CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A public transit project in North Carolina may be back on track after being delayed for years.

What You Need To Know

  • Charlotte City Council recently voted to use $5 million dollars to redesign the proposed LYNX Red Line
  • The rail line would connect between Uptown Charlotte and Mooresville
  • The project has been delayed for years because Norfolk Southern has been opposed to the idea of sharing its tracks with the city, according to Charlotte city leaders
  • City leaders now say there’s been “promising developments” in their conversations with the company

Charlotte City Council recently voted to use $5 million to redesign the proposed LYNX Red Line, which would connect the city to towns near Lake Norman.

The project has been delayed for over a decade mainly because the current Red Line design uses tracks that are owned by Norfolk Southern.

Historically, the railroad has been opposed to the idea, Charlotte city leaders say. But the redesign comes as city leaders say there’s been “promising developments” in their conversations with the company.

“People have been told that we’re hopeful, we like what we’re seeing – these developments – for years there were no developments, so this was good news,” Charlotte City Councilman Ed Driggs said. “If we did achieve this, obviously having a rail line like that would be a major advantage to residents because it would give you a high-speed means of getting to Charlotte.”

TJ Ratliff is a regular rider of the LYNX Blue Line. He says he wants to see more reliable car-free transportation options.

“The gold line is fairly lackluster for what it does provide, and some of the bus routes can have headways up to 60 minutes at times,” Ratliff said.

It’s why Ratliff is supportive of projects, like the LYNX Red Line.

“I would love to be able to hop on the red line with my bike, ride through some of the nature trails up there, and get safely back home,” Ratliff said.  

Ratliff says he’s cautiously optimistic about the future of rail travel across North Carolina.

For example, Amtrak and N.C. By Train recently increased daily trips between Raleigh and Charlotte. And GoTriangle is looking into a 40-mile commuter rail line that would go from Clayton to Durham.

“All of these things help combine into a good transit network that people actually want to use cause it’s convenient to use,” Ratliff said.

Meanwhile, Spectrum News 1 reached out to Norfolk Southern about whether the company was on board with sharing its tracks with the City of Charlotte.

A spokesperson said in a statement, “Though this line remains a strategic part of our network, we have always valued our relationship with Charlotte and the surrounding communities. Wherever we can, we will continue to work with them on projects that intersect with our network, the needs of our customers, and the interests of the region.”