News

RTA members and partners,

For this week’s blog, I decided to write about a recent, somewhat unusual plane+train trip that I recently took while returning from a visit to family in Texas, that I believe highlights the effectiveness of our train system within North Carolina, along with its promise for future passenger travel.

An unexpected, but effective, train journey

Earlier this month, I returned home from Charlotte to our beloved Research Triangle region via train.

To be clear, I had not originally traveled from our area to Charlotte to begin with. I had taken a flight from RDU International to Texas to visit my family for a couple of days, and was flying standby in both directions. On the day I returned home, there were no standby flights available to RDU; however, there were some seats available to Charlotte Douglas International. So I boarded a flight to CLT, and then upon arrival at CLT I took a ride-sharing service from the airport to the Charlotte train station, about 10 miles away.

I knew from the Amtrak app that there were no seats available on the next eastbound intercity train from Charlotte to the Research Triangle area (5 pm departure); so I purchased a ticket for the subsequent train departure (7:45 pm). However, I took a chance anyway and headed to the train station early, and arrived at 4:30 pm. The station attendant confirmed that there still weren’t any tickets available from Charlotte to any of our Triangle area stations; however, at 4:53 pm, she said to me that a seat for part of the journey had become available. The ticket would get me from Charlotte to Greensboro on the 5 pm train, so I purchased the ticket, canceled my later departure ticket, and boarded the train. Once on board, I checked the Amtrak app again after a few minutes, and found and purchased a ticket for the remainder of my desired trip, from Greensboro to Cary.

The total train ticket purchase price was reasonable, around $30 or so if memory serves. In addition, the schedule for this particular train (Piedmont 76) was what I often refer to as a “metro express” train, as it has limited stops, with several of the remaining stations about an hour apart. The entire trip from Charlotte to Cary took about 2 hours and 45 minutes; it would have been around 2 hours and 25 minutes if I had ended my trip in Durham, and just short of 3 hours if I had continued to Raleigh.

Kudos to NCDOT and our NC By Train service

The “NC By Train” service, operated by Amtrak in North Carolina, is a very effective solution for travel across North Carolina’s Piedmont Crescent, from Raleigh, Cary, and Durham to Greensboro and Charlotte, as well as to intermediate points west and south of the Triangle (i.e., Burlington, High Point, Salisbury, Kannapolis; the four intermediate stops are each served by most but not all trains).

There are no middle seats on the train, because it is a two by two seating arrangement, and you can use your phone the whole time, because your “cruising altitude” is just a few feet. Plus, there is Wi-Fi on board (the service quality is reasonable but not perfect) and a place to charge your phone or laptop at your seat.

Will train travel replace aviation? Hardly. It takes too long for many longer-distance intercity journeys — while the current 79 MPH top speed is good, it is not the 500+ MPH that air travel can deliver. However, for travel within North Carolina, the trip is a very reasonable choice, the time is competitive with driving, the stations are generally in central locations, you can walk around during the journey, and there are multiple trains per day to choose from.

The NCDOT Rail Division has performed a remarkable, and in my opinion largely unheralded service for North Carolina for many years. Through a mix of funding from the state and federal government, as well as private investments from Norfolk Southern, CSX, and the NC Railroad Company, along with purposeful planning and execution, North Carolina’s current and future residents benefit from an increasingly robust and effective passenger train service that complements our freeway system. NCDOT has invested more than $1 billion over the past quarter century in passenger rail in our state.

The future of passenger rail travel

Looking ahead, thanks to the largest federal grant that North Carolina has ever received for any mode of transportation, the Department will invest more than $1 billion in the next six years to construct the first upgraded segment of the southeast high speed rail corridor. First designated as one of five high speed rail corridors back in 1992 by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), NCDOT and our Virginia counterparts have worked diligently with USDOT and other partners to bring the promise of higher speed, high performance rail a reality. When complete in 2030, we will have faster travel north of Raleigh, starting with an extension of the Charlotte-Raleigh intercity service to Wake Forest in northern Wake County. That corridor will eventually continue north to Richmond, Virginia.

The system won’t be Japanese Shinkansen fast (175-200 MPH), or approaching the top speed for the proposed California system (220 MPH). In addition, much of it will be single track with passing sidings to start with, and it will still share the corridor with limited freight usage. However, with future train speeds up to 90 MPH in northern Wake County when it opens in 2030, and up to 110 MPH and possibly higher as the service expands to the north, along with no at-grade crossings, we will have a very strong passenger rail option, and one that is eminently deliverable to construct. In other words, it will be a system consistent with our state motto — Esse Quam Videri, to be rather than to seem — and perfect for North Carolina.

The regional business community has supported the development of the southeast corridor through the RTA for two decades and counting. Kudos to NCDOT, and thank you to all state, federal, and private partners who have supported and continue to focus on effective intercity passenger rail.

Have a great weekend, everyone, and let’s get moving.

Joe Milazzo II, PE
RTA executive director

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