Curious about commuter rail? Get your questions answered at virtual GoTriangle forum
If you’ve got questions about commuter rail and how it might work in the Triangle, you may want to set aside some time Thursday evening.
GoTriangle, the agency that is planning the train line that would connect the region’s largest cities with Research Triangle Park, is holding a virtual question-and-answer session on the project from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday.
Planners will talk about possible locations for stations and park-and-ride lots along the route and answer questions submitted online during the presentation. The trains would follow the existing North Carolina Railroad line from the west side of Durham through RTP, Morrisville, Cary and Raleigh and continue east to either Garner or Clayton.
To register for Thursday’s webinar on Zoom, go to bit.ly/3bHYmhS.
The commuter rail project received renewed attention this month when Congress passed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. Triangle politicians say the massive bill will help ensure federal money for the project, though GoTriangle isn’t ready to ask for it yet.
GoTriangle is still studying whether the project is technically, financially, legally and politically achievable. Based on the outcome of that study next spring, officials with Durham, Johnston and Wake counties and regional transportation planning organizations must then decide whether to proceed and begin applying for federal grants.
Federal money could cover up half of the estimated $1.4 billion to $2.1 billion cost to design and build the system, with the rest coming from the three counties. Durham and Wake both have half-cent sales taxes dedicated to transit.
The system would look and feel like the passenger trains that carry suburban commuters into cities such as Chicago and New York. It would share tracks with freight and Amtrak trains in the N.C. Railroad corridor that passes through the heart of the triangle.
If all goes as planned, construction would begin in 2025, with commuter trains running sometime in 2030.
This is the second effort to build a commuter rail system in the Triangle. GoTriangle’s predecessor, the Triangle Transit Authority, spent 11 years planning a 28-mile commuter train line along the same corridor before giving up in 2006 when it became clear the federal government would not provide funding.
Two years ago, GoTriangle abandoned a proposal to build an 18-mile light-rail line, mostly on new tracks between Durham and Chapel Hill, because of logistical and regulatory hurdles and escalating costs.
The latest commuter rail proposal originated in the Wake Transit Plan, which county voters approved in 2016 along with the sales tax increase to fund transit.
The plan also includes expanding existing bus service and the construction of four bus rapid transit lines radiating from downtown Raleigh. The federal government has pledged $35 million to help build the first of those lines, along New Bern Avenue. It is scheduled to be completed by 2024.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 11:01 AM.
