(The following appeared on the Progressive Railroading website on May 13, 2010.)
The North Carolina Railroad Co. (NCRR) recently released the results of a study that projects annual ridership on its commuter-rail line between Goldsboro and Greensboro will increase to nearly 3 million by 2022.
Conducted by Steer Davies Gleave, the study also predicts that proposed service along the railroad’s line would rank 16th among the 23 commuter-rail systems in the nation, NCRR officials said in a prepared statement.
In addition, the study recommends where additional track investments need to be made according to where demand is predicted to be the highest and where congestion might occur between passenger and freight rail.
“This study highlights the potential of commuter rail in our region,” said NCRR Chairman John Atkins in a prepared statement.