SALISBURY, N.C. — Transportation leaders were in Salisbury on Wednesday to discuss improvements to the passenger rail network.
North Carolina has an opportunity to compete for federal funds, grow its network, and connect more areas of the state together – all by train.
“For the very first time we have a chance to make our dream a reality,” said Susan Kluttz, a former mayor of Salisbury who is the co-chair for the Rail Response initiative of the North Carolina Metro Mayors Coalition.
The dream for leaders investing in rail is to move even more people by train, connecting even more cities in the Tar Heel State.
“There is a huge vision of how rail can play a bigger role across the state serving more communities, and connecting more people by train,” said Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner, "giving them an alternative to driving and flying, and giving them economic opportunities.”
The desire to expand rail in North Carolina is timely, as state transportation leaders see an increase in ridership. The North Carolina Department of Transportation reports more than 522,000 passengers in the state traveled via train in 2022.
"It’s continuing to grow. 28% more than last year," said Ronald Lucas, manager of planning and development at NCDOT. "We are outpacing and last year was a ridership record."
The meeting at the historic train station in Salisbury saw city, regional, and state transportation leaders gather to discuss how to get those federal dollars for rail improvements and expansion across the state. The NCDOT submitted grant applications for 12 possible new routes to the federal government. Each grant awarded is worth $500,000. Now, the agency waits to see if something gets approved.
Funding is expected to largely come from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which includes $66 billion for passenger and freight rail infrastructure investment, according to the mayors.
These are the proposed routes:
- Charlotte to Washington, D.C.
- Salisbury to Asheville
- Wilmington to Raleigh
- Charlotte to Kings Mountain
- Greenville to Raleigh
- Winston-Salem to Raleigh
- Hamlet to Raleigh
- Morehead City to Raleigh
- Fayetteville to Raleigh
- Winston-Salem to Charlotte
- Weldon to Raleigh
- Atlanta, Ga. to Charlotte
“When a corridor is selected, that allows us to do project planning and project development. The important part of that in a project life cycle is that it gets a project ready for design, construction, and operation,” said Lucas.
One of the routes connects Salisbury to Asheville. This has the potential of making Salisbury more than just a stop on the line, but rather a rail hub.
“We are on the line from Charlotte to Raleigh, so they can connect here and go to Charlotte and to Raleigh,” said Kluttz. “Then if we get the second corridor, which is Raleigh to Wilmington, you will be able to go from Asheville to Wilmington basically. So, you would be able to connect the whole state, from east to west.”
Gardner said it is a long journey from a line on a map to actual train service, but these are critical steps to grow support and get financial backing.
“It does take time,” said Gardner. “It takes dedication, perseverance, stable funding, and political support.”
“Making this work, building a better transportation network takes the efforts of so many different networks,” said Lucas. “We need the participation of the different municipalities. We need the participation from the public, the public is the customer.”
The announcement about where grants will be awarded is expected to be shared by the end of the year.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.