I guess my main / only concern is can you still have the number of intermediate stations like light rail to make it a true regional system that people will use for leisure and not just during the AM and PM weekday commutes?
Also will the stations be frequent enough to convince people to go to them instead of just driving to work. For instance with light rail you’ll probably have stations every few blocks - 1/2 mile urban sections to 1-2 miles in suburban sections.
Electric trains with level boarding and multiple doors per car, can accelerate just as well as LRVs, and have top speeds fast enough that they can keep up a pretty good pace even if they stop every mile or two. Something around 15-20 stations in the 28 mile corridor between Raleigh and Durham seems about right to me.
Here are some ideas for station locations.
top priority, DO NOT SKIP
second priority, all of these probably deserve a stop too
many, though not necessarily all, of these probably deserve a stop if the route is electrified
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I love it! Where do we sign! lol
Greedy me would want an Eastern leg so I could use it but we gotta get some more people out there first.
I’d maybe add a spur line directly to the airport terminal. That could just be a autonomous MAGLEV type system or like the Atlanta People Mover elevated system at the airport.
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OOHHH!! Don’t pick at that scab. That is a sensitive subject around here. 
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Hahaha!!!
@atl_transplant, get caught up on that topic before you dive any deeper.
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BRT could probably pull off a similar performance as light rail, too, as long as they have the proper amenities like exclusive lanes and traffic signal priority.
Like the article @Francisco posted said, a BRT line between Cary and RTP is already in the works (specifically, an MIS for this is included in the soon-to-be-approved updated Wake County Transit Plan). Durham and Orange counties are starting to redo their county transit plan, too, with the DOLRT being annihilated.
Light rail is probably impossible in Durham, though, at this point; developments in the Durham Innovation District have been getting more intense, Duke’s hospital facilities have been shuffling around and building more new buildings, and South Square and Patterson Place have been getting more filled in. DOLRT assumed all of these places would be open and available for stations etc., so I think the fact those projects are happening have made its revival all but impossible; if light rail is happening in Durham, at least, it will have to look different and we will have to redo a lot of “old” work.
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I’m curious now! 
definitely going to have to
Sounds like another WRAL article that they pulled out of their [REDACTED] for clicks, as they are known to do. If they do take another look at LRT I think it’s misguided and a waste of resources, since we’re closer than ever to getting BRT over the finish line, and just beginning to plan for a BRT extension to RTP (not really near the Apple campus but then again, what is near that campus at this point?)
EDIT: I actually read the article lol. Joe Milazzo is a good dude and is definitely plugged in, but his job is to lobby people to turn on the money spigot for everything. He doesn’t really lock in the plans, he just advocates.
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Yeah that airport connection is … a touchy subject.
As for service patterns and plans for the above, the line to Apex is a bit complicated. Here are the 2 possibilities I can think of.
(1) The NCRR from Durham to Raleigh operates as a trunk, with the lines from DTR to Wake Forest and Clayton acting as conventional branches, operating an alternating schedule, with each receiving half the frequency of the trunk. Apex-Cary operates as a shuttle with timed, cross-platform transfers toward both Durham and Raleigh. This provides the best service, with frequency and capacity matched to demand, but Apex riders don’t get a one-seat ride.
(2) Trains from Wake Forest and Clayton arriving in downtown Raleigh simultaneously, with trains from Clayton continuing on as a limited stop express from Raleigh to Cary, and making all stops from there to Durham, while trains from Wake Forest become the all-stops local from Raleigh to Cary, and then turn south to Apex.
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But I think they have heavy rail in Miami.
Yes. That’s what I said. They have heavy rail connecting to the airport from downtown.
Does anyone happen to have a list of cities with there populations and major form of mass transit options? 
Example:
Charlotte, NC
800,000/city
Light-Rail, Street-Car, BRT
I ask as it would be nice to compare cites and their transit options. 
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I don’t but it’s something I’d like to know too. I’ll try to dig it up this evening.
