Raleigh, NC
A City of Growth, with a Small Town Vibe
Raleigh, North Carolina is the Easternmost stop on the East-West alignment of the proposed Redline Transcontinental. The City itself is considered part of the "Raleigh-Durham" city pair, and is one of the two largest cities in North Carolina, after Charlotte.
Raleigh has a modern transit scheme, primarily oriented around bus service. Its relatively low density allows for generally acceptable traffic levels within the city, absent a full-fledged transit system like that of Washington, DC. There exists a central rail terminal in the heart of the city, which provides the city's intermodal transit hub, linking the bus system to passenger rail. Raleigh is not part of Amtrak's NEC, and as a result has limited transit options along the coast, despite being provided service.
Charlotte in particular has been looking at regional rail links, and should the Redline be built, this connective city-pair of Charlotte and Raleigh has the potential to serve as a model for inter-city development cooperation overlapping with the National scheme.
The principle of the connection is to provide for dedicated through-lines for the National inter-city links, while providing for either dedicated regional city links (with a much higher frequency), or merely ensuring a connective pathway to the relevant services to integrate regional transit and national transit smoothly along that stretch of corridor. By planning ahead of time, funding can be arranged and democratized to ensure timely completion while being "built-to-spec" for the purposes of the cities in question.
Whether the regional intercity links would be considered "light rail", be a hydrogen or electric or hybrid locomotive set on traditional rail, or a dedicated or connective MAGLEV route, the developmental overlap saves time and money, and effectively aids in future-proofing the system.
In the case of Charlotte and Raleigh, the notion of a dedicated MAGLEV connection might be considered exactly what a city like Charlotte was looking for, or it might be viewed as unnecessary, given a potential difference in pace of life. The NEC is practically known for its hustle and bustle--Raleigh, not quite so much. Charlotte is billed as being a competitor to New York City for the banking/financial center, and Raleigh is growing in a style more similar to DC. This makes for an interesting potential, and a potential integration that would be decided by the people of the State.
