CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) – The future of the proposed Red Line commuter rail project remains uncertain as the railroad that owns the right of way called the plan "fatally flawed" in a letter to the state released on Monday.
The letter, written by John V. Edwards, general director for passenger policy with Norfolk Southern Corporation, says that the company can no longer support to project because it is not based on realistic operating, financial or regulatory models.
The proposed $452 million rail line would run from uptown Charlotte to Mooresville in Iredell County with 8 intermediate stops. The trains would run up to 60 miles per hour, carrying commuters from a yet-to-be-built Charlotte Gateway Station up Norfolk Southern's existing ‘O' Line, which is currently not heavily used by freight traffic.
"Norfolk Southern cannot support the current plan proposed by NCDOT ," says Edwards in the letter, addressed to NCDOT Deputy Secretary for Transit Paul F. Morris.
"The plan is fatally flawed and based upon assumptions about the projected freight use of the line that are no longer valid."
The state and the Charlotte Area Transit System created the Red Line Task Force in 2010 to come up with a plan for how to pay for the project.
The current model, which Norfolk Southern takes issue with, has the state and CATS each paying $113 million and the governing bodies along the line paying for the rest, using specially-created tax districts to tax businesses that sprout up along the line.
Davidson Mayor John Woods, who chairs the task force, welcomed the letter and says he looks forward to working with the railroad.
"One thing is clear, we all want to make the right decisions for our community," said Woods. "Norfolk Southern is certainly positive when they say we can work together to get it right."
Edwards says in his letter that the railroad would welcome an updated study "based upon updated freight operating assumptions, and the correct financial, tax, liability and regulatory models."
Last month, Edwards sent a similar letter to the state raising concerns over the cost and time frame for the project, warning that passenger trains on the line could hurt or even kill their business along the 25-mile line.
The last study on the proposed project estimated that 4,500 commuters would use it on a daily basis.
That number wasn't high enough to qualify the project for beefy federal transit grants like CATS' Lynx Blue Line has successfully won.
This is one of the reasons planners have had to get creative with how to pay for the project.
"We are open to several different funding strategies," said NCDOT spokeswoman Greer Beaty. "Now is the time to look at all of these."
The cost of the project is one reason that Iredell County Commissioners voted last month not to support the project unless the state guaranteed to pay for any unexpected cost overruns.
Morris sent a reply letter to Edwards on Tuesday afternoon, saying that he hopes Norfolk Southern will take up an offer from the task force to have a sit down meeting to begin working more closely together.
The Red Line Task Force meets Wednesday afternoon for its regular monthly meeting. It's unclear whether a Norfolk Southern representative will be present.
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