RTA, Richmond, SE Va. business groups present resolution on Higher Speed Rail

January 8, 2011 - 8:00am

The Regional Transportation Alliance and fellow regional business organizations from Richmond and Hampton Roads in southeastern Virginia presented a unified resolution supporting the advancement of higher speed rail in the southern mid-Atlantic region to the VA-NC High Speed Rail Compact legislative committee at their January 7, 2011 meeting in Richmond.

Joe Novak of Cisco Systems who serves as RTA Intercity High Speed Rail Chair presented remarks from the Research Triangle region.  Other presenters included Kim Scheeler of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce and Dana Dickens of the Hampton Roads Partnership in southeastern Virginia.  The resolution was authorized by Novak, Scheeler, Hampton Roads Partnership executive committee member Tom Frantz, and Jack Hornbeck of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.  Each presenter focused on the need to cooperate to advance intercity rail links between Raleigh, Richmond, and Hampton Roads via Petersburg and to speak with a unified voice.  The presenters noted that higher speed rail would "connect the capitals" of Raleigh, Richmond, and Washington, DC and "join the job crescents" which are the twin 200-mile urban crescents in North Carolina and Virginia.

Links and downloads:
 - Resolution text
 - Presentation slides

Media coverage
 - Richmond Times-Dispatch article  (Sat Jan 8, 2011)