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Carolinian (train)

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Carolinian
Northbound Carolinian pulling in to High Point.
Overview
Service typeInter-city rail
StatusActive
LocaleNortheastern United States/Southern United States
First serviceMay 12, 1990
Current operator(s)Amtrak in partnership with the
North Carolina Department of Transportation
Ridership706 (FY18 daily avg.)
Annual ridership256,886 (FY18) [1]
Route
TerminiPenn Station, New York City
Charlotte station, Charlotte, North Carolina
Distance travelled704 miles (1,133 km)
Service frequencyDaily
Train number(s)79/80
On-board services
Class(es)Coach and business class
Seating arrangementsReserved Coach Seat
Catering facilitiesCafe car
Baggage facilitiesChecked baggage available at
selected stations
Technical
Rolling stockAmfleet cars
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Track owner(s)Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern/NCRR

The Carolinian is a daily passenger train that runs between Charlotte, North Carolina and New York City. The train began operation in 1990 and is jointly funded and operated by Amtrak and the North Carolina Department of Transportation. A previous iteration operated between 1984-1985. Onboard services include coach, business class, and a cafe car. The train operates over the Northeast Corridor between New York and Washington, D.C.

Intermediate stops in North Carolina include Rocky Mount, Wilson, Selma, Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Burlington, Greensboro, High Point, Salisbury, and Kannapolis. Additional corridor service between Charlotte and Raleigh–the southern leg of the route, largely parallel to Interstate 85–is provided by the Piedmont.

During fiscal year 2013, the Carolinian carried over 317,550 passengers, a 3.6% increase over FY2012 (306,419 passengers)[2] and a 3.4% increase over FY2011 (307,213 passengers).[3] The line had a total revenue of $19,841,847 during FY2013, an increase of 6.4% over FY2012.[2]

The Carolinian and Piedmont are notable because they allow walk-up checked bicycle transportation at station stops in North Carolina.[4] The two trains are marketed by NCDOT under the NC By Train brand.

History

The Carolinian departing Raleigh Amtrak station

For most of Amtrak's first two decades, service in North Carolina was limited to long-distance trains, which were not well-suited to regional travel. The Piedmont from Greensboro to Charlotte continued to be served by Southern Railway for much of the 1970s; Southern had been one of the few large railroads to opt out of Amtrak in 1971. However, Southern drastically reduced its remaining service in 1976, including its remaining medium-haul trains going through the state, before handing its remaining service to Amtrak in 1979.

Amtrak first introduced the Carolinian on October 28, 1984, in partnership with the state of North Carolina. It was originally a section of the Palmetto, which ran between New York and Savannah, Georgia. It ran from Charlotte to Raleigh, where it stopped at the old Seaboard Air Line Railroad station. From there, it ran to Henderson to Collier Yard south of Petersburg, Virginia. At Richmond, Virginia, the Carolinian joined the Palmetto for the journey to New York along the Northeast Corridor. the southbound train operated in the reverse direction, splitting from the Palmetto in Richmond while the Palmetto continued to Savannah. North Carolina supported the Carolinian with a $436,000 yearly subsidy from Charlotte to the Virginia line.[5][6] It was the first direct Raleigh—Charlotte service in 30 years and the first North Carolina-specific service in 20 years. An early alternative name for the service was the Piedmont Palmetto.

Amtrak intended the Carolinian to be a one-year pilot project, and was very open to making the route permanent. However, while ridership exceeded expectations, revenues did not: most passengers traveled within North Carolina and did not continue to the Northeast. Amtrak was also hampered by the proliferation of cheap airfares from Charlotte and Raleigh to the Northeast. Amid losses of $800,000, Amtrak discontinued the Carolinian on September 3, 1985 after North Carolina declined to increase its subsidy. Supporters of the Carolinian blamed Amtrak and the state for not marketing the train properly; many passengers were unaware that the train went all the way to New York.[7][8]

Amtrak and North Carolina re-launched the Carolinian on May 12, 1990. Like the original, it was originally a section of the Palmetto, only this time the split occurred in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.[9] This incarnation proved successful enough that in April 1991, Amtrak made the Carolinian a full-fledged day train running from Charlotte to New York.[10] While the Palmetto runs through from Richmond to Alexandria, Virginia; the Carolinian stops at Fredericksburg and Quantico (shared with Northeast Regional trains going to Newport News or Norfolk) before continuing on to Alexandria.

In 1995, the Carolinian was joined with a sister regional train, the Piedmont, which runs along the I-85 Corridor between Raleigh and Charlotte–the southern leg of the Carolinian. The Piedmont was originally due to enter service in 1993, but was delayed when Norfolk Southern insisted that Amtrak build a new wye in Charlotte to turn the Carolinian and Piedmont around. Previously, the southbound Carolinian had to make a time-consuming 10-mile deadhead trip to the nearest wye in Pineville, North Carolina.[11][12]

Until 2004, the Carolinian also had a stop at BWI Marshall Airport Rail Station.

