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- News Release
- Date: August 24, 2001
- North Carolina and Virginia Form Commission to Develop High-Speed Rail
- Raleigh--North Carolina and Virginia have formed a bi-state commission to review and encourage development of high-speed train service from Washington, D.C. to Charlotte.
- "The Virginia-North Carolina High-Speed Rail Commission opens the lines of communication between our state legislators and provides a tool to work together across state lines to develop high-speed rail," said Virginia Transportation Secretary Shirley Ybarra.
- New legislation, approved by both states earlier this year, created the 12-member commission to evaluate the feasibility of establishing high-speed rail service. As part of their duties, the commission will meet with railroad officials, state and local officials and other interested parties. If the commission finds it feasible and desirable to establish high-speed rail service, the group will recommend necessary legislative actions and a funding program.
- "The success of high-speed rail in North Carolina depends on the success of high-speed rail in Virginia and other neighboring states," said N.C. Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett. "No one state can build this new system alone -- all states must work together as a region."
- Tippett stressed the need for legislators to get involved in order to better understand the role in partnering with the federal government to finance construction, make decisions about routes and station stops and set priorities.
- N.C. Representative Jim Crawford said developing high-speed rail could boost economic development in the two states. "Initial studies show this high-speed corridor would not only provide a much-needed transportation alternative, but also would act as a catalyst for development along and near the route."
- Each state appointed six members to the commission. Along with Representative Crawford (Oxford), North Carolina's delegates include Senators Wib Gulley (Durham), Kay Hagen (Greensboro) and Bob Rucho (Matthews) and Representatives Nelson Cole (Reidsville) and Pete Cunningham (Charlotte). Virginia's delegates include Senators John Watkins (Midlothian) and Kenneth Stolle (Virginia Beach) and Delegates Paul Councill (Franklin), Jack Rollison, III (Woodbridge), Leo Wardrup (Virginia Beach) and John Welch (Virginia Beach).
- "This is an important first step in coordinating the public-private efforts to bring high-speed rail service to the southeast," added Senator Watkins from Virginia.
- The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) designated five national high-speed rail corridors across the country in 1992. The Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor - extending from Washington, D.C. through Richmond and Raleigh to Charlotte -- has been identified as the most economically viable high-speed rail corridor in the country. In 1998, the USDOT extended the corridor south from Charlotte through Greenville and Spartanburg, S.C. to Atlanta and Macon and from Raleigh south through Columbia, S.C. and Savannah to Jacksonville, Florida. The North Carolina and Virginia transportation departments currently are working on environmental studies for the Washington-to-Charlotte portion of the corridor.
- Contact:
- David Foster 919-733-7245, ext. 266
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