North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

[kermit]

Discovered that the Charlotte coach yard is  making good progress (for a project that was scheduled to be complete two years ago). 

The crew / security building looks pretty nice IRL (especially compared to the current station)

 

[kermit]

The Palm Beach paper has a story about Brightline service opening this weekend. In it they quote a parent company official who says that Brightline is examining additional passenger corridors in Texas, Georgia and North Carolina. They specifically mention an Atlanta-Charlotte service.

No other details about the possibble new service  are provided in the story. Orluz has mentioned the possibility of Brightline interest in NC here before, but I believe this is the first discussion of North Carolina by Brightline officials.

https://amp.tcpalm.com/amp/1017612001

Edited January 14, 2018 by kermit

[PuppiesandKittens]

Wow, Kermit, thanks so much for sharing.  Charlotte-Atlanta would be interesting.  There would need to be new tracks built, as the Norfolk Southern route is heavily congested.

[kermit]

CSX has announced that they are shopping about 1/3 of their network to interested buyers. They explicitly mention "large sections of the Florence Subdivision" as track that is on the market. I would think that NCDOT / NCRR could pick up the tracks between Goldsboro and Wallace pretty cheaply (I'll bet Wendell Murphy is the last freight customer on the route). The state would then control all of the passenger tracks between Charlotte and Wilmington.

The Raleigh to Norlina tracks also seem like a useful purchase.

Its a shame that the NCGA will certainly scoff at this opportunity.

If the list of potential sales is actually a 'sell or abandon' list then the state may also need to step in to preserve rail service to the port of Wilmington.

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2018/01/22-csx-reviewing-8000-miles-of-rail-lines-for-potential-sale

Edited January 24, 2018 by kermit

[cowboy_wilhelm]

This is a well-written article from The News & Observer discussing the implementation and status of PTC in North Carolina. It also mentions that the third Piedmont service will begin in May (first updated date I've seen), and the fourth in 2020.

[kermit]

The 76 had five coaches plus combi today -- same length as the Carolinian (and no big events in Charlotte today).  I think weekend traffic has really taken off over the past few months.

[kermit]

the acting director of the NCDOT rail division says the new Piedmont frequency begins in "June"

[Scoopbth]

My family and I took the train from Charlotte to Raleigh this weekend. We took the Carolinian to Raleigh on Saturday and the Piedmont back to Charlotte on Sunday. I have taken the train to Raleigh before and really enjoyed it but it has always been on the Carolinian. The Carolinian was completely packed by the time we reached Greensboro. I was most excited though for an opportunity to ride the Piedmont. It was very nice! The windows are huge and much bigger than those on the standard Amtrak rolling stock so you really get to see a lot. The interior was very nice as were the seats. They had 3 coach cars but were only using two, divided between those traveling to Charlotte and those getting off at other stops. Both of them were almost completely full!

Raleigh's new Union Station looks incredible and we are definitely planning a trip back to see it once it is open, hopefully on the 3rd Piedmont.  

Edited March 29, 2018 by Scoopbth

[kermit]

Looks like the Piedmont trains are now (since the frequency increase) running with three coaches (plus combi) rather than the previous normal of two.

[kermit]

[crossposted in Charlotte Gateway Station (sorry)]

Interesting story from the Greenville Business Magazine today on efforts to encourage / promote / plan corridor rail service in SC. Aparently their is a state legislator from Charleston who is attempting to get a study bill passed.  The plans talk about sketches to connect Greenville, Columbia and Charleston to Charlotte (with the implication being that Charlotte to Atlanta service would have a spur to Charleston via Columbia (likely in Spartanburg), although it would likely be much cheaper to run the Charleston branch CLT-Columbia-Charleston).

Anyway the article is realistic enough to admit that any state funding for such a service is unrealistic (at best) and to also show that SC legislators have no conception about the financial returns generated by rail. Nevertheless it is encouraging to hear that plans are at least being discussed.

http://www.greenvillebusinessmag.com/2018/07/05/176443/high-speed-rail-inches-forward

[kermit]

Not (yet) NC related:

Brightline has announced that they have purchased XpressWest, a company that was attempting to build a passenger rail corridor from LA (western LA County actually)  to Las Vegas. This is news for NC passenger rail because it indicates that Brightline's business model in Florida is doing well enough that they can think about expansion into other corridors. Atlanta to Charlotte has been frequently mentioned by Brightline as a corridor of interest. Granted it will be much easier to build a new ROW between Las Vegas and western Los Angeles county than through the upland Piedmont, but it is encouraging to see that Brightline is pushing into new corridors.

http://press.gobrightline.com/showPressRelease/100055086

[kermit]

Amazon HQ2 in Crystal City cuold actually yield some substantial benefits to NC. One of the most critical pieces of infrastructure to support HQ2 is likely to be rebuilding Long Bridge for four tracks and some modifications to Union Station which would allow MARC and VRE to run commuter rail through town (necessary to expand capacity of VRE in Crystal City and provide one seat rides into Maryland). 

Fast tracking these projects would remove the biggest remaining roadblock to SEHSR and more frequencies from Charlotte to DC and the corridor. 

[kermit]

What happened to our promised top speeds (90-110mph)? We are nowhere near an 86mph average.

 

[kermit]

The new State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) draft is now available. The document outlines planned NCDOT spending out to 2029. One important thing that I did not see in the document (I may have missed it) was any spending on track rehab, stations or equipment for Raleigh-Wilmington service. I had thought that would happen late in the 2020-2029 window.

https://www.ncdot.gov/initiatives-policies/Transportation/stip/development/Documents/2020-2029-draft-stip.pdf

Wilmington service starts sometime long-after 2030 I guess.....

