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7/3/2024
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday at a ground-breaking ceremony for the S-Line rail project, a major infrastructure effort aimed at revitalizing the Southeast Corridor of passenger rail.
Buttigieg and Cooper also paid a visit to the Blue Ridge Road construction site, a project that will improve traffic flow, access and efficiency along the Raleigh Beltline. They were joined by North Carolina Department of Transportaiton Secretary Joey Hopkins and other officials, according to a press release issued by Cooper's office.
The new S-Line rail project is part of the Innovating Rail Program to create a faster passenger-rail route between the two cities. Seven months ago, the President Biden's administration awarded a $1.09 billion federal grant to fund project.
The S-Line rail corridor is a freight line, owned by CSX, that connects Richmond and Raleigh on the federally designated corridor. Once the Raleigh-to-Richmond program is completed, the passenger-rail service will save more than an hour of travel time between the two cities. The service also will allow much more frequent and reliable train service, and make the trip to Washington, D.C., car-competitive, state officials said.