Southside mayors endorse high speed rail
Friday, May 29, 2009
By: Patrick Terpstra, WVEC-TV
NORFOLK — Right now it’s a parking lot, but with a little stimulus money it may eventually be a hub for high speed rail.
Southside mayors met this morning behind Harbor Park on the Norfolk waterfront. They’re pledging support to bring bullet trains to Hampton Roads.
“The growth and development we’ve waited for all these years is no further than that rail,” said Portsmouth Mayor James Holley.
City councils plan to vote on resolutions next month supporting high speed rail.
They’re racing to bid on federal stimulus money.
Trains rolling faster than 110 miles an hour would take passengers from Richmond to Norfolk with stops in Suffolk and Chesapeake.
The rail line would end at a hub next to Harbor Park, connecting travelers to Norfolk’s light rail line.
Also Online
Virginians for High Speed Rail Website
“I think we just have to get to work on it. As you heard Mayor (Paul) Fraim say, we’re talking about a lot of people, evacuation routes, which is something that’s been touted in Richmond for a long time. And don’t forget we have the port of Virginia here so it needs to be understood that we need this here,” said Suffolk Mayor Linda Johnson.
A second high speed rail line is under consideration. It would traveling from Richmond to the Peninsula.