S-Line Project Kicks Off in North Carolina

“Thanks to Secretary Pete [Buttigieg], USDOT, the Federal Railroad Administration and all our partners for making the S-Line passenger rail a reality!!” NCDOT Secretary Joey Hopkins said in a July 1 LinkedIn post. “Thanks to the hard work of our NCDOT team we broke ground on the first construction project in the Raleigh to Wake Forest segment, a $19M project to grade separate Durant Road 7 months after the grant announcement!!” (Photograph Courtesy of Joey Hopkins)

State and federal officials on July 1 participated in a groundbreaking ceremony in North Carolina for the S-Line Project, part of the Raleigh to Richmond Innovating Rail Program to create a faster passenger rail route between the two cities, according to Gov. Roy Cooper’s office.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) in December was awarded up to $1.1 billion for Phase IA and II of the proposed S-Line Project under the Federal Railroad Administration’s FY22-23 Federal-State Partnership (National) Grant program.

The multi-phase project will develop a new passenger rail route between Raleigh, N.C., and Richmond, Va., along the CSX “S-Line” (part of the federally designated Southeast Corridor) that will connect North Carolina with Virginia, Washington, D.C., and the Northeast Corridor (see map below). The route is slated to save riders an estimated 90 minutes per trip.

The project received the FRA grant to complete final engineering design and right-of-way acquisition and for construction costs of the S-Line section from Raleigh to Wake Forest. NCDOT and Amtrak will provide a 20% non-federal match. The money will be used on new and upgraded track and replacement of 11 at-grade crossings with highway/rail overpasses. According to Gov. Cooper’s office, officials plan to upgrade the existing freight rail line to accommodate passenger rail service while maintaining the existing freight rail service. Additionally, construction in Wake County will include highway and rail bridges. The total cost of the S-Line project, conducted in partnership with NCDOT and the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority, is $1.4 billion. In 2020, the commonwealth of Virginia purchased 75 miles of S-Line right-of-way between Petersburg, Va., and Ridgeway, N.C.

“Thanks to Secretary Pete [Buttigieg], USDOT, the Federal Railroad Administration and all our partners for making the S-Line passenger rail a reality!!” NCDOT Secretary Joey Hopkins said in a July 1 LinkedIn post. “Thanks to the hard work of our NCDOT team we broke ground on the first construction project in the Raleigh to Wake Forest segment, a $19M project to grade separate Durant Road 7 months after the grant announcement!!”

“North Carolinians are clear they want safe, convenient and inexpensive ways to get where they’re going,” Gov. Cooper said in a ceremony announcement.