By Scott Miller
smiller@scbiznews.com
Published Nov. 1, 2010

The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded Georgia $4.1 million to conduct the first of two environmental studies needed before developing high-speed rail that would connect Georgia to Charlotte, N.C. via the Upstate.

South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina are working together to develop the corridor, a partnership that began with a favorable feasibility study conducted in 2008. Georgia applied for funding on behalf of all three states.

Two environmental tests must be complete and approved before the states can begin acquiring right-of-ways or making infrastructure upgrades with high-speed rail in mind. The states would need to conduct public hearings too.

The first study will take 18 to 30 months to complete and the second even longer, a rail planner with the Georgia Department of Transportation previously told GSA Business.

And it could take a lot longer to begin construction. North Carolina and Virginia began a tier 1 environmental study in 1999 for a high-speed rail corridor connecting Charlotte, N.C. to Washington D.C. That study was completed in 2002. A tier 2 study was completed this year on the section of that line connecting Raleigh, N.C. to Richmond, Va. Last fall, North Carolina received $545 million to take steps to develop high-speed rail on that corridor. At that time, the federal government awarded $8 billion in stimulus grants for high-speed rail development across the country.

Last week, USDOT announced the second round of grants awarded under its High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail project. The Federal Railroad Administration, a division of USDOT, received 132 applications from 32 states totaling $8.8 billion. It awarded $2.4 billion, including $4.1 million for the corridor that would travel through the Upstate.

During the first round of awards in the fall of 2009, applicants submitted more than $55 billion in project proposals for the initial $8 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“Demand for high-speed rail dollars is intense and it demonstrates just how important this historic initiative is,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “States understand that high-speed rail represents a unique opportunity to create jobs, revitalize our manufacturing base, spur economic development and provide people with an environmentally friendly transportation option.”

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Georgia seeks funding for Upstate S.C. high-speed rail