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Quick from Wiki - will try to get population and descriptions on here later!
New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)
Includes: Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, New York City Subway, MTA Regional Bus Operations, and Staten Island Railway New York City, Long Island, Lower Hudson Valley, Coastal Connecticut Commuter rail, local and express bus, subway, and bus rapid transit
Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) Newark / Hudson County, New Jersey and Manhattan, New York Rapid transit
Los Angeles Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Los Angeles County, California Rapid transit (subway), Light rail, Bus, Bus rapid transit
Metrolink Southern California Commuter rail
Chicago Chicago Transit Authority (cta) Chicago, Illinois Bus and rapid transit, including the Chicago “L”
Metra Cook County, DuPage County, Lake County, Kane County, Will County, McHenry County Commuter rail
Pace Northeastern Illinois Commuter and paratransit bus
Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) Houston Bus Service, Light Rail, Paratransit Services, Express Lanes
Phoenix Valley Metro Phoenix metropolitan area Light rail, bus, BRT, Vanpool
Philadelphia Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) Delaware Valley Commuter rail, interurban, rapid transit, streetcar, transit bus, and trolleybus
Austin Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Greater Austin Commuter Rail, Local, Express, Bus Transit and Van Pool
San Antonio VIA Metropolitan Transit Greater San Antonio Local, Express, Bus Rapid Transit
Atlanta Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Atlanta Metropolitan Area Bus routes, bus rapid transit, rail track, rapid transit, and streetcar
Atlanta Streetcar Atlanta Streetcar
Baltimore Maryland Transit Administration (MTA Maryland) Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area Bus, light rail, heavy rail, commuter rail
Charm City Circulator Baltimore Bus, watertaxi
Greater Boston Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Bus, bus rapid transit, light rail, commuter rail, trolleybus, and ferryboat
Erie and Niagara counties, New York Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Bus, light rail, and rapid transit
New Jersey, Manhattan, Rockland and Orange counties, New York, and Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania New Jersey Transit Commuter rail, light rail, and bus
Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina Lynx Rapid Transit Services Light rail and streetcar (bus rapid transit planned)
Cuyahoga County, Ohio RTA Rapid Transit Rapid transit, light rail, bus rapid transit, and bus
Dallas, Texas Dallas Area Rapid Transit Bus, light rail, commuter rail, streetcar
Denver Metro Area, Colorado Regional Transportation District Bus, light rail, and commuter rail
Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County Metro Rail Rapid transit and light rail
Greater Miami Miami-Dade Transit Rapid transit, people mover, bus rapid transit, and transit bus
Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area METRO Light rail, commuter rail and bus rapid transit
City of New Orleans and Orleans Parish, Louisiana New Orleans Regional Transit Authority Bus, heritage streetcar
Allegheny County and bordering portions of Beaver, Washington, Westmoreland and Armstrong counties Port Authority of Allegheny County Public transit, light rail, bus rapid transit, and inclined-plane railway (funicular)
Portland metropolitan area, Oregon TriMet, Portland Streetcar Bus, Light rail, Commuter rail, Streetcar
Sacramento, California Sacramento Regional Transit District Bus and light rail
Greater St. Louis MetroLink Light rail
Wasatch Front, Utah Utah Transit Authority Bus, light rail (including TRAX), commuter rail, and streetcar
San Diego County, California San Diego Metropolitan Transit System Buses, bus rapid transit, light rail, commuter rail, paratransit, and streetcar
San Francisco Bay Area Bay Area Rapid Transit Rapid transit
San Francisco San Francisco Municipal Railway Bus, trolleybus, light rail, streetcar, and cable cars
San Jose, California Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Bus and light rail
Puget Sound region, Washington Sound Transit Regional express bus, commuter rail, and light rail
The District of Columbia and parts of Maryland and northern Virginia Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Rapid transit (Washington Metro), bus (Metrobus), and paratransit (MetroAccess)
Downtown Las Vegas starting from close to McCarran International Airport Las Vegas Monorail Elevated monorail currently connecting local hotels and the Las Vegas Convention Center
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Yeah Raleigh needs an entire transit leadership restructure. But yeah Raleigh really need light rail, sometimes it worth the risky investment. We need to stop being halfway by “saying we need to stop worrying about what mode it is”. And I hope now that Biden in office he’ll do some more improvement to make building light rail cheaper.
