Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor

Since the corridor was first established in 1992, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has extended it further to Atlanta and Macon, Georgia; Greenville and Columbia, South Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; and Birmingham, Alabama.

The first large section of the SEHSR, from Washington, D.C., through Virginia and North Carolina south to Charlotte, was projected in 2010 to begin service sometime between 2018 and 2022, based on funding availability.

Federal funding in the amount of $75 million issued in September 2012 paid for construction of a third main track in Stafford and Prince William counties,[8] while Virginia's Atlantic Gateway infrastructure project funded additional main tracks in two segments in Fairfax County along with some of the design and engineering costs for providing relief for the capacity constrained Long Bridge over the Potomac River between DC and Alexandria.

[9] In October 2014, the Federal Railroad Administration filed a notice of intent to perform (in partnership with the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation) a Tier II EIS for upgrading this segment, with the aim of increasing train frequency and cutting the current travel time by thirty minutes.

Currently north-south through trains stop only at Richmond Staples Mill Road station (RVR), using the bypass Belt Line across the river.

Significant infrastructure changes between the draft and final EIS in May 2019 included:[12][13] In December 2019, Virginia agreed to acquire 350 miles of right of way from CSX, effectively giving the Commonwealth control over much of the Richmond-D.C. leg of the corridor.

[17] The current Amtrak route through Suffolk would change to achieve more separation from freight, and a suburban station would be added at Bower's Hill in Chesapeake.

In November 2014 the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO) released a report recommending a different route, from Richmond to Suffolk to Norfolk via a new crossing of the James River near Charles City, bypassing Petersburg.

The relative absence of freight trains along the remaining portions of the S-line will mean that significant curve straightening and other work can be accomplished without disrupting current service.

The overall project cost for fully restoring and improving the S-line, including the curve straightening and new bridges necessary to raise top speeds to 110 mph (180 km/h), has been estimated at $4 billion.

[24] In late 2019, negotiations were concluded and CSX, Virginia, and North Carolina reached separate deals that called for the two states to acquire the portions of the S-Line within their respective boundaries.

North Carolina officials said that the Virginia deal will boost their efforts to acquire the remainder of the S-Line to Raleigh, which remains in light service as the Norlina Subdivision of CSX carrying some freight traffic.

[20] In early June 2022, a $58 million federal grant under the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program to fund the initial engineering work necessary for rebuilding the S-Line between Raleigh and Richmond was announced.

However, double-tracking was removed from several sections of the Greensboro to Charlotte main line since its heyday, and significant signal upgrades, curve straightening, super-elevation, and restoration will be required to support high-speed passenger service along the corridor without interfering with freight operations.

NCDOT has worked with Norfolk Southern, CSX, and the NCRR to restore the double-tracking and make other incremental upgrades, a process that reduced the travel time between Raleigh and Charlotte by 35 minutes from 2001 to 2010.

Added to the SEHSR Corridor in 1998, a feasibility study was completed in August 2008 on the further extension from Charlotte through Spartanburg and Greenville, South Carolina to Atlanta and then Macon, Georgia.

[30] In May 2013, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), in cooperation with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), initiated a Tier I EIS for passenger rail service between Charlotte and Atlanta.

[33] The Tier I EIS was completed in September 2019, and in June 2021 the FRA and GDOT published a record of decision that identified the Greenfield corridor as the preferred alternative.

The stations along the route could include Cartersville and Dalton in Georgia; Chattanooga, Murfreesboro and Nashville in Tennessee; and Bowling Green and Elizabethtown in Kentucky.

Corridor as designated by the Federal Railroad Administration
Map from Washington to Charlotte and Hampton Roads, with the status of each SEHSR segment indicated.
Expanding the Long Bridge over the Potomac River from two to four tracks will allow a doubling of the amount of Amtrak service between Washington D.C. and Virginia, including services proposed under the SEHSR plan.
CSX's main "A" (red) and "S" (blue) lines. Note the removed track between Centralia, Virginia and Norlina, North Carolina , indicated by the dashed line.