Piedmont (train)
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The ''Piedmont'' (also known as the ''Piedmont Service'') is a
regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
passenger train operated by
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
and the
North Carolina Department of Transportation The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is responsible for building, repairing, and operating highways, bridges, and other modes of transportation, including ferries in the U.S. state of North Carolina. History The North Carolina ...
(NCDOT), running four round trips daily between
Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...
and
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
. It is a sister train to the '' Carolinian'', which runs from Charlotte to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. The ''Piedmont'' route is coextensive with the southern end of the ''Carolinian,'' largely paralleling Interstate 85. It operates along the western portion of the state-owned
North Carolina Railroad The North Carolina Railroad is a state-owned rail corridor extending from Morehead City, North Carolina, to Charlotte. The railroad carries over 70 freight trains operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway and eight passenger trains (Amtrak's ...
, which runs from Charlotte to
Morehead City Morehead City is a port city in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007. It forms part of the Crystal Coast. Hi ...
. Operations began in May 1995. NCDOT owns the
rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...
used on the ''Piedmont'', unlike the ''Carolinian'', which uses Amtrak rolling stock. Both trains are marketed by NCDOT under the NC By Train brand. In fiscal year 2023, ''Piedmont'' carried 289,955 passengers, a 36.4% increase from FY2022. This is an increase from pre-COVID-19 pandemic ridership, with 214,218 passengers carried in FY2019.


History

North Carolina developed the ''Piedmont'' as a regional follow-on to the ''Carolinian'', which had entered service in early 1990. With the growing popularity of the ''Carolinian,'' state officials sought to add a second daily round-trip between Charlotte and Raleigh. However, Amtrak initially balked, claiming that it didn't have enough rolling stock to spare. Undaunted, in the fall of 1990, NCDOT approved the acquisition of five used passenger cars and the leasing of two
diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...
s. The board planned to have the second train enter service by early 1992. The ''Piedmont'' (as the train came to be called) faced numerous delays. Since the Charlotte station was not designed to turn equipment,
Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...
, which operates the NCRR under a longstanding lease with the state, insisted that the state construct a wye in Charlotte for turning the two trains around. At the time, the southbound ''Carolinian'' had deadheaded south to the nearest wye in Pineville and turned around there. In 1993, the cost of the wye plus land purchase was estimated at $200,000; by late 1994, this grew to $695,000, plus $1.5 million for a maintenance facility in Raleigh. The ''Piedmont'' finally began operating on May 26, 1995. Originally, it operated with an early-morning trip to Charlotte and a nighttime return to Raleigh. Its creation enabled same-day business travel between Charlotte and Raleigh in both directions. After delays in refurbishing the motive power and passenger cars, an additional ''Piedmont'' round trip began operating on June 5, 2010. With the addition of the second train, Amtrak rebranded the route ''Piedmont Service'' to reflect the multiple daily frequencies. On March 22, 2011, it was announced that an agreement between NCDOT, Amtrak, Norfolk Southern and the
North Carolina Railroad The North Carolina Railroad is a state-owned rail corridor extending from Morehead City, North Carolina, to Charlotte. The railroad carries over 70 freight trains operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway and eight passenger trains (Amtrak's ...
had been reached that would allow for $461 million in grants from the federal government to be used in upgrading infrastructure. The money would be used to add additional double track and passing sidings, as well as reducing curves, resulting in a 13-minute reduction in travel time. The improvements also would support a possible increase in maximum speed to from the existing . The speed increase would be implemented after the installation of
positive train control Positive train control (PTC) is a family of automatic train protection systems deployed in the United States. Most of the United States' national rail network mileage has a form of PTC. These systems are generally designed to check that trains a ...
safety technology, and it would reduce travel time by another 12 to 15 minutes. Improvements include the new
Raleigh Union Station Raleigh Union Station is an Intermodal passenger transport, intermodal transit station in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Train service began the morning of July 10, 2018. Its main building serves as an Amtrak train station, while a fut ...
, which had its "ribbon cutting" in late April 2018 and began accepting trains that July. A third daily ''Piedmont'' round trip was added on June 4, 2018. On April 6, 2020, the ''Piedmont'' was truncated to a single round trip due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. On May 18, 2020, the ''Piedmont'' was suspended in a further round of COVID-related service cutbacks. This left the ''Carolinian,'' which returned that day after a month-long suspension, as the only rail link between Charlotte and Raleigh. The ''Piedmont'' returned on August 10, with a single round trip. A second round trip was restored in December. On April 5, 2021, the ''Piedmont'' resumed its full schedule of three round trips. This was part of a planned larger restoration of service across the Amtrak system in the spring and summer of 2021. A fourth round trip was added on July 10, 2023. On May 27, 2021, Amtrak released a long-range planning document for improved service in the Southeast Region that proposed additional ''Piedmont'' frequencies between Charlotte and Raleigh, as well as a potential expansion of two round trips south to
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
along the route of the ''
Crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hindu iconography, Hind ...
''. If implemented, an additional round trip along this corridor would operate only between Charlotte and Atlanta. Expanding the ''Piedmont'' route to Atlanta would create the first daylight service south of Charlotte since the Southern Railway's '' Piedmont Limited'' was truncated from Atlanta to Charlotte in 1975. After the federal government awarded the NCDOT a $1.1 billion dollar grant in December 2023, NCDOT said that the ''Piedmont'' route would be extended from Raleigh to
Wake Forest, North Carolina Wake Forest is a town in Wake and Franklin counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located almost entirely in Wake County, it lies just north of the state capital, Raleigh. At the 2020 census, the population was 47,601, up from 30,117 in ...
. NCDOT targeted 2030 for the completion of infrastructure improvements to support this plan.


