The U.S. Department of Transportation will award a $1.09 billion discretionary federal grant to design and build the first segment of the S-Line, a high-performance passenger rail line to better connect North Carolina and Virginia, and rural and urban communities in North Carolina.
This sizeable grant will be enough to fund a good portion of the work to rebuild tracks between the cities. This is also bringing Raleigh one step closer to having high-speed rail access to Washington D.C.
"This $1 billion grant for North Carolina to make progress on the Raleigh to Richmond Rail Line is a big win for economic development in the region," U.S. Senator Thom Tillis said in a statement.
This line of rail would better allow passengers to avoid the usual freight traffic that travels between the two cities and could possibly allow for speeds up to 110 mph.
“This is great news and underscores our successful efforts to build a transportation system that works for all North Carolinians,” Governor Roy Cooper said. “The S-Line is a critical project that will provide fast, frequent and reliable service connecting North Carolina, Virginia and the Northeast. It extends our already popular passenger rail service between Charlotte and Raleigh, and provides people, especially those in underserved areas, a safe, convenient and inexpensive way to get where they’re going.”