The Piedmont: Amtrak’s North Carolina-Only Line
The Piedmont #76, Charlotte to Raleigh route, is the Amtrak line that serves only North Carolina. From Charlotte it makes stops in Kannapolis, Salisbury, High Point, Greensboro, Burlington and Durham. It ends is Raleigh. The reverse route is a part of the Carolinian line, train #79.
If you make it down to the station around 8:45PM or so, you can see it arriving. The cars are empty of passengers in the video above because Raleigh is the last stop on the daily line.
I’ve been planning on taking a day trip to Charlotte by train for some time now. Has anyone reading ever done this? Looks like it would be a very early arrival time and a 9PM re-arrival time.
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01/25/2010
I’ve not done that trek, but I would love to…
01/25/2010
Yes, I took the train several years ago to a football game in Charlotte. It was a nice trip.
I was thinking of taking a day trip to perhaps Greensboro, but the problem is that you have to spend around 8 hours there before the train returns to Raleigh. Could I find 8 hours’ worth of tourist sights in Greensboro without a car? Perhaps with a bike, or plotting a bus excursion, but it’s too much of a hassle now, at least until a mid-day round-trip train is added.
01/25/2010
North Carolina DOT plans to launch a second daily Piedmont roundtrip which will have midday departure times from Raleigh and Greensboro respectively. This oft delayed launch is scheduled for this March, last I heard. That should solve Bruce’s dilemna. As for an 8-hour layover in Greensboro, you would have to be a decicated walker and city lover. I am and have done it!
01/25/2010
I really enjoyed seeing the train videos and reading the comments about the North Carolina trains. Is there any talk of adding a train to Ashville?
01/25/2010
Robert — The N&O reported in 2001 that “Western North Carolina officials turned down a proposal to start bus service linking the Amtrak station in Salisbury with Asheville, saying they’d rather wait for the train, thank you. The state Department of Transportation is working to restore passenger rail service west from Salisbury, which is a stop on the Raleigh-to-Charlotte state-subsidized trains. But making the track improvements and renovating old stations or building new ones will take several years….”
(‘Salisbury bus link for train service rejected’ The News & Observer, November 10, 2001) Looks like we may be in for a long wait.
01/26/2010
We’ve done this, though it’s been a couple of years.
We took the kids for a daytrip to the museums in downtown Charlotte. Yes, the morning was too early, and getting home was a bit too late (especially with delays, which on Amtrak are small but typical).
Like Raleigh, the Charlotte train station isn’t placed very well — you should plan on either waiting for a bus, taking a quick and cheap cab ride, or going on a long and unpleasant walk to get anywhere.
Once you’re closer to Downtown, getting around is easy.
01/26/2010
My daughter rode the Piedmont between Greensboro and Raleigh many times while she was attending UNCG, and seemed to enjoy the experience.
Travel time is roughly equivalent to driving…
01/27/2010
I think it sounds like a delightful trip, even with the walking/bike/taxi dilemma. What a great way to see such beautiful country!
01/28/2010
Raleigh Boy- Good news, looks like it might not be so long after all! http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/6903052/
01/28/2010
WB — yes, saw that in the N&O today. Although the $520M is designated to upgrade North Carolina’s part of the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor, it would make sense to go ahead and extend service to Asheville at the same time!
01/29/2010
For a full list of the award recipients, here is the link.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/hsr_awards_summary_public.pdf
You guys got a lot more than we did up here in Indy.