North Carolina completes rail upgrade

TheNorth Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has finished work on a train signal upgrade project in the corridor between downtown Raleigh and downtown Cary.  

The upgraded signals will significantly improve capacity by facilitating bi-directional train traffic in this heavily traveled corridor for the first time in nearly 100 years. Because the new signal system allows for faster moving trains to overtake those moving at a slower speed, benefits also include a reduction in travel time and improved reliability. The signal system utilizes the latest technology and provides a cost effective capacity improvement as an alternative to the construction of additional trackwork.  

Through partnerships with Norfolk Southern, CSX Transportation, North Carolina Railroad and local governments, NCDOT's ongoing program of modernizing the railroad systematically protects highway-railroad crossings, adding passing sidings, straightening curves and the installation of up-to-date computer controlled train dispatching and traffic control systems. When the project is completed later in 2008, speeds on the track will increase from approximately 25 mph to a maximum track speed of 45 mph.