Raleigh/Durham Rail Commuter Service: DOA

It appears that proposed Raleigh Durham rail commuter service is "dead on arrival":

Raliegh News Observer

I find this "brief passage' to be both pertinent and interesting:

• The Triangle Transit Authority said back then that it would cost as little as $100 million to get trains rolling by 2000 from West Durham to North Raleigh through RTP, Cary and downtown Raleigh. But those plans carried a big assumption: that TTA would get free access to the existing tracks, which it could share with the freight trains

It appears that the proposing Agency "expected' CSX and/or NS to afford them the same access that was afforded Amtrak 35 years ago. However, I think it is a safe assumption that with the passage of time the managers of both roads realized their predecessors signed a "Faustian pact with the Devil" with regards to Amtrak access. At that time, rail capacity was infinite and the existing intercity passenger trains represented a real financial burden. Today same can hardly be said regarding capacity and the potential ridership at best could be considered "questionable'.

Lisa Myers (producer/reporter: NBC News "Fleecing of America') will have to find a story elsewhere; "sorry 'bout that' (I liked Don Adams' work, BTW)

I believe that track is owned by the state of North Carolina through the North Carolina Railroad in that area, so Triangle Transit is negotiating with the state and not with CSX or NS.

http://www.bytrain.org/track/

Additionally, the NCDOT is in the midst of upgrading those tracks between Charlotte and Raleigh (which includes the portion between Durham and Cary) specifically to improve passenger train running times.