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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Wilmington, NC, Rail Realignment Project

The Wilmington Rail Realignment Project (Project) is located primarily within the City of Wilmington (City) and New Hanover County, NC, but also extends into Brunswick County, NC. The existing CSXT rail line, commonly referred to as the Beltline, is the only active track through the City. The Project proposes to reroute existing and anticipated future freight traffic between the Port of Wilmington in Hanover County and CSXT's Davis Yard in the Town of Navassa, Brunswick County, from the existing Beltline to a new, approximately four-mile rail alignment with two new crossings of the Cape Fear River. The Project will improve safety, regional transportation mobility, and freight rail operations, while also improving the resiliency, reliability, and operational fluidity of the sole freight rail route connecting southeastern North Carolina with the Port of Wilmington (Port). 

All current freight traffic moving from Davis Yard and the Port travels along Port-owned railroad operated by the Wilmington Terminal Railroad (WTRY), a Class III rail carrier and subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming, to connect to CSXT's Beltline at South 2nd Street in Wilmington. The Beltline forms an east-west-oriented "V" through the City. There are 32 at-grade crossings (30 public and 2 private crossings) on the CSXT and WTRY lines, generally along South Front Street where the WTRY tracks run parallel in the center of the street before crossing over the street to serve Colonial Oil. The Beltline crosses the Northeast Cape Fear River via the Hilton Bridge north of downtown Wilmington to access Davis Yard via the SE Line. Existing freight operations along the Beltline vary from day to day depending on shipper demand and CSXT and/or WTRY resource planning. However, all freight trains moving from Davis Yard and the Port currently travel the entirety of the Beltline, while other CSXT and WTRY trains traverse portions of the Beltline in the performance of local switching operations for the three existing local shippers.

Currently, the Project is unfunded.

Environmental Assessment

In August 2024, FRA published an Environmental Assessment (EA), assessing and disclosing environmental impacts of the Project in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] 1500–1508, 23 CFR part 771) and other applicable environmental laws. FRA accepted public comments on the EA at https://www.regulations.gov, docket number FRA-2023-0088, until September 8, 2024. No public comments were received. On December 18, 2024, FRA signed a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). The FONSI concludes the EA process and includes measures to minimize the impacts of Project implementation. The Wilmington Rail Realignment EA and FONSI can be accessed via the links below.

FRA NEPA Contact:

Kevin Wright
Environmental Protection Specialist
Office of Environmental Program Management
Federal Railroad Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
kevin.wright@dot.gov
202-868-2628

Permitting Dashboard

The U.S. Permitting Dashboard is an online tool for Federal agencies, project sponsors, and interested members of the public to track the Federal government’s environmental review and authorization processes for large or complex infrastructure projects. The Dashboard is part of a government-wide effort to improve coordination, transparency, and accountability. A link to this project’s page on the Dashboard is below.

Last updated: Thursday, December 19, 2024