North Carolina’s passenger trains set another record last month. Two big events helped
North Carolina’s passenger trains set another record in October, this time helped by the N.C. State Fair and a popular barbecue festival.
The Piedmont and Carolinian trains carried 55,493 people last month, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation. That’s about 7,000 more than in September, the previous record month for the 32-year-old program, which goes by NC By Train.
Ridership got a boost from the State Fair. During the fair’s 10-day run, trains made special stops at the fairgrounds in Raleigh each morning and evening, attracting about 3,500 passengers, according to NCDOT spokeswoman Lauren Haviland.
Another 930 people got on or off in Lexington on Oct. 22 during the Lexington Barbecue Festival. Lexington is not one of the seven stops the Piedmont and Carolinian trains normally make between Raleigh and Charlotte.
NC By Train began in 1990 with the Carolinian, which makes a dozen stops in the state on a daily round trip between Charlotte and New York City. The Piedmont started running between Raleigh and Charlotte in 1995 and now makes three round trips a day.
The state pays Amtrak about $9 million a year to operate the trains. The operating costs are offset by ticket sales and other income, which came to about $20 million in the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, Haviland said.
Demand for North Carolina’s passenger trains has rebounded strongly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Since April, the Piedmont and Carolinian have averaged nearly 47,500 passengers a month, about 8,850 more than the monthly average in 2019. The numbers don’t include four long-distance Amtrak trains that make several stops as they pass through the state between New York and the Southeast.
“We are excited to see record numbers of our citizens and visitors choose to ride NC By Train,” N.C. Transportation Secretary Eric Boyette said in a written statement. “The train offers people an easy way to travel without the stress of a drive.”
This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 3:51 PM with the headline "North Carolina’s passenger trains set another record last month. Two big events helped."
