Gov. Bev Perdue announced Jan. 28 that North Carolina is receiving $545 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for further development of the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor, a nearly 500-mile route that will allow trains to travel between Charlotte and Washington, D.C. at top speeds of up to 90-110 miles per hour and an average speed of 86 mph.

“Building this high-speed rail corridor will put our people to work on critical infrastructure projects and boost local economies in North Carolina,” said Perdue. “This is a huge leap toward making high-speed rail in North Carolina a reality.”

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson announced the funding award Jan. 28 during a ceremony at the newly renovated Durham train station. The project is expected to create or maintain 4,800 private sector jobs in North Carolina and provide environmental and energy benefits through reduced congestion and improved air quality.

“Every dollar we spend on high speed rail is an investment in job creation and in cleaning the air we all breathe,” said Jackson. “Building high speed rail will put people in North Carolina to work right away, lay the foundation for long term growth and make travel faster and cheaper – all while reducing our impact on the environment.”

Under the recovery funding, North Carolina received $520 million for improvements that will enable higher track speeds along the corridor between Raleigh and Charlotte, and $25 million for projects to improve reliability of existing service from Raleigh north to Virginia. In addition, Virginia received $75 million for improvements to the Richmond to Washington, D.C. section of the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor.

To read more.

http://www.governor.state.nc.us/NewsItems/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?newsItemID=889

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