Carolinian and Piedmont

Infobox rail line
name = "Carolinian"
color =

logo_width =

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image_width = 300px
caption = Northbound "Carolinian" at the Raleigh, NC station
type = Inter-city rail
system = Amtrak
status =
locale =
start = New York City
end = Charlotte, North Carolina
stations =
routes =
ridership =
open =
close =
owner = Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern/NCRR (track)
operator = Amtrak
character =
stock =
linelength = convert|704|mi|km
tracklength =
notrack =
gauge = RailGauge|ussg
el =
speed =
elevation =


map_state = showInfobox rail line
name = "Piedmont"
color =

logo_width =

---

image_width = 300px
caption =
type = Inter-city rail
system = Amtrak
status =
locale =
start = Raleigh, North Carolina
end = Charlotte, North Carolina
stations =
routes =
ridership =
open =
close =
owner = Norfolk Southern/NCRR (track)
operator = Amtrak
character =
stock =
linelength = convert|173|mi|km
tracklength =
notrack =
gauge = RailGauge|ussg
el =
speed =
elevation =


map_state = showThe "Piedmont" (trains 73/74) is a daily passenger train that travels between Raleigh and Charlotte with a run time of 3 hours and 9 minutes including intermediate stops at Cary, Durham, Burlington, Greensboro, High Point, Salisbury, and Kannapolis. The train departs Raleigh at 7:00am, and arrives in Charlotte by 10:09am. The return trip departs from Charlotte at 5:30pm and arrives in Raleigh at 8:40pm.

The "Carolinian" (trains 79/80) is a daily passenger train that runs between Charlotte, North Carolina and New York City. The northbound train 80 departs Charlotte station at 7:40am with intermediate North Carolina stops at Kannapolis, Salisbury, High Point, Greensboro, Burlington, Durham, Cary, Raleigh, Selma, Wilson, and Rocky Mount and on into the Northeast and arrives in New York City at 8:58pm. The southbound train 79 departs New York City at 7:05am runs through the Northeast with intermediate North Carolina stops at Rocky Mount, Wilson, Selma, Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Burlington, Greensboro, High Point, Salisbury, Kannapolis and arrives in Charlotte at 8:14pm. Onboard services include coach, business class, and a cafe car.

Route details

The "Piedmont" and "Carolinian" operate over Amtrak, CSX Transportation, and Norfolk Southern Railway trackage:
*Amtrak Northeast Corridor, New York to Washington
*CSX Landover Subdivision, RF&P Subdivision, Richmond Terminal Subdivision, North End Subdivision, and South End Subdivision, Washington to Selma
*NS , Selma to Charlotte

North Carolina Volunteer Train Hosts serve daily on the Carolinian and Piedmont, assisting passengers and providing information about rail passenger service and points of interest within North Carolina.

The Carolinian and Piedmont are financed by and operated in partnership with the State of North Carolina (through the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)).

Rolling stock

The motive power for the "Piedmont" is provided by 3 state-owned locomotives, of which two are EMD F59PHIs numbered 1755 (City of Salisbury) and 1797 (City of Asheville), and one (City of Raleigh) is a rebuilt GP40H2 numbered 3006 [http://www.bytrain.org/passenger/pdf/dotrailequipment.pdf List of Piedmont equipment owned by NCDOT (PDF format)] ] and originally used in the 1960's by the L&N. Locomotives from Amtrak's national system, such as GE P42s, can be spotted working on the "Carolinian".

State owned passenger cars on the Piedmont are refurbished coach cars originally built by Pullman-Standard and the St. Louis Car Company in the 1960's for the Kansas City Southern and Union Pacific. There are two lounge cars and one combination car originally built by the St. Louis Car Company in the 1950's and used by the United States Army.

All rolling stock is painted in special North Carolina livery (different from the national Amtrak livery), in a blue and silver color scheme with red accents.

tation stops

Carolinian derailment

On August 2, 2005, around 12:35PM, a late northbound Carolinian train 80 (Charlotte to New York) collided with a dump truck near Hammond Road and Rush Street in Raleigh after the truck drove around the lowered gates. The train was carrying 182 passengers and 14 people were injured and two people killed which were the motorist and his passenger from Raleigh. It knocked over the seven cars and the train's engine. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-08-02-amtrak-derailed_x.htm]

External links

* [http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Route/Vertical_Route_Page&c=am2Route&cid=1081256321815&ssid=136 Amtrak - "Piedmont and Carolinian "]
* [http://www.bytrain.org/ NCDOT Rail Division]

References