Starting this week, the state’s new midday Amtrak Piedmont trains between Raleigh and Charlotte will be reduced to three days a week – Friday through Saturday– so Norfolk Southern Railway can make improvements to tracks, bridges and signals, NCDOT says.
The midday run has been popular since it was added to the schedule last June. The trains leave Raleigh heading south at 11:50 a.m., and Charlotte heading north at 12:30 p.m., seven days a week, making seven stops along the way. ... [MORE]
The N.C. Department of Transportation says its new midday trains between Raleigh and Charlotte -- popular rides since they were added to the daily Amtrak schedule in June -- will be reduced to three days a week for a 10-week period starting next month, while Norfolk Southern Railway makes improvements to tracks, bridges and signals.
The trains leave Raleigh heading south at 11:50 a.m., and Charlotte heading north at 12:30 p.m., seven days a week, making seven stops along the way. The midday trains will be canceled Monday through Thursday from Feb. 14 through April 21. The Friday-Saturday-Sunday midday trains will continue, along with the daily morning and afternooon trains between Raleigh and Charlotte.
The new schedule is available below or at www.bytrain.org. ... [MORE]
Earlier feasibility studies said it looks like a good idea to extend passenger train service to the western and southeastern North Carolina, so the state DOT Rail Division has requested $6.7 million in federal planning funds for further environmental study, engineering and design work.
One proposed line would run west from Salisbury to Asheville. The other would link Raleigh and Selma to Wilmington by one of two routes - passing through Goldsboro, or passing through Fayetteville and Pembroke. ... [MORE]
North Carolina’s passenger train schedule will grow on June 5 with the launch of a third daily round-trip train between Raleigh and Charlotte, leaving each city at midday, NCDOT said today.
The schedule expansion means that Raleigh residents will have the option to catch a southbound train at 6:50 a.m., 11:50 a.m. or 4:50 p.m. each day for the trip to Charlotte, which takes about 3 hours and 12 minutes. (See story with partial timetable.)
The northbound trains will leave Charlotte’s Amtrak station at 7:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. Each train also stops along the way at Cary, Durham, Burlington, Greensboro, High Point, Salisbury and Kannapolis. ... [MORE]
Stephan and Kim Jackson of Durham agreed months ago that they must be in Washington next week to witness the historic inauguration of America’s first black president.
But they didn’t want to take part in what could be a history-making traffic jam on Interstate 95.
So the Jacksons booked passage on a rolling hotel that will pick them up Saturday morning at the Amtrak station in Raleigh. They’ll join travelers on a pair of private rail cars, operated by a small South Carolina railway company, traveling to Washington attached the Amtrak Carolinian.
The trip includes gourmet food and drink, and a four-night stay in the center of the nation’s capital — sleeping on the train, parked at Union Station. The fare is $1,800 a person.
“Economically, we are sort of taking a leap of faith, because we’ve never ridden on a rail car before,” ... [MORE]
Think you might like to ride that luxury train to the Obama inaugural in Washington, D.C.?
Pay $1,800 to drink expensive wine, eat fancy food and snuggle in a comfy bed on your rail car, parked for four nights at Union Station?
Forget it. All sold out.
“The last couple of berths went within an hour and a half after your story appeared,” said John Mickey of the Lancaster & Chester Railway, who doubles as chef and booking agent for two rolling hotels called the J. Pinckney Henderson and the Hollywood Beach.
“They went fast. People were calling me like 8 o’clock in the morning. I could fill up three or four more rail cars if I had some with bedrooms.”
At its work session tonight, the Orange County Board of Commissioners could establish a Rail Station Development Task Force to recommend potential sites, funding options and additional infrastructure that would support Amtrak service in Hillsborough. The Hillsborough Town Board has already approved the Task Force. A citizens group advocating for the station has suggested the following groups be represented on the Task Force: Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, West End Neighborhood Watch, Hillsborough Town Planning Board, Orange County Economic Development Commission, Orange County Transportation Services Board, Orange Unified Transportation Board and Walkable Hillsborough Coalition. The resolution on tonight's agenda calls for a nine-member Task Force, including two at-large citizens from Hillsborough and Orange County.