Route details

The ''Piedmont'' operates over
North Carolina Railroad The North Carolina Railroad is a state-owned rail corridor extending from Morehead City, North Carolina, to Charlotte. The railroad carries over 70 freight trains operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway and eight passenger trains (Amtrak's ...
trackage.
Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...
and its predecessors have leased the NCRR from the state since 1871. * Charlotte District, Charlotte to Linwood *Danville District, Linwood to
Greensboro Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina, af ...
*Raleigh District, Greensboro to Raleigh PART operates
Amtrak Thruway Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...
service between High Point station and Winston-Salem, branded as NC Amtrak Connector. The NCDOT offers free transit passes which allow detraining ''Piedmont'' passengers to get one free bus ride and one transfer on the same day of travel. Passes are honored by 13 participating transit systems along its route. While the ''Piedmont'' is operated by Amtrak crews, most other operations are handled by NCDOT. The state sets schedules, owns the equipment, and handles most of the marketing. Maintenance is handled by state contractors at facilities in Charlotte and Raleigh.


Rolling stock

The motive power for the ''Piedmont'' has been provided by eight state-owned locomotives. Two are EMD F59PHIs, numbered 1755 (City of Salisbury) and 1797 (City of Asheville). Six are
EMD F59PH The EMD F59PH is a four-axle AAR wheel arrangement#B-B, B-B Diesel-electric transmission, diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Diesel, Electro-Motive Division from 1988 to 1994. A variant, the F59PHI, was produced f ...
s, numbered 1810 (City of Greensboro), 1859 (City of High Point), 1869 (City of Durham), 1871 (Town of Cary), 1893 (City of Burlington), and 1984 (City of Kannapolis). NCDOT also has five cab control units which are numbered 101-105. NCDOT's current F59PHs were originally used by
GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...
of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and rebuilt by American Motive Power and Altoona Works. NCDOT formerly operated two GP40PH-2's rebuilt by AMF. 1768 (City of Charlotte), originally B&O GP40 4008, was sold to the
Virginia Railway Express Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksbur ...
and became VRE V24. 1792 (City of Raleigh), originally L&N GP40 3006, was wrecked in the Mebane accident. Everything except the
EMD 645 The EMD 645 is a family of two-stroke diesel engines that was designed and manufactured by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. While the 645 series was intended primarily for locomotive, marine and stationary engine use, one 16-cy ...
engine, bell and horn were scrapped. Since at least 2017, the ''Piedmont'' has operated with two locomotives, one on each end of the train, to improve on-time performance. With the addition of the cab control units, the ''Piedmont'' also operates in push-pull mode with a single locomotive. State-owned passenger cars on the ''Piedmont'' are refurbished coach cars originally built by
Pullman-Standard The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...
and the St. Louis Car Company in the 1960s for the Kansas City Southern and
Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...
. There are five lounge/baggage cars and one coach/baggage car originally built by the St. Louis Car Company in the 1950s and used by the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
