— information courtesy of NCDOT and NCDOT Now —

The Federal Railroad Administration announced during the week of May 30th more than $368 million in Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements grants. Of this, nearly $58 million will go to the development of the Raleigh to Richmond corridor.

The grant will support surveys and preliminary engineering for the corridor.

This grant, the largest awarded in this funding cycle, will improve transportation access for underserved and rural communities while shortening travel times between the two cities.

“We want to make sure that we can get people from one place to the next,” said Governor Roy Cooper. “To their jobs, to their schools, to their healthcare. And we know as we move into this clean energy economy, as we fight climate change every single day, that passenger rail is going to be key in getting us from one place to the next.”