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Re: (rshsdepot) Goldsboro, NC

This station is currently in terrible shape, inside and out.  It was
being used for storage by the Department of Public Works when I saw it
last April.
 
J. Kelling

>>> I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com 10/21/2008 3:48 PM >>>

From the Goldsboro News Argus.

Bernie Wagenblast

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Union Station not detoured by commuter train study 

By Anessa Myers October 19, 2008 

A study by the North Carolina Railroad Co. that indicates Union Station
in  
downtown Goldsboro, which is currently under restoration, would not be
part of 
a  commuter rail service planned by the state does not mean the project
will 
be in  vain, supporters say. 

The railroad study was released earlier this month, showing a  
Greensboro-to-Goldsboro route. But state railroad officials said the
refurbished  Union 
Station, which sits alongside the tracks of another railroad line, will
 not be 
part of the commuter service. 

Union Station, which hasn`t been used in decades, sits on CSX Railroad 

lines, which are currently used for freight. Charlie Gaylor, president
of the  
Wayne County Railroad Task Force, said the restoration of the station
was never  
intended to be part of any commuter rail service that would run on the
state  
railroad line. 

Commuter rail service is different from regular passenger rail service,
 
Gaylor said. Commuter rail runs the same quick route over and over.
Passenger  
rail service, which Union Station once served, is intended to carry
passengers  
on longer journeys. 

What county and city residents need to understand, though, is that  
``commuter rail service and passenger rail service are two very
different  things,`` 
Gaylor said. 

``They (commuter railroads) need the shortest distance in a straight
line  
from one point to another,`` Gaylor said. 

Even the types of train cars used for each service are different,
Gaylor  
said, with the commuter train cars built lighter than those used for
passenger  
rail, he added. 

The Goldsboro project was never intended to be part of the state`s
commuter  
plans, he said. 

``Our focus was getting passenger rail service through there all
along,``  
Gaylor said last week. 

The discussions of a passenger rail service -- or in Union Station`s
case,  
Amtrak service -- started when the state Department of Transportation
released 
a  study in 2005 saying it was feasible for the service to run from
Raleigh to 
Wilmington. 

The question then became, will the service go through Fayetteville or
will  
it go through Goldsboro? 

That`s when the county railroad task force formed, as community leaders
 
hoped that a showing of leadership from the community would be helpful
to  getting 
the service to go through Goldsboro, Gaylor said. 

It was only after that that the N.C. Railroad Co. came into the
picture,  
talking about commuter rail service, he said. 

And when the study results came out earlier this month about the 
feasibility 
of the commuter rail going back and forth between Greensboro and 
Goldsboro, 
serving more than 2 million people along the way, he said he wasn`t  
surprised. 

``We could have two services running through Goldsboro,`` Gaylor said.


And if both would run through the city, Downtown Goldsboro Development 
Corp. 
Director Julie Thompson said that she didn`t see why the N.C. Railroad
Co.  
and CSX wouldn`t work together to make a connection between the
stations. 

Gaylor said he assumes there would have to be some connection also,
either  
with bus service or a service provided by the two companies. 

``I would think they would do what is economically smart for both of
them,  
and I think this would be,`` Gaylor said. 

But, Gaylor said, both projects are still in early stages. 

``What people don`t get is that the studies say that this is all
feasible  
for Goldsboro,`` Gaylor said. ``That`s a great thing.`` 

Another great part about the passenger rail service that will likely go
 
through Union Station, Gaylor said, is that people can go anywhere in
the  country 
that Amtrak serves. 

The 11-month study released Oct. 9 by the N.C. Railroad Co. found that 

commuter trains and freight trains could coexist on the railroad
company`s  tracks. 

The study said new tracks, sidings and bridges along the total 141-mile
 long 
stretch of railroad line from Greensboro to Goldsboro would cost $650 

million, and the equipment and support facilities for the service would
cost  
another $350 million. 

It concluded that if commuter trains could travel to and from Goldsboro
and  
Greensboro on the railroad company`s corridor, there would likely be 29
stops 
in  seven counties. Eighteen colleges and universities would be within
two 
miles of  the proposed commuter trains. Commuter trains typically run
in the 
morning and  afternoon rush hours and once midday over long distances,
according 
to the  study. 

The N.C. Railroad Co., Norfolk Southern and state Department of  
Transpor-tation have invested an estimated $60 million in recent years
for  straightening 
curves, adding tracks and making other improvements between  Goldsboro
and 
Greensboro. The groups plan to make $161 million more in  improvements
by 2012, 
with even more tracks needed. 
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================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of
existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
To Unsubscribe: http://lists.railfan.net/rshsdepot-photo/unsub.html


=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
To Unsubscribe: http://lists.railfan.net/rshsdepot-photo/unsub.html

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