These master plan efforts have found the SEHSR to be a viable high speed rail corridor with many potential benefits for North Carolina and the nation. Because of the completed studies, the North Carolina Department of Transportation has determined that:

• Passenger rail service at high speeds (95-100 mph) in North Carolina is achievable. The current travel time between Charlotte and Richmond can be reduced by 50 percent, from eight hours to under four hours at a cost of $636 to $835 million, or around $2.5 million per mile.
• The Southeast High Speed Rail corridor will have a major impact on travel demand to and within North Carolina and on the State's transportation network. Ridership projections show that the SEHSR could handle 1,180,000 passengers annually traveling to and from North Carolina. The majority of these trips would be diverted from interstates and crowded airways.
• The SEHSR will require no operating subsidy by 2015. Potential revenues from passenger demand will be higher than the annual operating costs of the corridor, making the SEHSR a commercially feasible system.
• The success of the SEHSR is dependent upon its full implementation from Charlotte to Washington, DC. Connecting the SEHSR to the Northeast Corridor will increase ridership by 50 percent and revenue by 100 percent over a Charlotte to Raleigh system. This shows that a fully constructed corridor has a higher probability of commercial success and therefore would require no operating subsidy.
• The SEHSR has many benefits for North Carolina. The economic and transportation benefits from the construction, increase in leisure and business travel, increased productivity, and reduced auto accidents will be over $1 billion for North Carolina alone. The SEHSR would give North Carolina a competitive advantage over other States in the promotion of economic development.
• The SEHSR is also a corridor of national significance. The Federal Railroad Administration's commercial feasibility study of high speed rail for the U.S. Congress gives the SEHSR "exceptional treatment" stating that the "average trip on the Southeast Corridor would be longer and generate more revenue than any other illustrative route" and "would increase traffic levels on the NEC itself." Because of its connection with the highly successful Northeast Corridor, the SEHSR will improve the efficiency of passenger travel along the entire Mid Atlantic coast.