SANFORD, N.C. — Train travel looks to make a comeback as North Carolina makes plans to move transportation forward with the installment of a new passenger rail corridor.
What You Need To Know
The future S-line rail corridor will be 95 miles long running from Norlina to Sanford
Each North Carolina city will be designed as a transit-oriented development
A RAISE grant will allow for the installment of multi-mobility hubs at each station
The N.C. Department of Transportation is looking at big changes for seven North Carolina cities along a future rail line that will run from Norlina to Sanford. The 95-mile section of track will be called the S-line corridor, designed to link Washington, D.C., to Charlotte and Atlanta.
“There are a lot of people that are transportation challenged, there are a lot of folks that want a different environmentally sound way to move about the Triangle,” said Rebecca Salmon, the mayor of Sanford. “We really need to look for solutions that are not just about building more roads.”
The new passenger line centers on turning cities like Sanford into transit-oriented developments, which will be areas designed to allow easy access to business, residential and commercial areas without the use of a car.
“Transit-oriented development isn't as scary as it sounds,” Salmon said. “It's actually a way for us to develop a community that helps move people around in a way that actually makes sense for how people actually live.”
Salmon is excited about what the return of the railroad could mean for her city, which has deep roots in the railroad industry, even deriving its name from a civil engineer with the railroad.
“You can see these railroad tracks connected our town together,” Salmon said. “Building on our history, knowing where we came from — a project like this fits so well with building on top of what made us so strong.”
The cities along the future rail corridor are the recipients of a shared RAISE grant of $3.4 million that is intended to be spent improving the current design and infrastructure of the cities to make them more transit-oriented.
“This a real potential for us to work on affordable housing, workforce housing, connecting this to a more walkable, vibrant community where people can come in, enjoy this beautiful downtown, connect to jobs, connect to each other and become the city that works for us and the city of the future,” Salmon said.
She explained a multi-mobility hub as a place where transit comes together like rail, bikes and pedestrian traffic. In the case of Sanford, she said a hub will most likely include some form of micro-transit.
“Sanford has always come from a rural tradition, and we're sort of moving into a different time in our community's future,” Salmon said. “I think connecting us with rail — commuter rail — is part of a robust future that our community is going to have.”
