RALEIGH -- Aiming to make friends fast in Raleigh's Five Points neighborhood, Norfolk Southern Railway will pitch an air-conditioned tent at its freight yard office Saturday for a "family/community day" with "food, a dunk tank & games for the kids! FREE!"
The railroad says its freight operation would suffer, and so would its Five Points neighbors, if the state Department of Transportation decided to route fast passenger trains through Norfolk Southern's yard on the west side of Capital Boulevard.
Norfolk Southern hopes to hear its views echoed by Five Points residents at a public hearing Monday on the impact in Wake County of the proposed Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor.
"It will have a profoundly adverse effect on our ability to serve our customers east and south of Raleigh," said John Edwards, passenger policy director for Norfolk Southern, who plans to speak at the hearing Monday.
"We also believe it will have an effect on the community, and we hope the community and our customers will show up to say that."
Lu-Ann C. Perryman, a Cary lobbyist, delivered invitations to Five Points homes last weekend for the Saturday event, 4-8 p.m. at 1500 Carson St.
The cards say that residents attending the gathering will hear from "informed speakers and concerned neighbors about a better route for Five Points." Residents are urged to lobby officials and sign a petition.
Norfolk Southern is identified on the invitations. But the railroad's name does not appear on a trio of "Better Route for Five Points" websites, including Facebook and Twitter pages, that began pushing a similar message last week.
The other route under review by DOT would take passenger trains along the opposite side of Capital Boulevard, through a CSX rail yard that borders the Mordecai neighborhood.
Some Mordecai residents want to know what CSX thinks about all this. Reid Serozi, co-chairman of the Mordecai Citizens Advisory Council, drafted an e-mail Tuesday to a senior CSX official.
"We're just asking him: What things should we know as a community that you might want to share with us?" Serozi said. "We just want to get a take on where they are."
CSX did not respond to requests for comment.
Norfolk Southern makes its presence known in Five Points every day with the rumble and clatter of freight trains that pass through its yard, and the whistles sounded by engineers as they approach the Fairview Road crossing.
But the railroad does not typically invite residents to community gatherings.
"I've never heard of any event like this, hosted by Norfolk Southern," said Philip W. Poe, co-chairman of the Five Points Citizens Advisory Council. "This is really unusual."
