Asheville passenger rail line plan sees positive responses from WNC Rail Committee

The draft of the 2023 Western North Carolina Passenger Rail Feasibility Study has seen positive responses from local governments and rail corporations, said Jason Orthner, director of the North Carolina Department of Transportation Rail Division.

Released in June, the study considers the construction of a 139-mile rail line to Asheville from Salisbury. The project is currently estimated to cost $665 million.

The study draft was discussed during the Sept. 6 WNC Rail Committee meeting, where Orthner gave feedback on the study.

The WNC Rail Committee is a nonprofit organization with a focus on “rail freight, rail excursions and passenger rail access in Western North Carolina,” according to its website.

Orthner said a major railroad company received the plan positively.

“We did receive an acknowledgement from Norfolk Southern on the study, and that they are looking forward to participating going forward,” Orthner said. “That was well received here.”

Funding

During the meeting, Dan Gurley, deputy chief of staff for North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore, provided legislative funding updates to the committee and emphasized the need for support in the N.C. Senate.

“I think you need to double down on your efforts on the Senate side, frankly,” Gurley said.

Previous efforts to find state funding for rail projects passed through the state house, but found little support in the state senate, Gurley said.

“We are going to have to work harder on them is really bluntly what I’m saying,” Gurley said.

Ray Rapp, co-chair of the Western North Carolina Rail Committee and Democratic former state legislator, said that both federal and state support is important to the project going forward.

Previously, Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards said he was skeptical of the rail line.

“We need our federal support as well, as I know Congressman Edwards has reservations on this,” Rapp said. “I think it’s a matter of having some conversations with him and him seeing that there is support for this initiative.”

The Salisbury to Asheville line was put forward for federal consideration in May as a part of 12 proposed routes. Currently, the project would be eligible for up to 80% federal funding, with the other 20% to be sought out as state funding.

President Joe Biden’s 2021 American Jobs Plan included $80 billion for Amtrak to expand to new cities. Amtrak added Asheville to its Connects US plan in 2021, indicating a rail line will come to the area between 2020-2035.

Orthner said first decisions, which could extend the project, could come soon.

“Those announcements we are expecting in the fall, probably in the November time frame,” Orthner said. “That’s the major next element here.”

If the Federal Railroad Administration accepted the corridor, the study would be fully funded to continue past the feasibility stage and would demonstrate FRA support for the corridor to advance to construction, and “give additional paths forward to continue to the corridor in detail,” Orthner said.

The current draft proposal estimated $665 million would be required to build the 139-mile rail project, a $260 million increase from the NCDOT’s 2015 long-range state rail plan estimates, which set the initial cost at around $405.3 million.

An option to extend the track to the River Arts District and create an "Asheville train station" has been proposed, but would add $5 million to the cost.

The final feasibility study will be released later this month, Orthner said.

Previous plans

Passenger rail service was discontinued in Asheville in August 1975. Since then, plans to return rail service to the area have been considered multiple times.

In March 2001, the NCDOT adopted a phased plan to extend passenger rail service to Asheville and WNC, which included renovating or building train stations that incorporate other community uses. The 2001 plan had an estimated cost of $135 million. 

Other plans like a bus service that transports passengers from Asheville to Salisbury for rail service have been studied, but the bus service plan has not been put into place.

Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him atWHofmann@citizentimes.com.

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This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville Amtrak plan to be released this month, needs state funding