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S.C. riding historic rails to high-speed transportation system |
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Tuesday, 26 June 2007 |
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Photo by Denton Harryman / Part of the old Greenville & Northern Railway line is being turned into a trail system for bicycling.
By Shelia Watson
Mass transit will be hitting the trail in South Carolina’s Upstate under a plan by the city of Travelers Rest that would convert the abandoned 10-mile-long, northern segment of the Greenville & Northern Railroad into a “Carolina Swamp Rabbit Tram Trail.”
The city’s “concept plan” calls for converting the rail line, which runs from Greenville to Travelers Rest, into a multi-use trail that can be used for recreational and motorized transit. A 7-foot-wide microbus would travel a 10-foot wide asphalt strip constructed over the railroad bed, carrying passengers between downtown Greenville and downtown Travelers Rest.
The plan is an intermediate step in response to U.S. Department of Transportation statistics showing that Georgia and South Carolina lead all states in the number of rural residents dependent on passenger rail as their only public transportation.
The long-term goal of the plan is to preserve the integrity of the rail corridor for eventual conversion to a commuter rail line, while attempting to have the area’s transportation infrastructure keep pace with expanding growth.
As the federal government looks at constructing a Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor that would run from Washington, D.C., to Jacksonville, Fla., via Columbia, and a secondary route from Raleigh, N.C., to Atlanta with stops in Charlotte, Spartanburg and Greenville, S.C. Department of Transportation officials have been meeting with railroad representatives, transportation planners, city officials and state lawmakers to discuss the addition of commuter rail to the state’s transportation system.
The group discussed the possibility of commuter rail systems from Camden to Columbia, Batesburg-Leesville to Columbia, and from Newberry to Columbia. The Charleston region is also studying the feasibility of a line from Summerville to Charleston, and there have been discussions about running yet another line between Columbia and Greenville.
Not to be left out, the city of Anderson is exploring the idea of rail service from Anderson into Seneca and Clemson.
According to a transportation planner who took part in the meeting, “it’s going to take local, state and federal money, along with a lot more planning.”
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