(The following article by Howie Paul Hartnett was posted on the Charlotte Observer website on August 26.)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For $1.4 billion, state and federal transportation officials believe they can get train passengers from Charlotte to Atlanta in 3 hours 40 minutes — about an hour and a half faster than today.
But don’t try to book a ticket yet.
Officials have just begun studying how to improve the 262-mile Norfolk Southern line between the two Southern cities. The first study listing the $1.4 billion price tag was completed earlier this year.
It will be years before workers start driving spikes and straightening track for faster trains.
Still, transportation and business officials say speeding up the line is important for the future of passenger and freight service in North Carolina and other states.
According to the Southeastern Economic Alliance, a coalition of 14 chambers of commerce in six states, traffic congestion on southeast region freeways will increase 400 percent by 2020.
For years, state transportation departments have worked to make rail a faster option. But to do anything beyond their borders, officials needed federal help.
So two years ago they began studying the cost of developing high-speed service between Charlotte; Spartanburg; Greenville, S.C.; Atlanta; and Macon, Ga. The Federal Railroad Administration, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina paid for the $200,000 study.
The study proposes improving the rail line in three phases. The first would require minimum track upgrades, such as adding a second track in some areas and straightening some curves. The $171 million project would increase top speed to 79 mph. The average would be 60 mph. Current top speeds are generally between 50 mph and 60 mph for freight trains.
The second phase would relocate 28 miles of sharper curves, upgrade the track and make extensive crossing improvements. This project would cost $1.1 billion and raise the max speed to 90 mph, with an average of 70 mph.
The third phase would straighten 103 miles of curvy track, among other improvements. The top speed would jump to 110 mph, but trains would reach that speed about 5 percent of the time because of the line’s layout, the report states. The average speed would be 72 mph.
The report suggests phases because transportation officials don’t believe they can get $1 billion to do all the improvements at once.
“You’ve got to prove your market first,” said Hal Wilson, an administrator for the Georgia DOT.
N.C. officials are also following that method in creating the high-speed line from Charlotte to Washington. While they work with Virginia and federal officials on the high-speed line, N.C. crews are improving the rail line between Charlotte and Raleigh.
By next year, changes will shave 40 minutes off the now 3 hour, 45 minute-trip.