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Long Term Rail and CATS Transit Plans


monsoon

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Does Amtrak share the Norfolk Southern line which runs past Gateway Village and the Stadium?  Since I live near there, I see and hear the freight trains ALL the time, but unless I was seeing things (a distinct possibility), I saw an Amtrak train run by the other night.  That's the first time I've seen an Amtrak train on that track.

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Yes, Amtrak does share that track, but only two trains a day (one in each direction - the Crescent) pass by the stadium. There are six Amtrak trains a day through the north part of town on the line through Concord and Kannapolis. Here in Raleigh, we have six trains a day too but the tracks have fewer freight trains than the Charlotte tracks. I'd say Amtrak makes up as much as 1/3 of the traffic on the NCRR through Raleigh.
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There are 3 Amtrak routes that come through Charlotte as far as I can tell. The Carolinian, Piemont, and the Crescent.

The Carolinian travels daily between Charlotte and New York City. The Piedmont makes daily trips between Raleigh and Charlotte. So neither of those appear that they go any further than the Amtrak Station on N. Tryon and wouldn't interfere with the South East light rail.

The Crescent travels from NYC to New Orleans, through Charlotte and Gastonia, so it would appear that it would travel along the I-85 corridor, but I'm not sure how it would come down to the N. Tryon Station and then back up to I-85?

It'll be interesting seeing them fit the Amtrak trains, the light rail trains, and the trolleys into the new transit station when it's complete.

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i'm not sure how the southeast light rail fits into this discussion, as there are definitely no amtrak routes on the southeast side of town.

the crescent amtrak through gastonia to atlanta and new orleans, i believe, goes through down town and past the nfl stadium and then veers west to follow just south of wilkinson.

The multi modal station will have multiple tracks, for freight to bypass, and for amtrak and north commuter rail to stop. The streetcar would be at street level. I'm not sure light rail will be used in the west corridor, but if so, it likely use street ROW, as i don't think they'd be allow to mix near freight rails.

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Did I say SE? I meant SW (South Blvd.). I threw that comment in since that's been predominantly what we've been talking about (with the Light Rail, trolley, and industrial traffic on the line) and since the other rail corridors will probably be like 10 years away.

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Local sales tax has actually been falling each year for the last several years :angry:

Northlake however is expected to greatly increase sales revenues as it pulls people from Mooresville and University City that have been doing a great deal of shopping outside the area.....though to fund everything that you named, annual sales would need to increase about $10 billion.....ouch......Northlake should increase sales by about $300 million.

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ouch. why are they still considering light rail down the east corridor if it so clearly is not affordable with current tax revenues?

(i still think streetcar to airport might be possible just by having the airport chip in and by eliminating the downtown streetcar.)

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There are 3 Amtrak routes that come through Charlotte as far as I can tell.  The Carolinian, Piemont, and the Crescent.

The Carolinian travels daily between Charlotte and New York City. The Piedmont makes daily trips between Raleigh and Charlotte. So neither of those appear that they go any further than the Amtrak Station on N. Tryon and wouldn't interfere with the South East light rail.

The Crescent travels from NYC to New Orleans, through Charlotte and Gastonia, so it would appear that it would travel along the I-85 corridor, but I'm not sure how it would come down to the N. Tryon Station and then back up to I-85?

It'll be interesting seeing them fit the Amtrak trains, the light rail trains, and the trolleys into the new transit station when it's complete.

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Actually it is helpful to understand the difference in these trains. NC is one of only three states that actually operates its own state funded rail passenger network. The Carolinian and Pedmont would fall into this category. The Piedmont is completely owned by by the state of NC, and the Carolinian is leased. The state pays Amtrack to operate the trains on behalf of NC. The third train, the Crescent is standard Amtrak service and would be the only train traveling through Charlotte if it were not for the state operated trains.

More info at http://www.bytrain.org

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Hi - I've been a long time lurker, but this is my first post in the Charlotte forum. I'm glad to see that NC has its own state-run passenger train network. I know California does, but what's the other state that has a state-run passenger train network?

Also glad to see Charlotte building a light rail line - and hopefully it can expand into a full-fledged light rail/streetcar/commuter rail system in the years to come.

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welcome, mike.

i'm not sure of this, but could it be New Jersey, or do all their rail road trains to NYC count as transit.

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Thanks Dubone - I think New Jersey Transit counts as plain old commuter rail because you can't go from metro area to metro area by train like you can in NC and CA. Five of NJT's train lines go directly to NYC, one goes to Philadelphia, the others terminate in NJ itself and offer connecting ferry or PATH subway service to NYC. Then there are the three light-rail lines (Hudson-Bergen, Newark City Subway and Trenton-Camden) - and those three would be completely unsuitable for cross-state service.

But good for NC running the Piedmont and the Carolinian - hopefully NCDOT will increase the frequency of the Piedmont.

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  • 4 weeks later...

From the Charlotte Business Journal article "Bruton Smith pledges $50M to monorail system".

