The state Department of Transportation is seeking a $6.7 million federal grant to move ahead on proposals to extend passenger train service into western and southeastern North Carolina.
Feasibility studies have found that travelers want the option to ride trains west to Asheville and east to Wilmington. Now DOT wants money for more study on ridership and revenue forecasts, construction and operating costs, and for preliminary design work.
One proposed line would run west to Asheville from the Amtrak stop at Salisbury. The other would link Raleigh and Selma to Wilmington by one of two routes - passing either through Goldsboro or through Fayetteville and Pembroke.
The rail extensions would feed Amtrak routes that link North Carolina to Florida and to the northeastern United States, as well as the existing routes between Raleigh and Charlotte. DOT plans to start running a third daily round-trip pair of trains between Raleigh and Charlotte on June 7, and a fourth pair in 2012.
"We're looking forward to a future of North Carolina growing and changing its form of growth, from sprawling to a more urbanized growth that will be well served by intercity passenger rail service," said Pat Simmons, the DOT Rail Division director.
DOT proposes to match $1.7 million in state funds with a $6.7 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration for the new study. The state is competing for a share of about $50 million in rail planning grants to be awarded in the fall.
