Eastern Railroad Discussion > $470,000 approved for "S" Line in VA & NC

This is a LINK to Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. His page states $470,000 was approved for helping complete the "Tier-2" environmental study for re-building the S-Line from Raleigh, NC to Collier Yard at Petersburg, VA for the 110-mph Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor.

http://edwards.senate.gov/press/2003/1008-pr.html

Presumably this will accelerate the study (required by law). This second roung of environmental impact material will also determine ALL of the project's parts, including who will construct what, when, and what the operations of the restored corridor will look like (Such as who the owning carrier is, of course, CSX), schedules, sharing of the corridor with CSX intermodal and locals, etc. etc. Another complication is the condition of the long bridge over Lake Gaston, which sits at the NV-VA border and is visible just east of I-85.

I attended one of the Tier-2 public hearings earlier this year and was a bit disturbed when told local lond-owners had been told by real estate brokers and companies that sold them land next to the right-of-way that there would never be rail service in the corrider ever again--and now the state governments are saying just the opposite. One woman, who had just purchased a home right beside the right-of-way at Lake Gaston was concerned about "the noise." She said they would never have purchased the property had they known about the rail corridor restoration, and that their real estate contact insisted the RR was gone for good. Either the real estate companies wanted to make the sale so much they lied, or else the state planning agencies are making poor efforts to inform real estate brokers/sellers and land-owners along the S-Line.

The family in question (at Lake Gaston bridge) is being assured about details about future rail service there (such as ribbon rail, modern operations, etc.) that should make living next to an active rail line acceptable.

Yes, the project is going forward at light-speed now, and a lot of people are waiting to see what happens next. If all goes according to plan, re-construction should commence on the S-Line from Collier to the Henderson, NC area (just south of Lake Gaston) on or by 2005 or 2006, according to state planners in NC and VA.


http://www.sehsr.org

Imagine the audacity of those nasty real estate agents, sorta makes you want to buy a used car, too, doesn't it?

Good thing they got that in writing .......ya right!