President Biden’s infrastructure plan could get more of NC rolling on rails

Business leaders considering moving their companies to North Carolina sometimes look over the commuting options for their employees and ask: Where’s the train?

Apart from Charlotte’s breakthrough with light rail, commuting by rail is still an exotic concept in North Carolina. This is an automobile-centric state that proudly calls itself “The good roads state.” And the roads are good, but rails are needed, too.

Now in President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, North Carolina can, like the Johnny Cash song, “Hear the train a comin’.” The president, who as a senator was a regular Amtrak commuter between Delaware and Washington, D.C., is proposing spending $80 billion to upgrade and expand Amtrak lines. If Biden’s plan is approved, some of that rail money will likely come to North Carolina.

The most significant impact on the state would be money to pay for a key part of a corridor that would provide a faster route from Raleigh to Richmond. Amtrak said it could also use the new funding to add passenger service to Wilmington and Asheville and new service from Charlotte to Greenville, S.C.

Jason T. Orthner, director of NCDOT’s Rail Division, said he is waiting for Amtrak’s plans to come into sharper focus. “We’re obviously watching the proposal and looking for more detail,” he said. “The information from Amtrak looks interesting for North Carolina.”

Republicans and Democrats at the federal and state levels have supported commuter rail in North Carolina, but the state may now be especially well-positioned with Rep. David Price (D-4th) serving as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee subcommittee that oversees transportation spending.

“I have long advocated for more funding to expand intercity passenger rail service. President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan would deliver for North Carolina,” Price said in a statement.

The rush of federal spending on regional rail service could also boost support for local commuter rail projects.

Sig Hutchinson, a Wake County commissioner and advocate for commuter rail, said the state could be returning to a time when travel by rail tied cities and towns together.

“This is back to the future,” he said. “All communities were once connected by rail, then Henry Ford came along and we got the Model-T and we decided we don’t want to do that any more.”

Plans for commuter rail are advancing so quickly that seven Triangle towns and cities could be connected by rail within 10 years. “This is a transformation,” Hutchinson said.

The renewed push for passenger rail comes after much frustration. Rail plans in the Triangle fell apart more than a decade ago. In 2019, plans for a light-rail system in Orange and Durham counties also unraveled after the regional transportation agency, GoTriangle, had spent about $130 million on planning, engineering and other costs.

The pandemic has added an element of uncertainty to previous estimates of rail passenger traffic. Some business observers think many workers will continue to work from home after the pandemic passes, a change that could reduce traffic for all commuting modes.

A recent GAO report to Congress on commuter rail prospects said, “Long-term shifts in commuting patterns and increased teleworking among former riders could affect commuter rail funding long after the immediate effects of the pandemic are over.”

Orthner doesn’t think that will be a problem. Amtrak train runs in North Carolina that were canceled during the pandemic have been restored and are filling up. “We’re certainly seeing that ridership bounce back,” he said. “A things continue to open up. They’re really going to be looking at rail as a travel option.”

It has been a tough year for traveling and a tough many years for passenger rail. But as life comes back to normal, trains may be coming back, too.

In the near future, visitors to North Carolina may stop asking: Where’s the train? Instead they may be riding on one.

Barnett: 919-829-4512, nbarnett@ newsobserver.com