Edited January 20, 2019 by kermit

[cowboy_wilhelm]

There are four grade separation projects funded along the S-Line in northern Wake County, three of which start construction this year (P-5720, P-5707 and P-5715). I'm assuming NCDOT is planning ahead for the future S-Line reactivation, but who knows if or when that will ever happen. I just hope they aren't spending $67.2 million on those projects and the line never serve more than a few locals.

 

Edited January 16, 2019 by cowboy_wilhelm

[Seaboard Fellow]

@cowboy_wilhelm you are correct , the future Southeast Corridor is driving the grade separations of Blue Ridge Road, Millbrook Road, Durant Road, and Rogers Road. There are several other grade separations planned in Wake County including Gresham Lake Road, Ligon Mill Road, and Wolfpack Lane. 

Active negotiations are happening in NC (NCDOT) and VA (VDRPT) to secure the former S-Line from CSX.  The Southeast Corridor (Formerly SEHSR) is a top priority for NCDOT’s Rail Division. 

Edited January 18, 2019 by Seaboard Fellow

[orulz]

I get the impression, though I don't have any data or connections to support it, that most of the grade separations in Wake and Durham are showing up for the sake of commuter rail more than high speed rail. Trinity and Harrison in Wake, and Cornwallis and Ellis/Wrenn/Glover in Durham are counted here too.

But orulz, there's no commuter rail planned on the S Line, you may say, so why are four grade separations there funded in the draft STIP if not SEHSR? Well, SEHSR does figure in here, and the environmental studies are already completed on SEHSR's dime (and I believe have a five year sunset period before a Supplemental EIS must be filed to extend its validity) but as for commuter rail: well, it's not in any official plans, but commuter rail to Wake Forest was one of the options considered for transit tax revenue, and there is still a sizable contingent of people in Wake County, including even some Raleigh city councilors apparently pushing for this. Using DOT STIP funds for these projects both leverages the existing FEIS, and may be backdoor maneuvering to make it easier/cheaper to do commuter rail to WF in the future, since if the grade separations are already built ahead of time, the only thing that will be needed are stations and trains.

[kermit]

Interesting new passenger rail advocacy organization just popped up: North Carolina On Track (NCOT, pronounced "en-cot".)

Not exactly sure what they are about yet but they sound interesting: https://www.ncontrack.org/

 

[Seaboard Fellow]

On 2/5/2019 at 11:10 AM, kermit said:

Interesting new passenger rail advocacy organization just popped up: North Carolina On Track (NCOT, pronounced "en-cot".)

Not exactly sure what they are about yet but they sound interesting: https://www.ncontrack.org/

 

Raleigh’s numbers will probably increase at the expense of Cary with the opening of Raleigh Union Station.   Thanks for sharing this. 

Edited February 7, 2019 by Seaboard Fellow

[cowboy_wilhelm]

On 2/6/2019 at 5:10 PM, Seaboard Fellow said:

Raleigh’s numbers will probably increase at the expense of Cary with the opening of Raleigh Union Station.   Thanks for sharing this. 

I kind of thought it was be vice versa, now that you have to pay to park in Raleigh and there is ample free parking in Cary.

[kermit]

The Charlotte NS classification yard (adjacent to the Amtrak station) has been nearly completely empty for the past two days. 

Is it just a fluke or is something up? 

[Seaboard Fellow]

5 hours ago, kermit said:

The Charlotte NS classification yard (adjacent to the Amtrak station) has been nearly completely empty for the past two days. 

Is it just a fluke or is something up? 

Precision Scheduled Railroading will do that. There may be other yards regionally that NS is better utilizing. CSX closed or reduced their operations at several yards when PSR was initiated.  Here’s an article on Tilford Yard in Atlanta. https://atlanta.curbed.com/platform/amp/2019/1/25/18197249/beltline-csx-marta-colliers-transit-mixed-use-developent

An opportunity to purchase the subject classification yard property would be a game changer for Charlotte. 

Edited February 20, 2019 by Seaboard Fellow

[cowboy_wilhelm]

Linwood Yard is huge and just a few (relative) miles up the tracks. I wouldn't be surprised if the Charlotte yard was considered redundant in the current era of railroading. But I assumed Charlotte was more for running locals out to industries and spurs in the area? Maybe a bean counter determined it was more efficient to run locals all the way out of Linwood?

[kermit]

There is a chance that the state will allocate the money necessary for throughway bus service from Salisbury to Asheville in this budget. 

https://www.morganton.com/news/effort-for-western-rail-service-through-burke-still-ongoing/article_7e101ae0-4203-11e9-b67f-53349f39d3ed.html

Its the same old story, communities along the Asheville District line want rail service back. They are hoping that the Throughway busses will document demand. While I am a train guy and would love them back in Asheville service they will never be fast enough to be competitive going up the mountain. Wilmington rail service makes much more sense.

[cowboy_wilhelm]

I don't think most people realize how long it will take for a train to go up the loops. What's accomplished in five minutes on I-40 probably takes half an hour or more by train.  Then again, some people may choose to take the train for that very reason i.e., tourists who don't care how fast they get there, but will enjoy the scenery along the way.

The bigger issue is the owner, Norfolk Southern. They'll never be on board. They downgraded the S-Line from Asheville to Salisbury a few years ago to Class 2 status, meaning passenger trains are limited to 30 mph at that classification. This was done to reduce maintenance and increase cost savings. The costs to bring the line back of up to Class 3 status will fall on the state and/or Feds. Once the remaining coal units shutter across NC and switch to natural gas NS will probably sell the line to a short-line operator, since there will be very little revenue left on the line. Then again, they may see it as a way to get upgrades and maintenance completed using public monies, or a short-line operator could come in and do the same.

Another big issue is the cost of implementing PTC along the line.  Once everything is added up, you're looking at a very poor cost/benefit ratio.