Virginia Association of Railway Patrons

Modern Transportation for the Virginias

Virginia–North Carolina High Speed Rail Compact News

From VARP’s On Track newsletter, winter 2011

By Michael Testerman, President of VARP

The Virginia–North Carolina Interstate High Speed Rail Compact held its inaugural meeting on July 12, 2010, at the NCDOT Transportation Building in downtown Raleigh, N.C. The compact, which was authorized by Congress and established in May 2010 through legislation enacted by the Virginia and North Carolina General Assemblies, will work to advance high-speed rail initiatives in the two states, primarily the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor planned to link Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, N.C.

The first meeting included the swearing-in of the compact members and the election of Sen. John Watkins of Virginia as the commission’s chair and Rep. Nelson Cole of North Carolina as the vice-chair. The group also began discussing its work program, including passing a resolution to coordinate the submission of grant applications and jointly support efforts to obtain funding for the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor.

The Virginia members of the compact:

• Yvonne Miller, Member, Virginia Senate.
• John Watkins, Member, Virginia Senate.
• Richard Anderson, Member, Virginia House of Delegates.
• Ronald Villanueva, Member, Virginia House of Delegates.
• Jeion Ward, Member, Virginia House of Delegates.

The North Carolina members:

• Fletcher Hartsell, Member, North Carolina Senate.
• Clark Jenkins, Member, North Carolina Senate.
• Nelson Cole, Member, North Carolina House of Representatives.
• John May, Member, North Carolina House of Representatives.
• Paul Cooke, P.E., HDR Engineering, Inc.

The two states, along with the Federal Railroad Administration, have completed the Tier II Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the corridor between Richmond and Raleigh. A series of public hearings regarding the proposed corridor designs and associated impacts were held in communities between Richmond and Raleigh in July 2010. VARP was represented at three of them.

The second meeting of the compact was held at the Virginia State Capitol on January 8, 2011.

The program included updates from Virginia, North Carolina, and federal rail officials on corridor developments including Richmond to Hampton Roads, Richmond to Washington, D.C., and Richmond to Raleigh. Officials in both states want to see high-speed rail service linking Washington, Richmond, Hampton Roads, Raleigh, and Charlotte, with trains running at more than 100 mph.

Daniel Plaugher, executive director of Virginians for High Speed Rail, gave a report on the highly successful and well-attended Southeast High Speed Rail Conference, held in Richmond on November 16, 2010.

A coalition of business groups from Richmond, Hampton Roads, and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., garnered the most attention from the press at the meeting when they presented a resolution to lawmakers from both states pledging to “commit to work together” to advance public and private funding alternatives for high-speed rail services.

“This is a no-brainer for us. It is really all about jobs and growth and opportunities that can be created by building our infrastructure,” said Kim Scheeler, president and CEO of the Greater Richmond Chamber.

Representatives from the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, the Hampton Roads Partnership, and the Regional Transportation Alliance in the Raleigh-Durham area also signed the resolution.