Major passenger rail expansion announced in the United States!

Odds are, regardless of where in the continental United States you reside in, your state likely received some sort of federal grant funding last week to either plan or implement increased passenger rail service. In fact, the Biden Administration announced that the federal government would provide funding to the tune of $8.2 billion for rail projects across the country¹. This level of investment in our country’s rail infrastructure has not been seen since the formation of Amtrak in the 1970s.

Below is a map detailing the various projects across the country that secured start-up or construction funding²:

Below is a brief summary of the projects I’m most excited to see ultimately come to fruition both here in North Carolina and beyond:

North Carolina/Virginia S-Line: High-speed rail from Raleigh, NC to Richmond, VA

Often dubbed the R2R line, building more direct and up-to-date high-speed rail from Raleigh to Richmond is paramount to connecting our state to the Mid-Atlantic region and the Northeast Corridor. The plan will start with expansion of the Piedmont route to Wake Forest and ultimately allows for passenger rail trains operating from Charlotte to Washington, DC. The current service between these two cities, the Carolinian, only runs one train daily and compares poorly to driving due to the route’s long detour into Eastern North Carolina. A direct shot from Raleigh to Richmond cuts the trip up north down by nearly two hours, placing it within striking distance of driving time. Connections by rail to Asheville and Wilmington were also announced for initial studies; I’m excited to see those finalized as well!

California high-speed rail projects: NorCal to SoCal, California to Vegas

California secured funding for two major projects: a high-speed rail line connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles; and a line connecting the neighboring Inland Empire to Las Vegas, NV. The former project has the capacity to more efficiently connect two of our country’s major economic and cultural hubs while the latter expands rail connection to Las Vegas for the first time in decades. The Vegas line will be built and operated by Brightline, the same private rail provider currently operating service in Florida from Orlando to Miami.

High-speed rail service in Texas

Another major player in the high-speed rail conversation here in the United States is the Dallas to Houston corridor in Texas. Both cities currently see limited passenger rail service considering they’re two of the largest metropolitan areas in the entire country. Initial projections show a bullet train connecting the two cities in just around 90 minutes, a game-changer for transportation in the Lone Star State³.

High-speed rail connecting Atlanta, GA to Charlotte, NC

Back to North Carolina we go! Charlotte was certainly spoiled in this round of funding. In addition to improved connectivity to Washington, DC and the Northeast Corridor, funding was set aside for the planning of a high-speed rail line connecting the Queen City to Atlanta. The above map indicates to me that this line would be separate from the existing Amtrak/freight tracks; instead, the line would mostly bypass cities in the Upstate region of South Carolina and provide service to Athens, GA, a possible new passenger rail station in downtown Atlanta, and the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. I was hoping this plan would incorporate some of South Carolina’s growing cities such as Greenville. However, the prospect of a modernized and integrated train station in downtown Atlanta has me looking forward to this project.

Ohio’s 3C+D corridor and more

Ohio received a massive infusion of funding to plan for routes running all over the state. The most notable of these lines is the aptly-named 3C+D corridor, which would connect Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati. Other routes include from Cleveland to Toledo to Detroit, from Pittsburgh to Columbus to Chicago, and increased service from Washington, DC to Cincinnati to Chicago. 

One route I’d like to see expanded among these would be the Pittsburgh to Chicago line. Pittsburgh currently has limited rail connection to the East Coast (though a second daily Pennsylvanian will increase service marginally to Philadelphia and New York). Further expanding this service while dedicating service to run between Pittsburgh and Washington, DC would bolster this level of connectivity into Ohio and beyond.

Wisconsin connections to Chicago and the Twin Cities

Thanks to the recently-announced funding, Wisconsin also will see considerable passenger rail service expansion. For starters, residents of Madison will see rail connection to Milwaukee and Chicago for the first time in recent memory. It’ll also be easier to catch a Packers game thanks to rail service running from Milwaukee and Green Bay. Finally, Wisconsin will see multiple lines across the state connecting its many communities to the Minneapolis-St. Paul region; Milwaukee, Madison, Eau Claire, would all have rail service to the St. Paul Amtrak station.

Front Range rail

I’ll stop myself after this one, but I can’t help but get excited over the prospect of Colorado’s largest cities once again having rail connection to one another. Passenger rail service in Colorado is particularly in desperate need, as it’s a major missing link between Denver’s extensive transit network, the walkable college town of Boulder, and Ft. Collins’ dense and bikeable downtown. This rail line would even extend all the way into Wyoming.

I’m of the opinion that increased rail connection and service to any city no matter what size is a good thing. It expands intercity and interstate travel to a wider audience of folks, including people who might have difficulty driving or flying. Furthermore, it incentivizes our cities to bolster their local and regional transit systems to accommodate the new league of visiting arriving to your city by train with no car to be had. Last week’s news has the capacity to simultaneously transform our urban spaces and increase accessibility to rural communities amidst record-level ridership on rail systems across the country.

I’m currently working on a project to (literally) map out the impact of this rail investment here in North Carolina, along with the local and regional systems here in the Triangle that would be necessary to build cohesion within our transportation network. Stay tuned for Spring of 2024 when I share more information in my ‘Triangle transit concepts’ series.

Sources

1. Erickson, B. (2023). ‘Biden administration announces largest passenger rail investment since Amtrak creation.’ CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-administration-passenger-rail-investment/

2. ‘FY22 Corridor Identification and Development Program Selections,’ U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration. 

3. ‘Texas Central Railroad.’

https://www.texascentral.com/