High Speed Rail, Southeast Corridor
Major Cities: Washington, Richmond, Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta, Columbia, Macon, Savannah, Birmingham, Jacksonville [Click on map to enlarge it.]
Overview:
The designated Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor consists of a number of segments covering all the South Atlantic States, with through service to and from Northeast Corridor points. North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia have been collaborating to implement high-speed rail in the designated Southeast Corridor. The most intensive effort has thus far gone to the originally designated Washington-Richmond-Charlotte segment for which the FRA and Amtrak have developed detailed transportation plans, which the Commonwealth and CSX Transportation have begun to implement on an incremental basis. (The Chester Community Association has requested a station in Chester at Rt. 10.)
Plans show that with up to 110 mph speeds, trip times of two hours (Washington-Richmond) and four and one-half hours (Richmond-Charlotte) would be feasible. Two States have created the Virginia-North Carolina Interstate High-Speed Rail Compact to provide authority and legislative oversight for the implementation of HSR. Georgia just completed a planning study for Charlotte to Atlanta improvements.
Status:
Virginia and North Carolina, together with the FHWA and FRA, in October 2002 completed a Tier I Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and selected a route from Washington, DC to Charlotte, NC employing the abandoned CSX “S” line between Petersburg, VA, and Norlina, NC. A Tier II EIS is being prepared with FRA for the Richmond, VA to Raleigh, NC section of the corridor. A Record of Decision is anticipated in late 2010.
Southeast Corridor Contacts:
North Carolina DOT1553 Mail Service CenterRaleigh, NC 27699-1553
Pat SimmonsDirector, Rail DivisionTel: 919-733-7245(ext 263)Fax: 919-715-6580mailto:919-715-6580pbsimmons@dot.state.nc.us
Amtrak passenger, freight and grade crossings.
VDRPT1313 East Main Street, Suite 300Richmond, VA 23218-0590
Kevin PageChief of Rail TransportationTel: 804-786-3963Fax: 804-225-3752kevin.page@drpt.virginia.gov
Amtrak passenger, freight, and grade crossings
Two very informative "Comments" have been left below: --1) The Chester Community Association's four vision goals; --2) The Chester Community Association's Adopted 2009 transportation goals for the Chester Plan area. You can see these by simply clicking on the word "Comments" below this Post.
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