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This is something I hear all the time “Raleigh really needs light rail” but I never hear a rationale for Why? or Where? - I’m totally on board with a light rail investment if it is a good investment and a wise use of limited funding. Otherwise, it always seems like people just want it for the sake of wanting it (while being dismissive of other transit options).
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IMO - since it moves people quicker and at much higher numbers efficiently than busses and other transit modes.
In actual downtown you can have some flexibility and use more of a street car type.
As for comparing it to other modes.
BRT | I’m a bit skeptical on what BRTs actual impacts will be. Will people ride it? Will it be seen as an actual transportation option or will people turn their nose at is as just being a “poor people thing”? Does it go far enough / enough places to have a congestion impact?
I can’t wait to hopefully be proven wrong by our BRT system.
Commuter Rail | It only operates during peak periods. Does it go enough places to make an impact? Are there enough stations to convince people to go to the stations to use it? Will it operate frequently enough?
I feel like a well built Light Rail system addresses these questions. For the horrible reputation MARTA has, people rode it in droves to actually go places on the weekends and off peak hours. I feel like we’re missing a huge chunk of potential use by just having commuter rail. So end game, it’s about convenience and actually having transit options to / from downtown. Also, since these take decades to plan if we start now, by the time implemented, hopefully we’ll have downtown stadiums, events and amenities that we don’t have now and will be wishing we had systems to handle.
I must say, I do really like the idea earlier of basically electric commuter rail. If we can do it right, it basically operates more as heavy rail.
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“Regional rail” is strangely not something that really exists in the US currently, but it once was common (“interurbans”).* Regional rail can serve longer-distance trips, and BRT/local bus can serve shorter-distance trips, rather than having light rail try to serve both markets.
Regional rail is how other countries use rail within “polycentric” regions similar to the Triangle, e.g., TER/RER in France or Stadtbahnen in Germany. Postwar America bet too much on cars, or heavy rail, or light rail, trying to make one size fit all instead of using the right tool for each job.
*OK, so there are a few interurban lines still out there. NICTD/South Shore runs one between Chicago and South Bend. DMU services like Denton and the Trenton-Camden River Line might count.
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I think both of these work well.
Maybe one day we’ll have some kind of technology where electric trains can efficiently break-apart / merge together.
Say you have a six car train at the Cary station, the front 4 cars would go on to Durham, while the back two proceed to Apex.
One more line schedule variation:
Apex to Raleigh:
30 minute frequency. Every station from Apex to Raleigh
Hillsborough to Auburn:
30 minute frequency. Every station from Durham to Auburn (which would mean every 15 minutes Cary to Raleigh)
Tryon to Highwoods:
30 minute frequency. Every station from Tryon to Highwoods (which would mean every 15 minutes Tryon to Highwoods)
Raleigh to Wake Forest:
30 minute frequency. Every station Raleigh to Wake Forest
Durham to Raleigh:
30 minute frequency express stops (may not be feasible without siding tracks or something) 7.5 minute frequency Cary to Raleigh
Of course, these would only be for peak hours.
Off peak have the through train and then just branches for Apex and Wake Forest
The best comparison for what I’d like to see is probably Denver RTD’s commuter rail lines. They call it “commuter rail” but it’s not what you usually think of for commuter rail. It’s electrified, runs on dedicated tracks largely in freight corridors, and one of their lines (the A line) even runs every 15 minutes all day.
The land use on the NCRR between Raleigh and Durham pretty much blows Denver’s A line out of the water, too.
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