Piedmont Service

elcome aboard NC By Train! Thank you for choosing to travel with us. We take pride in our trains, equipment and stations while providing convenient, reliable and safe travel options to our passengers, as well as excellent customer service. NC By Train provides ten daily passenger trains that stop at 16 stations across North Carolina – including nine in the busy I-85/40 corridor between Charlotte and Raleigh.

North Carolina By Train

harlotte, located in Mecklenburg County, is the largest city in North Carolina. The area was first settled in 1755 when Thomas Polk, uncle of future United States President James K. Polk, built a residence at the intersection of two American Indian trading paths between the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers, the north south route being part of the Great Wagon Road leading from Pennsylvania into the North Carolina foothills. Charlotte was named in honor of Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Streilitz, who had become Queen Consort of King George III of England the year before the city’s founding in 1768; today, the city is well-known by its nickname—the “Queen City.”

Great American Stations

ocated approximately two miles northeast of downtown in the busy Norfolk Southern rail yard, the current Charlotte station was built for the Southern Railway in 1962 to house passenger service functions and railroad division offices. A new station was needed due to a grade-separation project that required the relocation of various railroad facilities.

Designed by local architectural firm Walter Hook Associates, Inc., the structure was meant to be quickly erected and therefore included the use of an exposed precast concrete framing system. A mail building (freight depot) and boiler house were constructed to the northeast as part of the station project.

In addition to the framing components, the exterior incorporates dark brown brick and large, angled precast concrete panels covered in pebble-dash. Interspersed with these heavy, solid elements are walls of glass, which coupled with clerestory windows beneath the roof, allow ample natural light to flood the waiting room. Due to the clerestory windows, from a distance, the roof almost seems to float above the building.

In keeping with the aesthetics of mid-century modern architecture, the station has minimal applied ornamentation. Rather, the materials themselves are the main decorative elements, with the textured pebble-dash panels featuring prominently in the design of the exterior and interior. Inside, terrazzo floors are durable yet elegant, appropriate for a high-traffic area.

Great American Stations

he modern Kannapolis station opened in December 2004, with a grand opening taking place February 23, 2005. This building replaced a temporary facility, which had in turn taken the place of the former train station. Designed in the Colonial Revival style, the station blends into the architecture of the downtown area where it sits. Unique features of the building include high ceilings, a cupola modeled after the city’s logo and architectural accents consistent with the general colonial style. In addition to the Amtrak waiting room, the station also has an events space that was originally used for city council meetings until a new city hall opened in 2016.

Great American Stations

he current Amtrak station in Cary was built in 1996 and sits where two rail lines diverge to head west and south. It contains a waiting area for Amtrak passengers and local and regional bus patrons. Cary’s historic station was torn down in the 1970s, so when rail passenger service resumed in Cary in 1995, it was on a 200-foot platform with shelter beside the North Carolina Railroad (NCRR) “H” Line tracks on the north side of the property. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Rail Division paid $100,000 to construct the platform and shelter prior to the opening of the new depot, which was funded through $637,000 from the town and $100,000 from the Triangle Transit Authority.

In 2006, a platform was constructed on the CSX “S” Line south of the depot, which allowed the Silver Star (New York-Tampa-Miami) to began service to Cary. NCDOT covered 90 percent of the platform costs while the town contributed $30,000. Five years later, the depot was expanded with NCDOT and Federal Railroad Administration funds totaling approximately $2 million; the building reopened on September 1, 2011.

Great American Stations

assenger trains began serving Raleigh Union Station on July 10, 2018. Located in the city’s Warehouse District on the western edge of downtown and just two blocks from Nash Square, Union Station sits inside the Boylan Wye, a crucial piece of North Carolina’s railroad infrastructure where lines owned by CSX, Norfolk Southern and the North Carolina Railroad meet.

In January 2012, the mayor and the city council endorsed a recommendation by the city’s appointed Passenger Rail Task Force to adapt the vacant Dillon Supply warehouse to serve as the centerpiece of a new multimodal transportation center. The vision called for the new Union Station to house Amtrak and local, regional and intercity buses, while also providing opportunities for future expansion to accommodate proposed commuter and high-speed rail services.

City, state and federal leaders gathered to break ground on Union Station in May 2015, and construction lasted into early 2018. The nearly $89 million project included rehabilitation of the 1940s-era warehouse, track and platform construction, and signal and switch improvements. Passenger areas are five times as large as those in the previous station to better handle growing ridership.

The Raleigh Union Station project was made possible through close coordination among the City of Raleigh, Federal Railroad Administration, North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Rail Division, GoTriangle, and other stakeholders. The city oversaw station and site construction while NCDOT managed the track and rail infrastructure work.

Designed by Clearscapes, the station marries the skeleton of the old warehouse with contemporary design. As passengers approach from West Street or the platform, they are greeted by soaring facades of glass that allow natural light to brighten interior spaces. A roundabout on the south end makes for easy pickup and drop offs, while to the east of the station a civic plaza sheltered by a canopy encourages a variety of community gatherings.

In the Main Hall, customers may relax in comfortable seating or plug in at a work station. The space showcases the building’s warehouse origins by reusing the steel framing – columns and beams – to create dramatic, high ceilings. Two gantry cranes, once used to move steel and other materials around the warehouse, also remain in place high above the floor. The station includes Amtrak ticket counters and leasable space for retail, office and restaurant use that ensure the station remains busy throughout the day.

Great American Stations