A speeding train heads toward us

With the Tide under construction in Norfolk and new interest in the project from Virginia Beach, 2009 will be a defining year for light rail in Hampton Roads. But there's another opportunity racing toward the region: a chance to connect to a national high-speed rail system.

The idea of extending high-speed service to cover the entire East Coast has been rattling around Washington, D.C., for more than a decade, but without the dollars needed to widen, straighten and relocate tracks to accommodate faster trains.

A convergence of economic, energy and environmental challenges has pushed rail higher on the list of national priorities, and the renewed attention has brought promises for significant federal investment. President Obama's budget and stimulus plan include a total of $13 billion for high-speed rail.

Thirteen billion big ones ought to capture regional leaders' attention, but so far they've been distracted by other projects and by provincial tensions.

On the infrequent occasions when the project has come up in past years, it generated internecine disputes over whether the rail line should enter the region from the Peninsula via the existing CSX rail corridor or through South Hampton Roads, following U.S. 460.

That debate is bound to break out again. The Metropolitan Planning Organization is the proper group to make the call, and it should endorse the southern route. That would aim a high-speed rail line directly into Hampton Roads' population center and its tourism hub. South Hampton Roads currently has no passenger rail service, a serious oversight that can and should be rectified with this project.

The Peninsula already has Amtrak passenger service to Newport News. Proponents argue the merits of improving existing CSX tracks for high-speed trains, but the line must traverse rivers and swampy terrain, undercutting arguments that it is the best bargain.

Regional leaders can't afford to tiptoe around this difficult but necessary calculus if they want high-speed rail to reach Hampton Roads. But they must make sure the conversation is a constructive one. They can't allow bickering to thwart a project with real potential to invigorate the economy, reduce congestion, cut fuel consumption and improve air quality.

"Hampton Roads has got to come up with something that all of Hampton Roads will support," said state Sen. John Watkins, chairman of the Virginia-North Carolina High-Speed Rail Compact Commission. "That's the key. We're right on the verge of getting the kind of commitments to get this done. No one is going to take time to listen to people argue. I don't want to see Hampton Roads left out."

The region was not included in the original high-speed corridor designated by Congress, but the Federal Railroad Administration added a spur connecting Hampton Roads to the main north-south line.

State rail officials hope to complete environmental assessments this summer and schedule public hearings. The final decision will be made by federal authorities, but a firm declaration by the MPO will help get the project moving and ensure it can compete with other rail initiatives clawing for dollars.

Rather than fight over which communities will be left out of a high-speed rail project, leaders on both sides of the water should be talking about how light rail in Norfolk, passenger rail on the Peninsula and a new high-speed spur can fit together to benefit the entire region.

Norfolk officials are already discussing how to connect light rail, high-speed rail, bus and ferry services at Harbor Park. More importantly, the region should start making the commitments necessary to secure those connections.

If the spur is not funded, Hampton Roads would be carved into a cul de sac, cut off from every other major metropolitan area on the East Coast. That's something everyone in the region should be willing to work together to prevent.