CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Crowded commuters on the city's light rail line could be getting some relief after transit officials this week proposed the addition of a third car on Lynx trains during peak travel times.
Longer trains would require the extension of passenger platforms and more powerful electrical systems to propel the additional car. Engineers believe the modifications would cost $66.9 million.
About 16,000 passengers ride the south corridor line each day, far exceeding original projections for the two year-old service, said Carolyn Flowers, CEO of the Charlotte Area Transit System.
Three-car trains were originally planned, Flowers said, but the project was scaled back due to concerns about the cost of the line from I-485, near Pineville, to Uptown.
During the evening rush hour, Lynx trains are filled to near capacity, said Reggie Smith, a south Charlotte resident who said he has been riding the train since the service was launched in November 2007.
"You’re barely moving, and when the doors open up you’re praying 'please don’t let anyone else come on because I’m about to die'," Smith told NewsChannel 36.
An extension of the Lynx system is planned for northeast Charlotte, including stops along North Tryon, UNC-Charlotte, and I-485 in University City. Cost estimates for the project top $1 billion, and transit planners have said a recent decline in local funding could delay the start of service for the expanded system until 2019.
Officials have said the modifications on the south corridor could be made at the same time the new line is constructed.
The three-car trains will be required along the full length of the expanded light-rail system, transit planners have said, because the Lynx line is projected to draw nearly 25,000 daily passengers by 2030.
Still, some transit leaders are questioning the proposal to modify an existing train service when funding for other rail projects remains uncertain.
"It’s very difficult for me to justify expanding a line that is successful until we provide rail to the other areas who need it," Huntersville Mayor Jill Swain said during Wednesday's meeting of the Metropolitan Transit Commission.
A sharp decline in money collected from Mecklenburg's half-cent sales tax for transit has sparked recent debate among MTC members about which transit projects should be built first.
The commission is scheduled to decide next month whether to pursue federal funding for at least part of the modifications to the south corridor.
Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx said said the MTC will continue to weigh the plans for modifying existing transit service against the funding that is available for all construction.
"There are other projects that are in line for support and we have to listen to the professionals and then make a decision," he said.
