That’s not a lot to show for $1 billion in investment. One train saves an hour, no new service at all or at most one new round trip. TBH that would kind of be a shame.
But yeah, you’re probably on the right track.
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So here’s a question, what is the CLT->DC Corridor ID funding for? Simply additional planning or maybe engineering work for the S-Line? I wonder if the later stages of the program could be a mechanism for more federal funds.
Hmm… WH press release today specifically mentions Raleigh → Wake Forest, so maybe #4 is actually a possibility?
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North of Alberta, there are a few straight stretches that would support 110 as-is but the question is how quickly can the train accelerate and then decelerate. Wouldn’t save a lot of time but it would be politically important. In the other areas were SAL could actually run 79, it wouldn’t be that hard to bring the track to 90 mph (FRA Class V instead of Class IV). They’ll have the signaling anyway, and the difference is mainly the width of the ballast shoulders.
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That’s what this FRA doc seems to indicate as well.
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The Governor’s office’s PR has more specifics:
“Officials will use the $1.09 billion grant for final engineering design, right of way acquisition and construction costs for the section of the S-Line from Raleigh to Wake Forest. The money will also be used on new and upgraded track and replacement of at-grade crossings with highway/rail overpasses. Officials plan to upgrade the existing freight rail line to accommodate passenger rail service while maintaining the existing freight rail service. Construction in Wake County will also include highway and rail bridges, including two safety projects in Cary that are also on the Southeast Corridor.”
The two safety projects in Cary are most likely the grade separations at Maynard and Trinity. Harrison is another possibility but Cary has been backpedaling on their endorsement of that idea lately.
The WH PR specifically mentions 11 grade separations. That’s two; so what are the others?
There are four that were already funded by NCDOT: New Hope Church, Millbrook, and Durant in Raleigh, and Rogers Rd in Wake Forest. Hopefully those don’t count towards the 11, but honestly they probably do.
Here is the full list of possibilities that I see, starting in Cary and heading east to Raleigh and north to Wake Forest:
Cary-Raleigh corridor crossings:
- Harrison
- +NE Maynard
- +Trinity
- Corporate Center
- Edwards Mill
- Powell/Youth Center
S-line North Raleigh corridor crossings:
- Downtown viaduct over North, Tucker, Johnson, and Peace
- S-curve bridge over West and Capital
- +Midtown(?) viaduct over Captial, the NS line, and Whitaker Mill
- +Wolfpack/Highwoods
- +New Hope Church
- +Millbrook
- +Gresham Lake
- +Durant
- +Ligon Mill
- +Roberts
- +Holding
I have marked with a ‘+’ the ones that I think most likely constitute the 11.
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For reference, have a look at the KMZ files of the planned alignement posted several months ago by @skeezicss . These appear to be updated since the EIS maps from 2015, and are timestamped June 16, 2023.
Even given how recent these are, it’s still hard to know exactly what’s going to be in-scope and out-of-scope at this point.
But we seem to have confirmation that the focus is on building the corridor out as far as Wake Forest - which might be the most difficult and time-critical part of the corridor anyway, given how development is rapidly filling in around it and in the planned right of way. This includes (of course) my personal axe to grind, the proposed Moxy Hotel! In addition, there’s the Thales Academy in Wake Forest, the K-Flex factory between WF and Youngsville… and more.
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Wait, so this is actually about Triangle Commuter Rail?!!
https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/commuter-rail-garner-to-west-durham/
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I see what you did there.
I suppose yes, but not how it’s historically been proposed. It seems like NCDOT is going to follow the example of states like California and Connecticut, where they incrementally enhance state-supported Amtrak services with infill stations and better frequencies until they have something that’s similar to a commuter service and is complemented by more traditional intercity/express services.
And, frankly, that method seems like it’s going to see a lot more success than anything GoTriangle has proposed. NCDOT has been steadily enhancing the Piedmont service for well over a decade while, in the same time period, GoTriangle has flopped on at least three rail projects. So we’ll probably continue to see NCDOT apply for smaller grants for double-tracking, grade separations, infill stations, new equipment, and the like. That all enables them to keep improving speeds and frequencies while slowly adding new destinations, resulting in a fairly robust system within the next couple of decades.
That type of model is better for riders anyway: whether you’re catching a morning train to Durham for work or taking a weekend trip to Wilmington for fun, you book everything the same way. The rules are the same, the boarding process is the same, the expectations are the same. Much better than Manhattan or DC where you have three or four different intercity rail systems with different fare structures and ticketing systems and so on. So yeah, I’m good with all North Carolina rail service been operated by NCDOT. They have over three decades of experience with this and have really proven themselves over the past few years.
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Bingo
Keep enhancing the Piedmont corridor, stations, frequency, and build from there.
BTW, I saw a Siemens Charger pass thru Cary the other day as part of either the Carolinian or Palmetto
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I made a Caltrans corridor services analogy over on the commuter rail thread:
Keystone Corridor runs 14 trains/day, though ofc they’re also electrified.
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I opened the google earth KMZ files. very cool. So that routing for what was just funded up thru Wake Forest takes a northern turn at RUS. I’m guessing that means to run these trains they have to build the second platform at RUS after the Wye/split/whatever it’s called?
I suppose they could cheap out and load from existing platform and then back up, west bound, switch the tracks to the north, and head out…but that would be lame.
Anyone know the plan at RUS?
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That sounds correct. You reminded me of an old site plan, very preliminary, from 2013 that shows an outline of a future concourse on the northern side of the station. Here it is. I imagine it would then connect to a second platform.
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Was it this northern platform that would dictate the closing of Hargett St?
They should go ahead and start that additional platform! Last night, 77 and 79 were there at the same time and it was packed!
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Another question for @orulz out of curiosity:
-
When do you expect new platforms to be built given a 6th Piedmont being planned & S-Line soon under construction?
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Since there are only three(?) possible additional tracks due to the space limitations at RUS currently, will there ever be a point in the foreseeable future when it’s “at capacity?” Say, for example, all of the routes selected for CID come online, plus triangle regional rail. Any future options for expansion you can think of?
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I believe it would, yes.
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Was looking at the 2015 State Rail Plan and noticed it put Full Southeast Corridor Implementation (Raleigh-Richmond) at $3.8B, with a 2035 timeframe. Odd that the later document gives a lower cost.
Something else in the State Rail Plan (which is undergoing revision) that I hadn’t noticed before, though it’s not Raleigh-specific, is “New service to connect Charlotte to Northeast via Lynchburg, VA” – a twin to the Crescent, similar to how Minnesota is funding a twin to the Empire Builder. Haven’t seen any mention of it since, though.
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anyone know if they can use a curving platform closer to the station, or if it must be straight? Would be nice if they didn’t have to have it so far from the current station and could keep Hargett Street crossing open. Walking to Wye Hill Brewing or the (“nice”) new Flex just over the tracks on Hargett will be a pain from the warehouse district if they close it!
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