My dad worked for a railroad, so I grew up around it and I used to work on the safety crew for Southern Railway’s steam excursions out of Atlanta. Most locomotive engineers who have been on the job for 20+ years have watched somebody die in front of them and then had to walk back to the scene, check for the injured and dead, pee in a bottle and get interviewed by the police and by RR management, etc. Some old-timers have had it happen more than once. It’s a terrible experience.
I’ve ridden a Piedmont from Charlotte to Raleigh when it plowed into a truck. Fortunately, no one was injured and nothing derailed, although the engine crew was badly shaken. Back in the train, we heard the emergency brakes shoot and the conductor had the presence of mind to immediately shout at everyone to stay seated. Great work on his part. The grade crossing in question has since been closed.
Nothing really new, other than that leadership seems optimistic this is still moving ahead.
Despite a federal funding pause, North Carolina’s plan for faster passenger rail service between Raleigh and Richmond, Virginia, is weeks away from a review that could get the dollars back online.
Jason Orthner, rail division director for NCDOT, said he’s confident the federal dollars will ultimately be awarded, calling it a “paperwork exercise.”
Orthner said such funding reviews are common when a new presidential administration comes in. The goal is to “ensure that the project still meets all of the necessary requirements.”
“We’re anticipating finishing that soon,” he said. The paperwork and required documentation should be completed in the “next several weeks,” allowing work to start in earnest.
Didn’t realize that the full report on the mobility hub/train station for Apex was out (and adopted by the town council): Apex Mobility Hub Study
Still working my way through it all, but a few interesting nuggets in here, like the fact that NCDOT is working towards an extension of S-Line passenger services to Columbia, SC as they think it could improve their competitiveness for federal grants along this corridor (Raleigh->Hamlet was not selected for a CID award last time around).
The tactic is worth trying but I’m skeptical about results. For decades, support from SCDOT and the SC GA for passenger rail has been tepid at best and mostly limited to stations.