. The lounge car includes vending machines and complimentary coffee and tea. There are 14 regular coaches used on trains in addition to the 5 lounge/baggage cars. Each regular coach is named after a state landmark or state symbol, including "Box Turtle", "Cardinal", "Carolina Lily", "Channel Bass", "Dogwood", "Emerald", "Fraser Fir", "Granite", "Gray Squirrel", "Honey Bee", "Long Leaf Pine", "Plott Hound", "Scotch Bonnet", and "Sweet Potato". Each lounge/baggage car is named after an
estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...
located in the state, including "Albemarle Sound", "Bogue Sound", "Core Sound", "Currituck Sound", and "Pamlico Sound". Finally, the coach/baggage car, named "
Yadkin River The Yadkin River is one of the longest rivers in the US state of North Carolina, flowing . It rises in the northwestern portion of the state near the Blue Ridge Parkway, Blue Ridge Parkway's Thunder Hill Overlook. Several parts of the river a ...
", had seen service before it was donated to the
North Carolina Transportation Museum The North Carolina Transportation Museum is a museum in Spencer, North Carolina, Spencer, North Carolina. It is a collection of automobiles, aircraft, and List of railway vehicles, railway vehicles. The museum is located at the former Southern Ra ...
. During the COVID-related service cutbacks of 2020, NCDOT opted to run the ''Carolinian'' rather than the ''Piedmont'' to save the expense of maintaining the state-owned consists, since the ''Carolinian'' uses Amtrak rolling stock. All rolling stock has been painted in a blue and silver
livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol, or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery often includes elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...
, with red accents, based on the North Carolina state flag. The ''Carolinian'' uses Amtrak's national red-white-blue livery. In August 2019, the
Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce railroa ...
awarded NCDOT up to $76.9 million to purchase 13 new coaches, allowing the replacement of some older cars and an expansion to four daily round trips. On May 22, 2020, Senator
Thom Tillis Thomas Roland Tillis ( ; born August 30, 1960) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from North Carolina, a seat he has held since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Tillis served in the North Carolina House ...
announced that NCDOT will receive an $80 million dollar grant to order 13 additional new railcars (for an overall total of 26 new railcars) and 6 new locomotives to replace the remainder of the current fleet. By February 2020, nine former
circus train A circus train is a method of travel for circus troupes. One of the larger users of circus trains was the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (RBBX), a famous American circus formed when the Ringling Brothers Circus purchased the ...
cars purchased by NCDOT for $383,000 in 2017 for restoration and use on the Piedmont were stored in Spring Hope, North Carolina. The state listed the nine cars for sale in December 2020. The cars were not sold; they were damaged by fire on March 10, 2022. The five surviving cars were again listed for sale in April 2022. In October 2024, NCDOT was awarded federal and matching grants for the purchase of 26 new cars of rolling stock and 6 new engines, which are expected to begin running on the Piedmont service sometime in the 2026 calendar year. In January 2025, NCDOT was awarded a $14 million federal grant for adding cafe car service to ''Piedmont'' trains.


Stations


References


Notes


External links

*
NCDOT Rail Division
{{Amtrak Piedmont rolling stock Railway services introduced in 1995 Amtrak routes Passenger rail transportation in North Carolina