Lowe's Motor Speedway founder and chairman Bruton Smith wants Charlotte transit officials to scrap plans for a light-rail system in the north corridor and instead build a monorail connecting uptown to Concord.

And he's pledging $50 million of personal funds to jumpstart the project.

Smith's concept would use the elevated monorail-style transport along existing state-owned roads and right-of-ways to connect the proposed NASCAR Hall of Fame to University City, Lowe's Motor Speedway and Concord Mills. The monorail system would run from the NASCAR Hall of Fame, up North Tryon Street through UNC Charlotte and along U.S. Highway 29.

Full story at: http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte...23/daily22.html

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Hahahahahahahahaha..........oh wait....I guess he was serious, though I wonder if he is doing this to somehow discredit Charlotte. He must still be sore over his reprimand for cutting down the trees.

If he's really committed to transit, let's see him step up with his $50 to get light-rail built sooner and extended to LMS.

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That is funny.

Of course he would benefit greatly as he has done in the past with special roads being built to his racetrack. Some of the best roads in the metro lead to his facility. Its amazing how much faster and how much better the widening of I-85 North went compared to the widening of I-77 North (which has turned into a big debacle)

On the other hand, it is widely believed in the North that the North Commuter Rail line (they got it wrong if they said LRT) will never be built because the powers to be in Charlotte and elsewhere will derail the project so that other projects could be built. This, despite this corridor being the best prepared for of all the corridors for mass transit.

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Ummm... So this Monorail group has a website. It's not too informative. This is a hardcore pipe dream. I don't think Bruton was serious. He was putting on a show. He is simply a man who likes to "jazz" things up a bit (for lack of a better term. This was probably concocted for publicity during race week to add a little interest in the bid for the HOF. Cabbarus should call him out on that 50 million and try to extend the NE LRT line to the Speedway and the Mall with it (of course I have no idea what the cost on that would be).

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Bruton Smith has done a lot from the area and his business interests are thuroughly vested in the greater Charlotte area. Any interest he expresses - be it in transit or development - is a good sign for Charlotte. Smith has deep pockets and has a reputation for 'getting things done.' While his monorail idea may be a pipe-dream, the fact that Smith is being vocal about transit, future planning, and speeding up the Northeast Charlotte transit corridor is exciting.

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In a way, it adds something unique to Charlotte, because very few cities have a monorail, but I don't know if it's worth it. Monorails are expensive, and he is going to have to throw in a lot more than $50 million if he wants it to happen fast.

Do the monorail plans replace the NE corridor, or is it going to just be another mode of transportation in that corridor? If it's a replacement, than it pretty much skips NODA and the areas inbetween, which have a lot of potential. People are still going to have to drive Uptown to get to the monorail - it is just a link to the Hall of Fame and the Speedway. Instead, he should give his money toward extending the NE corridor and getting it built faster - It makes more sense because people from South Charlotte can take the train all the way to the Speedway - it may be a lot of stops, but maybe they could have an express train during race events?

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Oh he is talking about the NE corridor and not the North? That makes more sense, but this will effectively cut Noda off from mass transit.

It should be noted that Las Vegas paid for its monorail with private funding and it serves a similar function to what Bruton is suggesting. I think if they are serious they should look for more private money and also at the Charleston's Futrex Monobeam system instead of a Monorail.

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Instead, he should give his money toward extending the NE corridor and getting it built faster - It makes more sense because people from South Charlotte can take the train all the way to the Speedway - it may be a lot of stops, but maybe they could have an express train during race events?

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Exactly.....this is what the city should ask for, and then see how serious he is.

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Imagine rail to the raceway

It says that he just threw monorail into the mix. He's open to any other option at mass transit. He just wants a link to the track and to Concord Mills. He already owns the land where he wants the train station to be located it says.

His transit idea would be added onto the NE corridor. It will run from downtown, through University by UNCC and then up to the track, make a left turn, and go to Concord Mills, "if there is enough money left over." I think that would be a great idea cause then the parking lots at both Concord Mills and the Speedway could be used as Park and Ride Lots.

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it would be great if bruton smith's money actually secures the cabarrus part of the north east transit line, which is so far unfunded. Then he could choose his route, which, frankly, makes perfect sense to go along Tryon to the Speedway and then either along Speedway Blvd, or the quieter back route: Morehead - Union School - Old Holland - Quay, which basically bypass the Speedway Blvd to get to Concord Mills. I'd bet they'd also love to connect it to concord airport, too.

Once lightrail is extended out that way, and is operating in the tourist/traffic heavy speedway/concord mills area, it would be a matter of time before they start considering connections into the town of concord. The surrounding counties don't necessarily see benefit to build rail to downtown charlotte, but if the route goes by key activity centers, then the outlying towns will see the benefit. Perhaps it will be part of their own push to revitalize their town to counter the effects of the sprawl growth patterns.

Monorail seems to be excessive, but i'm sure if they see that they can do more with light rail for equal or less money, i'm sure he'd get behind it.

The easier people have to find parking and get to the speedway, the more people want to come to events, and the more money he has to make.

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