Virginia and North Carolina have their act together trying to improve passenger

railroad service, but the rest of the Southeast needs to do better, according to U.S.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. 

“North Carolina and Virginia have been lone wolves in the wilderness for many

years trying to make progress on the Southeast passenger rail front, but they’re not going

to save the region alone,” he said.

“Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Washington, D.C. and other key

stakeholders must join together,” said Foxx, who is a former mayor of Charlotte.

The Southeast will grow by 13 million people and will see much more rail freight

by 2045, he notes. 

Virginia seems on track for a high-speed rail connection between Richmond and

Washington by 2025. Such a system could reduce travel time from two hours and 45

minutes to 90 minutes.

For that to happen, improvements are needed such as a third rail line, better car

crossing stops, and rail lines that are straightened out to avoid curves.

There are plenty of problems to overcome. Last week, some 200 people turned

out to a meeting in Hanover County to address the problems of changing rail traffic

patterns. Some residents in Ashland say there isn’t enough space to add a third rail line

next to the two that already cut through downtown. Other local residents say that their

property values will be hurt if a high-speed rail line is built west of Ashland.

Another problem is getting through CSX Transportation’s Acca yard in

Richmond, which is one of the busiest on the East Coast. Amtrak plans to bypass it.