applying for a future grant to continue building to meet the Virginia rail. This will probably be done in the next round of monies coming from the feds. Virginia will build to their line and we will build to our line. There is an unbuilt section in both states—I believe Virginia has received funding for their portion.”
The second grant of $3.5 million will address more than 50 road, railroad and associated problems in Wake County, but the first directly deals with Wake Forest. The Charlotte to Washington, D.C. corridor will receive $500,000 to study how it would provide improvements to the existing state-supported Carolinian service by adding or improving service to Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, Raleigh, Durham, Salisbury and Burlington in North Carolina and Petersburg, Richmond, Fredericksburg and Alexandria in Virginia by constructing and rehabilitating a partially abandoned alignment between Raleigh and Petersburg that is more direct than the existing routing through Rocky Mount, potentially shaving more than an hour off the end-to-end travel time.
The announcement read: “Today, Senator Thom Tillis announced $3.5 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to identify potential new rail routes or improvements across North Carolina. The Corridor sponsors would enter Step 1 of the program to develop a scope, schedule, and cost estimate for preparing, completing, or documenting its service development plan.
“This $3.5 million in grant funding to identify and develop potential rail lines across North Carolina could be transformational in how North Carolinians travel,” said Senator Tillis. “I’m proud these investments were made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that I helped negotiate, write, and pass into law.”
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4 Responses
Being a Conservative and a Railfan isn’t always the best combination, but it is one I think serves me well. As for this new spending of a thousand million dollars I see the benefit. It is a good one. The Conservative side of me has issues with it, BUT… if done correctly may make some sense.
If CSX is allowed to use this line to move TOFC and COFC as well as other high priority freight, I do not have a problem with this. AS LONG, as the Railroad pays the State or the Federal Government a royalty for each carload shipped on the line. This will never fully pay for the tax payer’s dollars spent in this endeavor, but will also help cut down on pollution and overcrowding on the A Line.
And as a personal plus, There may be more trains on the S Line South of Raleigh… more trains in Cary and Apex!
I like the idea of a High-Speed train from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Raleigh, the plan should start right away need to get started it’s not like the old people going to ride it’s just another thing for young folks in the new generation.
I was following this a few years ago and this is a NEW PLAN. The previous information did not include a stop in Wake Forest, no mention of a WF train station or anything like that. The plan was for the new train system to run right through the town, at a very high speed and if you wanted to take a train you would have to go to the station in Raleigh like you do now. If this does happen it would be great, but not without the station.
Maybe we will, at last, get the bridge and 4 lane at the RR track on Rogers Rd! It is well beyond a mess! Tillis continues to represent us well.