NC: Local rail service draws concerns

The High Point branch of the NAACP and other advocates for passenger train service through the city plan to express complaints about reduced service at a N.C. Department of Transporation public information forum next week.

The DOT’s NC By Train agency will hold an information-gathering session from 5 to 7 p.m. June 4 at the High Point Public Library at 901 N. Main St. The High Point forum is one of four taking place in a region between Raliegh and Charlotte through mid-June.

Two years ago the DOT cut a morning and an afternoon Piedmont route train stop, reducing service from four to two stops a day. Stops also were eliminated in Burlington and Salisbury.

High Point NACCP President Elma Hairston said that the reduction in service for High Point has been a problem.

“High Point residents can no longer utilize a valuable transportation service that operated at the most popular and convenient times via both the Carolinian and Piedmont trains,” Hairston said in a letter.

Local train rider David Robinson, who shares the concerns expressed by the NAACP and is seeking to restore train service in High Point, said that the stops that were eliminated were more popular.

The DOT said the High Point stops were reduced to shorten the time for train service between Raleigh and Charlotte, Robinson told The High Point Enterprise.

“Unfortunately, the price that High Point had to pay was being skipped by the first Charlotte-bound train — #71 — for an under-three-hour travel time from Raleigh to Charlotte to be achieved,” Robinson said.

In her letter, Hairston said the travel time savings between Raleigh and Charlotte is approximately 12 minutes on an almost three-hour trip.

“Restricting transportation opportunities for High Point, as well as Burlington and Salisbury, seems to be a heavy price to pay for minimal time savings,” she said.

Robinson said that the earliest train that High Point passengers can now take to go to Salisbury, Kannapolis and Charlotte is #73, which departs High Point at 11:52 a.m. and arrives in Charlotte at 1:10 pm.

“Then the only return train allowing for a meaningful-length visit is #78, arriving at High Point at 8.56 p.m., making for a long day,” he said.

Robinson said that the emphasis on Raleigh and Charlotte doesn’t mesh with the original goal of passenger train travel in the heart of North Carolina when the effort was launched two decades ago.

“The premise of Piedmont.service from its creation in 1995 was to connect all cities along the Raleigh- Charlotte corridor to facilitate individual intercity travel, not to sacrifice service to selected cities, just to achieve time savings between the remaining cities,” he said. “This has now been violated.”

Rail Division Director Jason Orthner said that officials with NC By Train are open to all types of feedback on the train service.

“We’re excited to discuss new service options between Raleigh and Charlotte,” he said. “Hearing from members of the community along the Piedmont route, how they use the service and what improvements they would like to see is an important part of that planning and the service’s success.”

The forums will be an open house format, and people may drop in at any time. The first forum was in Burlington Tuesday night, and other forums will take place in Salisbury and Kannapolis.

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