So I just attended a free Southeast Rail Forum webinar. Wasn’t super familiar with SRF prior to this session, but it appears to be a conference that is generally held once every two years regarding passenger rail in the Southeast. If I understand correctly, the full conference was postponed due to COVID and will now be held virtually in Spring 2021. In the meantime, they’ve been holding webinars, the second of which was today (a third and final webinar is scheduled for some time in January). Today’s webinar featured two presenters from NCDOT: Julie White and Jason Orthner.
All that being said, here’s what I learned about the status of SEHSR:
- The NCDOT team that’s been assembled for this project seems to be a bit more diverse than usual for a Rail Division project in terms of expertise. Julie mentioned several times that they are seeking to take a multimodal approach to S-Line development, specifically mentioning biking, trails, transit, and land use planning. There seems to be a heavy emphasis on TOD for the corridor, and the team is working with local partners (MPOs and governing bodies) to determine needs and demands.
- Bit more detail on the TOD side: Julie mentioned that transit-oriented development has a track record of good returns on investment and that NCDOT has historically not taken advantage of that. For this project, they’d like to reevaluate that approach and have already begun communicating with developers regarding parcels along the corridor that are adjacent to their properties. Two specific examples that were cited were Hoffman’s Seaboard Station redevelopment and Spectrum’s Midtown properties (namely the Wegmans development).
- The team is paying very close attention to what is going on in Washington currently. Stimulus packages were mentioned several times by both presenters, and they seem to have high hopes for something coming through the pipeline in the near future. They also mentioned that they’ve been looking into both FRA and FTA funding options.
- The first question during the Q&A segment was, of course, regarding the timeline, and, of course, they didn’t have specifics. They did mention that they expect some preliminary design opportunities in the next year or so, and Jason specifically noted that they are “in a position to advance fairly quickly once funding is made available.” The words “steady progress” were used multiple times, and they heavily emphasized that the S-Line acquisitions being made by Virginia and North Carolina have set them up for a lot of future movement.
- They also mentioned taking a more incremental approach to projects on the corridor. Julie said that the team is focusing on the possibility of some “early quick wins,” such as pilot programs to Sanford or Wake Forest. Jason also noted that they are looking into the possibility of extending current services like the Piedmont up the S-Line and mentioned spare fleet vehicles that NCDOT currently owns (I’m wondering if he’s referring to the circus cars in the woods out east, or if he’s talking about the current Piedmont fleet, which is going to be replaced thanks to two FRA grants).
- One attendee asked about cooperation from CSX, and Julie cited the CCX Intermodal Terminal project in Rocky Mount as the foundation for what has become a great working relationship with CSX. She also noted that the full S-Line build-out will alleviate congestion on the A-Line, so this is a win-win for both parties, and CSX seems to recognize that.
- Lastly, near the beginning of the presentation, the presenters mentioned that their long-term vision for the Southeast Corridor Commission (the organization leading this effort) is to become something reminiscent of what currently exists for the NEC. My interpretation of this is that the SCC essentially becomes a fourth arm of Amtrak, much like how the Northeast Corridor has it’s own corporate structure and leadership within the company. I might be reading into that statement a bit too much, but it’s an interesting thought.
And finally, here’s a couple slides I snagged from the presentation. Nothing too new, but I figured they were worth sharing.
Here’s hoping for good news in January. My apologies in advance if I misunderstood anything that was said during the presentation; this is merely an area of interest for me, not an area of expertise.