Anderson: High-Speed Rail will Benefit PWC, Stafford

By Del. Richard Anderson

The Virginia – North Carolina High-Speed Rail Compact last met in Richmond on Jan. 7, and meet again on Sept. 19 in Raleigh. We meet every six months and alternate between the two state capitol buildings.

The driver for high-speed rail is that the Southeast was one of the nation’s fastest growing regions over the last decade, with population increasing 16.5 percent. Traffic gridlock and energy prices increase the drive and need for more efficient intercity travel. As a result, Virginia and North Carolina have created the High-Speed Rail Compact and are using $800 million in federal, state, and private funds to progress the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor. To fully develop the SEHSR corridor, Virginia and North Carolina will need approximately $7.7 billion in funding.

The Washington to Richmond corridor has been appropriated $75 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to build 11.4 miles of additional track capacity in Prince William and Stafford counties. The area received $45.5 million in federal FY 2010 funds to complete the next level of environmental analysis on the Richmond-Washington corridor and to complete environmental and preliminary engineering work on a new bridge over the Appomattox River. This work will bring the Richmond-Washington portion of the corridor to the same level of environmental analysis as the Richmond-Raleigh portion. The Richmond to Norfolk corridor has seen their Tier 1 environmental study advanced through the public comment stage and sent to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for final approval. Once the FRA provides a Record of Decision on the route eligible for federal funding, the corridor can begin the next phase of the federal planning process heading toward construction readiness.

Virginia is also in the process of investing $101 in the Richmond-Norfolk corridor to add the needed capacity to extend the first of three passenger trains to the region since 1977. The Norfolk-Boston Amtrak Northeast Regional Service is expected to launch in October 2013. The introduction of the new conventional speed Amtrak Virginia service allows the Richmond-Hampton Roads corridor to be considered an emerging high speed rail corridor, which makes the corridor more competitive for federal funding.

North Carolina and Virginia continue work on the Tier 2 environmental study for the corridor between Richmond and Raleigh. North Carolina received a $4 million federal grant to complete the study, and public hearings are taking place along the study corridor in those areas which have seen changes since hearings were held in July 2010.

The document is scheduled to be sent to the FRA for review/approval in late 2012. When approval is given, the corridor will be ready for construction pending funding availability. In the meantime, $25 million will be invested in the current Richmond to Raleigh corridor alignment to improve safety.

Del. Richard Anderson (R-Lake Ridge, Prince William) serves on the Virginia – North Carolina High Speed Rail Compact.