Georgia received $4.1 million and the District of Columbia received $2.9 million in federal grants to advance work on the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor through Virginia and North Carolina, the U.S. Department of Transportation said today.
Georgia will use the money for a service development plan and environmental study on a 250-mile passenger rail corridor between Atlanta and Charlotte. The District of Columbia will use its grant to study renovating or replacing the 100-year-old Long Bridge over the Potomac River, which carries 90 passenger and freight trains daily.
Nearly $581 million in federal grants have been awarded, mostly in North Carolina, for work on the corridor. North Carolina recently received a $4 million grant to complete environmental and design work on a new track between Raleigh and Richmond that could cut travel times by 90 minutes.
Bruce Siceloff reports on traffic and transportation. A News & Observer reporter, editor and blogger since 1976, he took over the