Design and planning

By 2011, the Lynx Red Line was planned to be built in one phase. Due to less revenue in the transit tax, in January the Metropolitan Transit Commission voted that the Lynx Red Line along with the Blue Line extension were the top two priorities, leaving the streetcar to be funded by the city and postponing further work on the LYNX Silver Line and the Airport corridor until after the Red Line and Blue line projects were completed. The Red Line was projected to be in operation by mid to late 2018.

Feasibility

By June 2011 the project had been 90% designed and an operating agreement was signed with Norfolk Southern Railway, but the project lacked nearly 80% of the needed funds to begin construction. In October 2012, The Charlotte Observer noted that "the Red Line...has little chance of federal funding, and CATS may not have enough money to pay for even a portion of construction costs. The NCDOT is working on creative ways to finance the project, but it appears to be years away."^[10]

On October 17, 2012, the NCDOT, the Red Line Task Force and CATS requested Norfolk Southern to conduct a study of the "Red Line" concept. As the Red Line would utilize the NS O-Line between Charlotte and Mooresville, the study would determine if and how both freight and passenger services could use the same line while allowing normal freight services to continue. It was estimated at a meeting of the task force on October 24 that the study would be initiated by late January 2013 and completed by early 2014, after which further feasibility studies and projections could be made.^[11] However, in early 2013, Norfolk Southern expressed its doubts that the $416 million project would be feasible.^[12]

On June 25, 2014, following the completion and release of the feasibility study, CATS officials said that the Red Line would be too costly and complicated to build.^[8] Several reasons were provided, including:

• The continued refusal of Norfolk Southern to share its existing trackage with CATS, necessitating the construction of a new railway line parallel to the NS rails. This would increase the overall project cost by $215 million and cause "multiple disruptions to adjacent communities", as building a parallel rail line would involve construction costs, right-of-way purchases, and the complete rebuilding of all road intersections along the proposed line.
• The project's ineligibility for federal funding due to low ridership projections.
• The inability of CATS to fund the Red Line on its own.

Despite the negative assessments of the feasibility study, the Metropolitan Transit Commission, including the Red Line task force, did not take any official steps to disband the project. While the director of the N.C. DOT rail division, Paul Worley, said that he would work with Norfolk Southern officials to begin a study concerning the proposed Gateway Station, he said that the Red Line concept would not be included, as "no viable plan" for it now existed. Though the mayor of Davidson, John Woods, said the results of the feasibility study were "a serious setback," he added that developing transit in the northern portion of Mecklenburg County remained important for the region, and one possible alternative to a commuter rail line could be bus rapid transit.^[9]

Charlotte city officials have continued to maintain a strong interest in the original Red Line project.^[13] In June 2021, Charlotte city manager Marcus Jones said the Red Line remained the city's "top priority" within the overall regional transit plan.^[13] A financial consulting firm has advised the Charlotte city council that the Red Line as originally planned could begin operating in 2031, and could be built for $674 million.^[1][14] Municipal leaders in North Mecklenburg communities, however, including Cornelius mayor Jeff Tarte, oppose future transit taxes and projects led by Charlotte officials, are skeptical Norfolk Southern will change its stance on sharing its lines with a commuter rail, and have doubted the long-term viability of diesel-powered locomotive technology.^[13]