Goldsboro-Greensboro commuter rail would cost $1B
The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area - by Chris Coletta
Commuter rail would be feasible along North Carolina Railroad Co. tracks between Goldsboro and Greensboro, a new NCRR study says – though it would be costly.
The 11-month study, conducted by engineering firm HNTB on behalf of NCRR, concludes that commuter rail traffic could co-exist with other trains on NCRR tracks. But building the infrastructure and support facilities would cost $1 billion.
Costs of such projects typically are split between federal, state and local governments. NCRR spokesperson Kat Christian says the federal government usually will pay about half the cost of such a project, with state and local governments usually kicking in about 25 percent each.
North Carolina Railroad Co., a state-owned, private company, owns 317 miles of rail between Charlotte and Morehead City. Its study examined whether commuter trains could run on the same tracks as Norfolk Southern-owned freight trains and Amtrak-run passenger trains that go long distances.
The commuter trains between Goldsboro and Greensboro trains typically would run in the morning and afternoon rush hours. They also would run once during the day. The trains would make 29 stops in seven counties.
Any new infrastructure could be built in parts, making the project less costly up front, NCRR says.
It isn’t clear whether there’s enough demand for commuter rail, NCRR says. The study released Thursday didn’t cover ridership – only an analysis of how much more infrastructure would be needed for commuter rail to not affect the trains already operating.
“We’ve had questions over the years over why we couldn’t use the existing railroad for commuter service,” Christian says. “So we decided we would answer that question.”
It’ll be up to local governments and community groups, Christian says, to spark the need for such a study and to find the funding for any commuter rail project.
But NCRR thinks the zeitgeist is with it. In a summary of its commuter rail report, the organization says that “a remarkable shift in public perception of passenger train travel has occurred” in the past 11 months and that commuter rail could be one of the solutions to North Carolina’s rapid growth.
Regional committees also have called for more rail options.
The 21st Century Transportation Committee, an advisory group set up by the General Assembly, called earlier this year for the creation of a state trust fund for public transit projects. It also suggested that local governments be given the authority to raise taxes to finance transit projects.
And the Special Transit Advisory Committee, a Triangle-area group set up by regional transportation authorities, has called for a public transit system to be built in this area.
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