Warsaw meeting looks at possible Wilmington-to-Raleigh passenger rail service

WARSAW — All aboard! The train’s not leaving the station just yet — in fact, there is no train station in Warsaw just yet — but based on enthusiasm during a recent public meeting at the Warsaw Recreation Center, there are plenty of folks in the Duplin County town who’ll be looking to hop on board if and when the opportunity arrives.

Approximately 75 people attended the 6 p.m. Passenger Rail Symposium, which ran for an hour and a half. The subject of the meeting was the proposed reinstatement of a passenger train route running from Wilmington to Raleigh with several stops in between, including, possibly, Warsaw.

Sponsored by the Town of Warsaw and the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce, the meeting drew numerous local leaders including Mayor A. J. Connors, town commissioners Scotty Smith and Tommy Jones, Chamber President Frank Rhodes, and Duplin County Commissioners Jesse Dowe and Wayne Branch.

Wilmington entrepreneurs Steve Unger and Gene Merritt opened the meeting with an introduction to the nonprofit organization they’ve formed, Eastern Carolina Rail, for the purpose of helping the Wilmington-to-Raleigh service become a reality. Their organization, Unger noted, works closely with DOT.

Merritt pointed out that they had already held similar meetings in Burgaw and Wallace, and that they are planning one for Goldsboro and possibly Selma. “That’s sort of the route that we’re looking at: Selma, Goldsboro, Warsaw, Wallace, Burgaw, Wilmington from Raleigh,” Merritt noted. “That’s not cast in concrete and that decision will be made in the final analysis by the state DOT.

“We believe that the establishment of this railroad will be an economic and social benefit to the town of Warsaw,” Merritt continued. “We believe that it will be good for the downtown area and the area as a generalization. But it will also be a source of affordable transportation for the people of eastern North Carolina. So, we need your support. The more you let everyone know that you support this idea, the better chance it has of happening.”

Unger, too, pointed out the far-reaching effects the project would have. “One of the cool things about the railroad coming through here is, it will serve Faison, it will serve Clinton, it’ll serve Kenansville, it’ll serve the other surrounding towns, and it’ll be a boost to the entire area.”

Both Connors and Rhodes spoke briefly and enthusiastically about the proposed rail service, and both encouraged citizens to support the efforts.

Also offering brief remarks was Mark Wheeler, president of Carolinas Association for Passenger Trains, a nonprofit that works in both North and South Carolina. Wheeler is working with Unger and Merritt to promote passenger rail service.

Jason Myers, rail program manager for the NCDOT Rail Division, gave a slide presentation that zoomed out and put the talk of Wilmington-to-Raleigh rail service in a larger context. He explained that in December, the Wilmington-to-Raleigh route was one of seven rail corridors in North Carolina to be awarded money through a grant program of the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration. Each corridor received $500,000 to be used in the initial stages of project development.

“Our intention is to build a coordinated network of services that makes travel almost anywhere in the state possible, and also connects us to the other states on the east coast through the southeast corridor,” he said.

He also noted that intercity rail travel in North Carolina (for example, between Raleigh and Charlotte) continues on an upward trend, adding, “I think it demonstrates that passenger rail service, intercity passenger rail service, is something that people want if it can be brought to their community.”

He explained that soon a draft of the Southeastern North Carolina Passenger Rail Feasibility Study would be released, with information such as cost estimates for implementing rail service, cost estimates for continuing to operate the service, and estimates of how many people would use the service in different scenarios. This is all information needed for the Corridor Identification and Development (CID) Program, which, Myers said, would help “get from an idea of an intercity passenger train to the reality of a train being out there on the ground moving people.”

Following Myers’ presentation, Unger brought the discussion back around to the Wilmington-to-Raleigh route. “Our goal as an organization is to have at least one stop per county [along the route],” he said. “Now, we don’t determine where the final stations are going to be, but we know that local citizen input is going to be one of the factors, and input from local officials, on helping determine where stops are.”

He said Amtrak is projected to be the service provider and noted that the company is introducing new, modernized equipment and gradually phasing out the trains they started with in the 1970s.

It is expected that trains between Raleigh and Wilmington will run at speeds of 70 to 80 miles an hour, and that the trip could take up to three hours, depending on how many stops there are in between. “Those are the magic numbers,” Unger said.

He noted that this project is receiving bipartisan support, and he urged citizens to contact their local, state and national officials to encourage this support.

At the close of the program, Unger and Myers answered questions from about a dozen people. Some people spoke up simply to support the project and to encourage others to support it, and even among the citizens who expressed concerns, there was mostly enthusiasm for the project. For example, one man preceded his question by stating, “This is very, very exciting to me.” He then went on to recount a 12 ½ hour train trip he took in December and lamented the fact that he lost Wi-Fi mid-way through the trip. “And that’s my question,” he said. “Eastern North Carolina has dead spots, a lot of dead spots, as it relates to internet connectivity, so does that mean that you will be working with the internet providers to get more towers?”

Myers acknowledged this as being a key issue that needs to be addressed, and he suggested that a possible — he emphasized possible — solution might involve getting railroad right-of-way owners to lease their land to communication providers, allowing for a series of small cell phone towers along the route.

Another questioner began her remarks with “I do support this program, but there are certain things that we need to know,” before asking if the trains will be diesel or electric, and wondering if the project will result in air, soil and water pollution.

“The train is almost certainly going to be diesel-powered,” Myers answered. “That’s what most of the Amtrak system is.” He went on to note that part of the project planning will involve completing environmental impact studies ahead of time.

One woman, who grew up in Warsaw, stated that she remembered having train service in town when she was younger. “I don’t know why we don’t have the train anymore,” she said. “Is it because the passengers stopped riding the train?” Unger talked about the changes in economic times and transportation needs over the years. Whereas train travel was still a significant part of people’s lives at the turn of the 20th century, by the middle of the century, it had significantly declined. But, Unger noted, the tides have changed again, and “This fits our needs today.” This is a sentiment that seemed to be shared by many at the meeting.

For more information, go to the Facebook page for Eastern Carolina Rail, or go to the company’s website: www.easterncarolinarail.com.