NCDOT receives $300M FRA grant for rail improvements

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has been awarded a nearly $300 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to improve safety, reliability and capacity of passenger-rail service along the Piedmont Corridor, department officials announced in a press release.

The grant will fund the Piedmont Corridor Safety Program. The corridor is used by the state-supported Amtrak intercity passenger-rail service NC By Train for its Piedmont and Carolinian services between Raleigh and Charlotte.

Projects in the Piedmont Corridor Safety Program include:

• Closing six grade crossings and constructing two new highway bridges in Guilford County;
• Closing three crossings and constructing two new highway bridges in Durham County;
• Adding nearly 6 miles of second track and making other infrastructure improvements in Guilford, Durham and Wake counties; and
• Establishing a new anti-trespassing program to improve safety along the rail corridor.

The FRA awarded the grant through its National Railroad Partnership Program, which funds capital projects that improve and expand intercity passenger rail service across the country. 

“This federal investment demonstrates our partners' confidence in North Carolina's ability to deliver major rail projects," said North Carolina Transportation Secretary Daniel Johnson. “We thank the Federal Railroad Administration, Amtrak, the North Carolina Railroad Company and Norfolk Southern for supporting this important project to modernize and improve safety and travel times along the route between Raleigh and Charlotte."