There was a study, that took about 10 years to complete (they slow walked it; if they had moved faster it probably could have been done in 2 or 3) eventually concluding that this is the best, and perhaps the only acceptable place for those extra tracks to go. Can’t follow the S-line because of the grade crossings at West and Harrington. Can’t use Norfolk Southern’s right-of-way because railroads are immune to the state’s power of eminent domain. (It takes a literal act of congress to expropriate from railroads.)
The Biden admin allocated $66b to passenger rail, including $12b that must be used for network expansion outside of the Northeast Corridor. This is out of congress’s hands at this point; the money has been appropriated - now it’s only up to USDOT to allocate it.
Last time around (2008) NC was one of 7 states awarded a large grant. Of those, three (Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida) rejected the money. Their money was reallocated to California, which then proceeded to blow out their budget, and (though under construction) is still trying to scrape the money together to make it into something actually useful. That leaves Washington, Illinois, Michigan, and North Carolina as the only ones actually running trains. Washington had that debacle where the first train carrying passengers on the Point Defiance Bypass derailed and killed passengers. Illinois built improvements but still hasn’t increased speeds as promised.
NC and Michigan alone managed to build everything promised, more or less on time and on budget, with no major controversies. Michigan raised speeds to 110mph; NC built a bunch of new double track and stations, and has had increased service and better reliability ever since. So of all the states in the entire country, we have a solid reputation.
Last year, the states of NC and Virginia got a $58m federal grant to complete preliminary engineering for the Raleigh to Richmond corridor. This is the only corridor in the country to receive such a grant. The S-line features prominently in Amtrak’s “Amtrak Connects” vision. CSX is implying that they are ready to sell the S-line. Virginia has already bought the inactive part of it. So USDOT is on board, Amtrak is on board, VA is on board, NC is on board, and even CSX is on board (though, critically, Norfolk Southern is not on board - hence the need for this property.) I’ve been watching this for two decades and the stars are aligning in a way they really haven’t, ever before, even in 2008 - meaning we are positioned really well to get a big chunk out of that $12b. I’m certainly not saying it’s a sure shot at this point, but it is probably the best shot we are going to have- perhaps for decades!
Our system seldom functions, and when it does (or tries to, anyway) it moves at a GLACIAL pace. Much slower than the pace of business and real estate. But it does appear to be moving. I really worry what may happen if we throw bumps in the road like this.
But, oh yeah, forget it, gimme the pretty magenta hotel now!
