SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — Eastern Carolina Rail has been hosting meetings in areas where a passenger rail could be returning.
READ MORE: A return to roots: Burgaw on shortlist of rail stops along Wilmington-to-Raleigh line
The Raleigh to Wilmington corridor was selected for a $500,000 federal grant to identify rail corridors for scope, schedules, and cost estimates to establish future passenger service. If approved, it could take up to 12 years to complete.
In November Eastern Carolina Rail met in Burgaw; the goal is to promote rail stops in each county where the proposed rail route would go and Warsaw is being considered as a possible stop in Duplin County.
On Feb. 20, Town of Warsaw and Warsaw Chamber of Commerce, along with Eddie McFalls, a strategic initiatives consultant for the NC Department of Transportation Rail Division, will meet in the Warsaw Community Center, 309 Memorial Drive, at 6 p.m.
Governmental, business leaders and citizens are invited to the approximately hour-long public meeting. McFalls will provide an update on the state’s rail transportation plan.
Also speaking will be Eastern Carolina Rail’s Gene Merritt. The nonprofit was founded by Merritt and Steve Unger, both business entrepreneurs from Wilmington with transportation backgrounds.
Current plans call for up to three trains per day running 70 to 80 miles per hour between Raleigh and Wilmington in both directions. The trip will be made in under three hours.
“This is an opportunity to bring an energy saving system of travel to our community,” Mayor Dr. A.J. Connors said in a press release.
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