NC: Are you a rider or just train curious? NC’s rail program wants to hear from you.
By Richard Stradling
Source The Charlotte Observer (TNS)
If you’ve ever ridden Amtrak in North Carolina or even just thought about it, the people who run the state’s passenger trains want to hear from you.
The N.C. Department of Transportation plans to add another daily round trip of the Piedmont between Raleigh and Charlotte in the coming years and is asking people what they’d like to see in the state’s train service.
NCDOT is holding public meetings in four cities along the route — Burlington, Salisbury, High Point and Kannapolis — and asking people to fill out a survey online.
The state’s passenger rail program, NC By Train, regularly surveys customers on board trains, said director Jason Orthner.
“The goal of this particular exercise is to hear from a wider group,” Orthner said in an interview. “We want folks to tell us when they want to ride the train, what type of schedule, what is most convenient for them.”
The survey also asks about stops people would like to see added and amenities, such as food or premium seating, that are important to them. The survey will be open through June 30 and can be found at publicinput.com/h05225#tab-61216.
NC By Train began in 1990 with the Carolinian, which makes a dozen stops in North Carolina on a daily round trip between Charlotte and New York City. The Piedmont started five years later and now makes four daily round trips between Raleigh and Charlotte with seven stops in between, including Cary and Durham.
The trains carried a record 720,758 passengers in 2024, according to NCDOT, up 55% since 2019. Ridership got a boost in 2023 with the addition of a fourth daily round trip of the Piedmont and a new schedule that carries passengers between Charlotte and Raleigh in as little as three hours.
Under the new schedule, some trains skip Burlington, High Point, Salisbury and Kannapolis. Orthner said the state and Amtrak, which operates the trains, aimed to make the most efficient use of their equipment and crews and make their schedule competitive with driving.
But Dave Robinson of Raleigh, a frequent Piedmont rider who has been urging the state to restore the missed stops, says NC By Train will hear from him through the survey and public meetings.
“Piedmont service should be for all stations by all trains,” Robinson said on a video he made for the occasion.
Orthner said it’s not clear yet when NC By Train might add another daily round trip of the Piedmont or where it would stop.
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