This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
12/23/2025
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Rail Division is seeking public comments on a state rail plan designed to guide freight- and passenger-rail service development for the next 30 years.
Public comments are due Jan. 20, 2026, according to an NCDOT press release. The last state rail plan was adopted in 2015. Comments may be made via this link.
After gathering public input, NCDOT will update the plan and submit it to the Federal Railroad Administration for review.
To update the plan, NCDOT inventoried the state's rail network and drafted rail improvement and expansion projects, as well as potential funding sources. Continued development of the Southeast Corridor is a key objective in the plan. The corridor is comprised of freight- and passenger-rail lines in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. NCDOT in 2019 developed the Southeast Corridor Commission in partnership with the other states' transportation departments to improve the rail network through policy, education and multistate collaboration.
Other key projects in the state rail plan are grade crossing upgrades and separations, new or expanded passenger-rail service, construction of new industrial access spurs, capacity upgrades, investments in short-line infrastructure and the addition of on-dock access track at the Wilmington and Morehead City ports.