NCDOT subsidizes the Carolinian from Charlotte to the Virginia border. Since 2017, NCDOT has been considering an extension of the Carolinian to New Haven, Connecticut. The extension would reduce or eliminate the need for NCDOT to fund the North Carolina portion of the route, and would provide an earlier southbound train from New Haven than currently operates.[13]

Long-term plans call for restoring a portion of the former Seaboard main line between Raleigh and Richmond, known as the "S-Line," as part of construction of the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor between Charlotte and Washington. The S-Line had been abandoned in 1985, forcing Amtrak to route its trains linking Raleigh and the Northeast through Selma. It is estimated that restoring the S-Line will cut an hour off off the train's running time by enabling a more direct route over the Virginia border.[14]

From July 2019 to September 2019, Amtrak truncated the Carolinian to Raleigh from Monday through Thursday to allow CSX to perform track maintenance. The train will run on its normal schedule on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.[15]

Accidents and incidents

Main article: 2015 Halifax train crash

On March 9, 2015, a north bound Carolinian collided with a tractor-trailer that was stuck on the tracks in Halifax County, North Carolina, with 55 people injured.[16][17]

Route details

The Carolinian operates over Amtrak, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and North Carolina Railroad trackage. Since 1871, Norfolk Southern and its predecessors have leased the NCRR from the state.

Two Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach routes connect large swaths of eastern North Carolina to the Wilson station.[18] One route serves Greenville, New Bern, Havelock, and Morehead City; another serves Goldsboro, Kinston, Jacksonville, and Wilmington. A third Thruway Motorcoach route runs from Winston-Salem to High Point.

The train has two seasonal stops in October. A station in Lexington is used during the Lexington Barbecue Festival, while an additional station in Raleigh is used for the North Carolina State Fair.

Volunteers from the North Carolina Train Host Association are on hand between Charlotte and Selma to provide information about points of interest in North Carolina. Station hosts are also on hand at the Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh stations.

The northbound Carolinian, like most medium- and long-distance trains operating in the Northeast, does not allow passengers to travel only between stations on the Northeast Corridor. It only stops to discharge passengers from Washington northward. This policy is intended to keep seats available for passengers making longer trips. However, the southbound Carolinian does allow local travel on the Northeast Corridor from Trenton southward.

Consist

The Carolinian typically operates with 4 Amfleet I coaches, an Amfleet café, an Amfleet business class car, and a Viewliner baggage car. Motive power is provided by a GE P42DC diesel locomotive south of Washington, D.C.. Service between Washington and New York is handled by a Siemens ACS-64 electric locomotive. Maximum seating in such a configuration is 346, split between business class and reserved coach.[19]

References

  1. ^ "Amtrak General and Legislative Annual Report & FY2020 Grant Request" (PDF). Amtrack. March 19, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Amtrak-FY13-ridership was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Amtrak Ridership Rolls Up Best-Ever Records" (PDF). Amtrak. October 13, 2011. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
  4. ^ "Walk-Up Checked Bike Service on the Carolinian Train | Amtrak". www.amtrak.com. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  5. ^ Foreman, Jr., Tom (October 27, 1984). "'Carolinian' makes trial run". Times-News. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
  6. ^ "Raleigh-Charlotte run shouldn't businessmen". The Robesonian. October 9, 1984. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
  7. ^ Waggoner, Martha (September 3, 1985). "The 'Carolinian' Makes Its Last Run". The Dispatch. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
  8. ^ Flesher, John (August 13, 1985). "Amtrak talks about scraping Charlotte-to-Raleigh service". Times-News. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
  9. ^ "Charlotte-Rocky Mount train back on track". Morning Star. May 12, 1990. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
  10. ^ "Change to cut Carolinian's run by 40 minutes". The Charlotte Observer. March 15, 1991. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
  11. ^ "More delays put second Tar Heel passenger train service off track". Times-News. March 11, 1993. Retrieved April 4, 2010. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "New train won't start on schedule". Morning Star. November 28, 1994. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  13. ^ "Rail Division" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. March 22, 2017. p. 9.
  14. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ^ https://www.amtrak.com/alert/track-work-affects-carolinian-palmetto-silver-star.html
  16. ^ Cho, Diane (March 9, 2015). "Amtrak train en route to D.C. slams into truck in North Carolina; 40 hurt". WJLA-TV ABC7. Sinclair Broadcast Group. Associated Press. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  17. ^ "Dozens of Amtrak passengers injured as train smashes into truck that had stalled on North Carolina tracks and flips over". Daily Mail. Associated Press. March 9, 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  18. ^ Fitzgerald, Eddie (October 2, 2012). "Amtrak shuttle service debuts in the East". New Bern Sun Journal. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
  19. ^ "National Railroad Passenger Corporation and the State of North Carolina: Agreement for the Provision of Carolinian and Piedmont Rail Passenger Services" (PDF). October 1, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-14. Retrieved 2013-07-07. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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