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The Raleigh City Council backed away today from taking a stand on any of the state’s proposed downtown routes for a new fast-train line from Raleigh to Richmond, Va., and it asked state officials to add other possible routes to their study.

The council asked the state Department of Transportation to analyze three alternative train paths – two suggested by residents last week and a third broached Tuesday by council member Thomas Crowder.

Each of the three new ideas involves a long railroad bridge that would carry high-speed passenger trains high over Capital Boulevard. Crowder suggested running the elevated trains north and south, parallel to the busy thoroughfare, as part of an expansive downtown development project.

The alternatives sketched last week by groups of residents would move the trains from the west side of Capital to the east side, on a long curving bridge either just north or just south of Peace Street.

Council member Russell Stephenson said the new options looked better than DOT’s proposals either to run the trains north along the west side of Capital, through a Norfolk Southern rail yard, or through a CSX yard on the east side. ... [MORE]