LYNX - Charlotte NC Light Rail (CATS, NS, NCRR)

The Blue Line Extension opened today! This is an additional 9.7 miles of LRT (running Northeast from downtown Charlotte to the campus of UNC Charlotte) attached to the original Blue line (9.6 miles) which runs South of downtown Charlotte.

My initial ride revealed that the service is a bit slower than planned (30 minutes from downtown to UNCC vs. the planned 22) and there are some kinks still to be resolved, particularly related to the grade crossing gates on the N Tryon street median running portion. After the initial settling in period I suspect the line will be well patronized (I will be a daily rider).

For rail fans the two elevated portions of the line between 25th st and Sugar Creek stations provide excellent views of the NS yard entrance and the NCRR tracks leading out of town (along with the Charlotte skyline). The LRT runs along side the NCRR tracks from Parkwood station (mostly yard views) to Old Concord Rd Station (3 or 4 miles) (36th street to Old Concord rd is beside or above the main).

The Blue Line extension has been open for about 6 months now. There have been some teething pains:

1) A 22 minute trip between downtown and UNC Charlotte (the end of the extension) were promised. 31 minutes is what was delivered (no faster than driving). This is (IMO) correctable with better grade crossing protection in a few spots where the extension runs in the median of N Tryon street.
2) Parking decks on the extension are way under capacity. CATS had said they were going to charge for parking at the two decks closest to the University (unless you had a daily, weekly or monthly pass). This discouraged many potential park and riders.
3) Ridership when the line opened in March was around 24,000 per day. Last month it was 28,000. Projected first year ridership was 33,500 per day. There is still some significant construction along the extension and there are around 2,500 multi-family units currently in various stages of construction along the extension.
4) Despite parking costs of nearly $600 per year, ridership to the University has been OK, but not stellar. This may be related to the fact that faculty and students all have very different start times to their days so traffic is diffuse. I hear that the 1am train back to campus is always very crowded (I am never up late enough to verify).

Despite the issues above Charlotte is very happy to have the line open and its been positively received. There is also great potential for it to revitalize portions of town that have been long neglected. Overall its been a success, but the extension didn't knock the transit ball out of the park yet.

Phase 2 of the Lynx Gold Line (streetcar) opened to very little fanfare yesterday. This phase added around 3 miles to the initial 1.5 mile starter segment which opened in 2015. Phase 2 features modern vehicles from Siemans (the replica Gamaco trollys used for phase 1 were unreliable, they were recently sold to Memphis). The construction process was difficult, largely due to contractor incompetence, the opening was 1 day before the federal deadline for opening was reached. The line operates in mixed traffic in shared lanes. There is no signal preemption.

The Line now runs through the center of downtown Charlotte on Trade Street. Transfers to the Blue Line, and CATS buses happen at Charlotte Transportation Center (adjacent to the arena). The west end terminates at JC Smith University (French st), the east end at Sunnyside ave, near the Plaza Midwood neighborhood district. The Gold Line will serve Gateway station (once it opens).

While there is a pandemic, it appears CATS plans to operate the line at 20 minute, unscheduled, frequencies. CATS also lacks a real time tracking app, so using this as a circulator will be a challenge for riders. I certainly hope CATS will increase frequencies when downtown employment returns.

While I will appreciate the East-West option downtown on occasion, the slow speed of this line will prevent it from being as popular as the Blue Line.

Whoopsie: https://charlotte.axios.com/323412/cats ... he-tracks/

Last May, a Blue Line light rail train went off its tracks due to a faulty axle bearing. Charlotte Area Transit System mainly kept the incident under wraps.
...
What’s happening: Cagle, who became interim CATS CEO in December, told city council about the derailment on Monday. He said he only learned about it two weeks ago after the state Department of Transportation contacted CATS. NCDOT ordered the agency to craft an action plan to prevent another malfunction.

“I think I can speak for council that we didn’t know about this,” City Council member Renee Johnson said. “So, that’s concerning.”
Details: The train had just passed through the Old Pineville Grade Crossing between Scaleybark and Woodlawn stations when a wheel on the middle truck derailed. It “traveled 1,206 feet down the alignment before coming to a stop safely,” per CATS.

There were 24 passengers onboard who offloaded safely. One requested a medical evaluation.
Two more derailments occurred last year at CATS’ North and South train yards in September and October, WBTV found.
NCDOT ordered CATS to slow the Blue Line’s speed down to a max of 35 mph (from an average of 40-45 mph). The system, Cagle said, now has “mitigating measures” in place to help identify a problem “before it becomes a catastrophic failure.”
...

Not telling you immediate superiors is what? How that derailment did not go all the way to the top is ??? Especially the costs to replace the out of warranty bearings? how did injured passenger not tell the tale?

It appears that Norfolk Southern may have softened its perspective on allowing CATS to purchase / lease its O-Line tracks for heavy rail transit to North Mecklenburg.

Link to a July letter from NS to the mayor and city manager of Charlotte about O-Line discussions (it is suspiciously brief): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UzVoVv ... view?pli=1

NS change in mood is more broadly discussed in this local news source: https://charlotteledger.substack.com/p/ ... n-says-its

This project has been stalled for two decades due to NS. Establishing some type of rail transit to the North Mecklenburg towns is viewed as critical for gaining voter support for the expansion of the transit tax which will be necessary for construction of the Silver Line project (or similar). Charlotte area transit has really fallen into a rut over the past 5 years, shaking the Red Line project loose would allow for a massive course correction.

Buy it and transfer it to the state. As well get operating option or purchase option for line to the full wye at the Ashville district and from there to Salisbury. as well transfer ROW title of the out of service line from Mooresville - Statesville.
That will give a more direct RR route(s) Charlotte <> Ashville in the distant future instead of the unworkable routing thru Salisbury!

west point wrote: ↑Wed Oct 18, 2023 12:50 pm Buy it and transfer it to the state. As well get operating option or purchase option for line to the full wye at the Ashville district and from there to Salisbury. as well transfer ROW title of the out of service line from Mooresville - Statesville.
That will give a more direct RR route(s) Charlotte <> Ashville in the distant future instead of the unworkable routing thru Salisbury!

NCDOT has an opportunity to do what Virginia did a few years ago with substantial track purchases to ensure passenger rail connectivity. In addition to the NCRR, NCDOT and/or CATS has been recently rumored to have an opportunity to purchase:

• The S-Line from Raleigh to the VA State line from CSX (shortcut to Richmond and the NEX)
  • • The S-Line south of Raleigh to Hamlet (commuter rail to Sanford)
    • The CSX line from Goldsboro to Wallace (this is the most 'rumory') this would mean the state would own 99% of the tracks from Raleigh to Wilmington
    • The NS S-Line from Salisbury to Asheville (and beyond?)
    • The NS O-Line from Charlotte to Mooresville (Charlotte regional rail) (and perhaps intercity to Winston) -- this may be the most difficult deal to land
    This would be a huge array of track that would connect to nearly every significant urban center in the state. These opportunities are dovetailing nicely with federal route development grants that were applied for several months ago.
    
    The NC General Assembly is not rail supportive, but other than that, the stars are possibly aligning for a passenger rail renaissance in NC. Its really a shame that the most recent Triangle Commuter rail proposal was shot down by the feds.
    
    [I am not sure the Charlotte-Barber Junction-Asheville route is much shorter than the Salisbury backtrack, it would certainly be slower than the NCRR]