What High Speed Rail looks like for North Carolina
NCDOT Secretary Gene Conti, along with representatives from __ other states, met with USDOT Secretary Lahood and VP Biden yesterday to discuss, what else, High Speed Rail. The Fayetteville Observer talked to Conti about the trip, and about his goals for HSR between Charlotte and Raleigh.
Sec. Conti, like most state rail advocates around the country, is pinning his hopes for HSR on the Federal Government.
“I feel very confident a significant amount of money,” Conti said. “I can’t tell you exactly how much, but we are well positioned because we have put our own money in this effort for many years.”
I’d put that figure around 530 million dollars for work between Charlotte and Raleigh. The link is no longer up, but I reported back in February (while I was still in Massachusetts, mind you). Conti also mentioned that NCDOT wants to increase the average speed of Amtrak trains on the NCRR from 54 to 85 mph. Good stuff. More on this later in the week.
Note: apologies for being out of commission. I left my Americorps position last month due to a conflict regarding in-state tuition this fall at UNC. On the plus side, I now have a lot more time to do some reporting on state transportation policy!
