CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Estimates for a transit plan including commuter rail service for Charlotte have risen to $13.6 billion and could easily fluctuate over the almost two decades to complete the projects, the Charlotte city council was told at a Monday meeting.
The Charlotte Observer reports preliminary estimates from an advisory group had placed the cost of the package, which also includes bus rapid transit, pedestrian, and bicycle networks, at $8 billion to $12 billion. The bus and rail projects now are estimated to cost $11.6 million.
Rail components of the plan include the commuter rail Red Line and light rail Silver Line. The Red Line, currently estimated to open in 2031 at a cost of $674 million, remains a highly problematic concept. The 25-mile, 10-station route would use a Norfolk Southern line, but NS is opposed to the project [see “Digest: Charlotte seeks to build new interest …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 9, 2021]. And some officials in Mecklenberg County, where a ballot initiative to fund the project with a one-cent sales tax would be required, have indicated their opposition.
The Silver Line, a proposed 29-mile, 29-station, east-west route centered on downtown Charlotte, would be built in two sections, opening in 2037 and 2040. An extension of the existing light rail Blue Line would open in 2041.
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