Southeast High Speed Rail – Richmond, VA, to Raleigh, NC
Tier II Draft Environmental Impact Statement

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Overview
Welcome to the Southeast High Speed Rail (SEHSR) Tier II Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) website. The SEHSR project proposes to implement approximately 162 miles of high speed rail as part of an overall plan to extend high speed passenger rail service from the Northeast Corridor (Boston to Washington, DC) southward through Virginia to Charlotte, NC. The Richmond to Raleigh portion includes nearly 100 new bridges/overpasses that, when combined with existing bridges/overpasses, will create a fully grade-separated system to ensure the safety of passengers and crews, motorists and the surrounding community.

The project corridor generally follows the CSX S-line from Main Street Station, Richmond, VA, to Centralia, VA, then the CSX A-line to Collier Yard, Petersburg, VA. South of Collier Yard the corridor follows the Burgess Connector rail line to Burgess, VA, and the former Seaboard Air Line (S-line) to Norlina, NC, where the S-line returns to an active freight railroad. In Raleigh, NC, the study corridor includes two alternatives: the western branch follows the existing Norfolk Southern (NS) NS-line; the eastern branch continues to follow the CSX S-line. The two branches rejoin before the terminus of the project at the Boylan Wye. 

The Tier I EIS completed in 2002 established the purpose and need for the overall project and selected a preferred corridor between Washington, DC, and Charlotte, NC. This Tier II DEIS evaluates detailed study alternatives within this preferred corridor between Richmond and Raleigh In the Tier II DEIS, the project corridor is divided into 26 sections. There are three alternatives in each section, and each rail alternative includes an associated set of highway improvements. In many areas, the alternatives are concurrent. The endpoints of each of the 26 sections are in locations where the alternative alignments are in a common location. The alternatives are evaluated section by section based on impacts to the human and natural environment, as well as costs and constructability, allowing a “best-fit” preferred alternative to be developed for the entire study corridor. 

Viewing Locations
Copies of the DEIS and appendices are available for review at the following locations:

• Richmond Main Public Library, 101 East Franklin Street, Richmond, VA
• Richmond Regional Planning District Commission, 9211 Forest Hill Avenue, Suite 200, Richmond, VA
• Chesterfield County Central Public Library, 9501 Lori Road, Chester, VA
• Colonial Heights Public Library, 1000 Yacht Basin Drive, Colonial Heights, VA
• Petersburg Central Public Library, 137 S. Sycamore Street, Petersburg, VA
• Crater District Planning Commission, 1964 Wakefield Street, Petersburg, VA
• Dinwiddie County Planning Department, 14016 Boydton Plank Road, Dinwiddie, VA
• Southside Virginia Community College Library, Christianna Campus, 109 Campus Drive, Alberta, VA
• Southside Planning District Commission, 200 S. Mecklenburg Avenue, South Hill, VA
• Norlina Town Hall, 101 Main Street, Norlina, NC
• NCDOT District 3 Office, 321 Gillburg Road, Henderson, NC
• Franklinton Branch Public Library, 9 West Mason Street, Franklinton, NC
• NCDOT District 1 Office, 4009 District Drive, Raleigh, NC

For More Information
For more information about the SEHSR project, please contact one of the project managers:

You may also reach us via the project’s toll-free hotline: (877) 749-7245