Monday, May 10th
3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Raleigh Depot

and

Tuesday, May 11th
8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Raleigh Convention Center


Join the North Carolina Railroad Company for discussions,
networking, and exhibits about rail’s role in strengthening North
Carolina’s transportation system and economy.
Speakers will include economic developers, business
leaders, and rail companies.
To learn more or to register please visit www.ncrr.com

In the News . . .

Rail industry loses a friend
William (Bill) Henry Carstarphen died suddenly on March 16th at the age of 69. Carstarphen was a former city manager of Greensboro, Spartanburg, and Greenville, NC and a former assistant city manager of Charlotte. After retiring from city management in 1995 he began legislative advocacy for the Charlotte Area Transit System. He played a key role in the development of the very successful LYNX Blue Line light rail in Charlotte. Carstarphen, who was from eastern North Carolina, graduated from Duke University in 1960 and is survived by his wife, Virginia, and three daughters.
The Charlotte Observer, "Bill Carstarphen, city planner, dies" 18 March 2010.

North Carolina receives $545 million in High Speed Rail federal grants
North Carolina was recently awarded $545 million in American Recovery & Reinvestment Act High Speed Rail grants. The money will go toward restoring double track between Charlotte and Greensboro, which will include some curve straightening and grade separations, an expanded rail maintenance facility in Charlotte, rebuilt and rehabilitated locomotives and passenger cars, safety improvements at 15 private crossings between Raleigh and Charlotte, a 2-mile passing siding near Haw River, grade separations at Hopson Road and Morrisville Parkway in Durham and Wake counties, expansion of NCDOT's Capital Rail Yard, station improvements in Cary, Burlington, High Point, and Kannapolis, and security improvements at nine stations. NCDOT will partner with the North Carolina Railroad Company, Norfolk Southern, and Amtrak to implement these projects and finish work by the September 2017 federal deadline.
The News & Observer, "The train riders want: more, better, faster" 14 February 2010.

CSX customers expanding and creating jobs
CSX Transportation customers in 2009 committed to invest in 92 new or expanded facilities that will create nearly 1,400 new jobs and ultimately bring $138 million in new revenue to the railroad. CSX said the facilities will be built both on CSX lines and on some of the more than 230 short lines and regional railroads that connect to CSX. The projects are situated in 18 states and across markets that include energy, consumer goods and manufacturing. In addition 73 customers who had committed to new or increased rail traffic in 2008 and prior years began moving goods and commodities that at full production will result in more than $210 million in revenue.
Railway Age, "CSXT's customer base continues to expand" 26 January 2010.

NCRR and University officials inspect Elon pedestrian underpass
The North Carolina Railroad Company and University officials recently visited the pedestrian underpass under construction at Elon University. As the University’s facilities have grown through the years, the college expanded on the south side of the North Carolina Railroad corridor.  An underpass, along with fences and signage to encourage its use, will provide a safe means of crossing the railroad for the numerous pedestrians within the University community and the Town of Elon.  The underpass is 80% complete and construction managers hope to finish the work by late April. The underpass, which will cost about $2.2 million, is being paid for by private funds from Elon University and the North Carolina Railroad Company. HNTB designed the underpass and Crowder Construction is building the underpass.
The Burlington Times-News, "Periscope up: First look offered of pedestrian tunnel on Elon campus" 24 February 2010.

Norfolk Southern's Crescent Corridor awarded TIGER grant
Norfolk Southern's Crescent Corridor Intermodal Freight Program of Projects was recently awarded $105 million from the USDOT under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Program. The grant will enable Norfolk Southern and its partners to begin construction of several Crescent Corridor projects. The Crescent Corridor is a 2,500 mile rail network that travels through 13 states, including North Carolina. It touches 26% of the nation's population and 30% of the nation's manufacturing output. Once fully operational, the Crescent Corridor is expected to create 73,000 green jobs by 2030. It will divert 1.3 million long-haul trucks from the interstate and save 169 million gallons of fuel. For more information please visit http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/Media/News%20Releases/2010/crescent-tiger.html or http://www.thefutureneedsus.com/.

Working on the Railroad

J. Keith Crisco was appointed Secretary of Commerce by Governor Bev Perdue in January 2009. He brings 38 years of experience in business and commerce to the position.
For more than 20 years, Crisco served as president and chairman of Asheboro Elastics Corp, a company he formed with partners in 1986. From 1970-1971 Crisco served as a White House fellow in Washington, D.C., as assistant to the U.S. Secretary for Commerce during the Nixon administration.

Few know, however, that Secretary Crisco got his start in railroads. Railroads have had a presence in his life from a very early age. He attended elementary school through high school in facilities right by the railroad. He went off to college at Pfeiffer University to find a railroad ran through the middle of the town of Misenheimer. After he graduated from Pfeiffer in 1964 he participated in a management training program for the B&O Railroad. Several of his fellow classmates in this two-year training program found future careers as presidents of Amtrak and major Class I railroads. When the program completed in 1966 he pursued a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University, where he found a familiar presence: A railroad also runs through Cambridge. He had intended to return to the railroad once completing his degree from Harvard, but an opportunity at Burlington Industries changed his plans.

It is appropriate, therefore, that as Secretary of Commerce, Crisco finds that railroads are again playing an important role in his life. He has seen how the rail industry plays an integral part in bringing business and jobs to the state. He also appreciates the efforts by railroads to identify and preserve rail-served sites to attract new industries and jobs. Crisco looks forward to participating in the Progress in Motion Forum in May and as he maintains his life-long connection with rail.

Did you know ...

NCDOT, Norfolk Southern, and NCRR partner to improve crossing safety

The N.C. Department of Transportation, the North Carolina Railroad Company, and Norfolk Southern have partnered to improve protection at 36 grade crossings between Selma and Morehead City on the North Carolina Railroad.

Work on about 10 crossings was completed in 2009; the remaining crossings in the project are on schedule to be upgraded by the end of 2011. The total project cost estimate is over $7 million. About 56 percent of the project is funded with state funds from NCDOT. NCRR is providing 24 percent of the funding and Norfolk Southern the remaining 20 percent.

Mechanical warning devices are now at more than 2,400 of North Carolina's 4,121 public at-grade crossings. Motorists are reminded to use caution at all railroad crossings, with or without signal and gate protection. A train cannot stop quickly; it can take a train over 1 mile to come to a stop. To learn more about crossing safety visit http://www.ncol.org.

Published by the North Carolina Railroad Company Volume 4, Issue 2
Comments or questions? Call Catherine Campbell at
(919) 954-7601 or e-mail: raillines@ncrr.com

2809 Highwoods Blvd. Suite 100
Raleigh, NC 27604

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