Some Opportunities For Passenger Trains in NC

When it comes to transportation that reduces carbon emissions, it’s true that electric vehicles beat gasoline cars. It’s even more efficient to skip that long automobile trip altogether by taking the train. 

North Carolina’s Department of Transportation (NCDOT) under first Governor Cooper and now Governor Stein recognizes the benefits of passenger rail. NCDOT is continuing to work hard for the expansion of passenger rail service both within our state and on trips beyond. 

Seven extensions of passenger rail service in North Carolina are presently being studied with funding from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor Identification and Development Program (Corridor ID), which evaluates rail corridors, prioritizes projects and gets them ready to apply for federal construction funding. New routes currently under study include service expansions to Wilmington, Fayetteville, Winston-Salem, Asheville, and Atlanta. 

Passenger Rail Soaring to Record Levels

“When we’re done with Corridor ID, we’ll have a list of projects we need to build, we’ll know roughly what it’ll cost us, and we’ll be able to … keep building those projects,” said Jason Myers, rail programs manager for the NCDOT rail division. “The Corridor ID process is intended to be very precise, to help result in agreements with the railroads, to be robust and something that can be implemented.” The push by presently unserved North Carolina cities to get passenger rail service comes at a time when Amtrak ridership in North Carolina has soared to record levels, increasing by 59% since 2019.

Additionally, North Carolina is about to see growth on the manufacturing side of passenger rail. Siemens opened its new $220 million facility for manufacturing passenger rail cars in early April. The new Siemens passenger rail equipment is “the next generation of Amtrak equipment” and is expected to be shipped starting this summer.