Triangle's regional rail secures FTA approval

A less-congested link between Raleigh, Durham and the Research Triangle Park moved one stop closer to reality as federal officials approved the first phase of the Triangle Transit Authority's regional rail system.

The Federal Transit Authority issued the decision last Thursday, signifying that the environmental requirements for the rail system have been met. The TTA officially kicked off Phase I of the rail project this month and can now begin acquiring land needed for track.

"Environmental approval is a huge step forward," said Juanita Shearer-Swink, senior transportation planner. "To get to this point, TTA has already gotten funding from state and national sources-$50 million in federal funding so far. We will seek a full-funding grant agreement late this calendar year, and the government will define the amount of money they will commit."

The project began in 1992 when the TTA received grants for studying land use and traffic problems. Two years later, the TTA finalized the Triangle Fixed Guideway Study, which offered three solutions: high-occupancy vehicle lanes, a light rail system or a regional rail system. The TTA board of trustees opted for regional rail in early 1995, and the group has spent the past eight years completing a series of engineering and environmental impact studies-the last of which the FTA has now approved.

Phase I, which the TTA projects for completion in 2007, will provide service at 12 stations, including Duke's Medical Center, Ninth Street, downtown Durham, North Carolina Central University, RTP, Cary, West Raleigh, North Carolina State University, downtown Raleigh and Capital Boulevard. The system will cost $724 million.

"Our approach is that we would get 50 percent federal funding, 25 percent state funding and 25 percent local funding," Shearer-Swink said. "We're unique in only asking for 50 percent funding. A lot of groups ask for 75 percent, but that's because of the scale of the project-in larger, urbanized areas, it costs billions."

Phase II, slated for operation in 2011, will utilize either rail, a bus-only lane or mixed traffic buses to link Chapel Hill, north Raleigh and the Raleigh-Durham International Airport to Phase I stations. Later extensions may include connections with other areas of Wake County, north Durham and Hillsborough. Shearer-Swink said costs for these additions are not yet available.

The 175-foot-long trains, consisting of two "married pair" cars and two-way engine cars on each end, will hold between 200 and 225 people. With a two-track system, trains will arrive at stations every 15 minutes in both directions and run from between 5 and 6 a.m. to midnight. The trains will travel at average speeds of 35 miles per hour, though trains may reach 65 miles per hour in some segments.

"It's not going to serve families," he said. "They're not going to want to take their kids to a station, wait 15 minutes, deal with the grocery store, wait another 15 minutes and go home. And I don't think senior citizens would be apt to riding it for security reasons. So who does that leave? Single people-but not the majority."

Shearer-Swink said while developing ridership may be slow, people will use the system.

"People are interested in quality-of-life improvement," she said. "The rail system will be less stressful. It lets people have more time reading, more time with family and less time stuck in traffic without anything to do. Some people will use it every day, others to go to the activity fairground, others to go to the Durham Bulls games."

College students in particular may find the system useful, she said.

"One option is that if you're at Duke, you can get a degree with classes from different campuses," Shearer-Swink said. "You can be at [N.C. State in Raleigh] and get to Duke faster than ever before because there's no traffic. There's a cross-section of people living in the Triangle, and people will use it at different stages in their life."