The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad has cancelled its Dillsboro stop, citing the “national ‘economic downturn.'” This has visioneers beside themselves, “thinking outside the box to develop dynamic multi-faceted and heterogeneous and universal consciousness.”
Meanwhile, the state’s draft Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Plan suggests allocating $594,434,000 specifically toward passenger rail projects. This excludes $2,034,373,000 allocated for passenger rail between Charlotte and the Virginia state line. Most of the line items pertain to making railroad crossings safer, but $11,967,000 will go toward planning and studies. $194,472,000 will go toward the “environmental study, preliminary engineering, right of way, design, construction and equipment†for passenger rail between Asheville and Salisbury. $300,000 is proposed for building a passenger rail station in Asheville. Additional funds are requested for line items combining freight and passenger rail.
