Carolinian

NorthboundCarolinian pulling in toHigh Point in 2013
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Locale	Northeastern andSouthern United States
First service	May 12, 1990
Current operator	Amtrak in partnership withNCDOT
Annual ridership	347,360 (FY 24)  10%[a][1]
Route
Termini	New York City Charlotte, North Carolina
Stops	24
Distance travelled	704 miles (1,133 km)
Average journey time	13 hours, 31 minutes (northbound) 13 hours, 50 minutes (southbound)[2]
Service frequency	Daily
Train number	79, 80
On-board services
Classes	Coach Class Business Class
Disabled access	All cars, most stations
Catering facilities	Café car
Baggage facilities	Overhead racks
Technical
Rolling stock	Amfleet cars
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead line,12 kV AC at 25 Hz(New York–Washington)
Operating speed	52 mph (84 km/h) (avg.) 125 mph (201 km/h) (top)
Track owners	Amtrak,CSX,NS/NCRR
Route map Show interactive map Legend Northeast Corridor toBoston 0 mi 0 km New York City Empire Corridor NY NJ North River Tunnels underHudson River 10 mi 16 km Newark Penn 58 mi 93 km Trenton Delaware River NJ PA Keystone Service &Pennsylvanian 91 mi 146 km Philadelphia–30th Street PA DE 116 mi 187 km Wilmington DE MD 185 mi 298 km Baltimore Floridian toChicago MD DC 225 mi 362 km Washington, D.C. Potomac River DC VA 234 mi 377 km Alexandria Cardinal,Crescent, &Northeast Regional 279 mi 449 km Fredericksburg 334 mi 538 km Richmond Staples Mill Road Northeast Regional toNewport News 362 mi 583 km Petersburg Northeast Regional toNorfolk VA NC 460 mi 740 km Rocky Mount 476 mi 766 km Wilson 502 mi 808 km Selma Palmetto toSavannah Silver Meteor toMiami 531 mi 855 km Raleigh North Carolina State Fair Seasonal 539 mi 867 km Cary Floridian toMiami 557 mi 896 km Durham Hillsborough Planned 591 mi 951 km Burlington Crescent toNew York 612 mi 985 km Greensboro 622 mi 1001 km High Point Lexington Seasonal 662 mi 1065 km Salisbury 678 mi 1091 km Kannapolis 704 mi 1133 km Charlotte Charlotte Gateway StationPlanned Crescent toNew Orleans This diagram: view talk edit Show route diagram map

TheCarolinian is a dailyAmtrak passenger train that runs betweenNew York City andCharlotte, North Carolina, with major stops inPhiladelphia,Baltimore,Washington,Richmond,Raleigh,Cary,Durham, andGreensboro. The 704-mile (1,133 km) service is the longest state-supported route in the Amtrak system. Northbound trains leave Charlotte in the early morning and arrive in New York in the early evening, while southbound trains leave New York during the morning rush and arrive in Charlotte in the evening.

TheCarolinian began operation in 1990 and is jointly funded and operated by Amtrak and theNorth Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). Additional corridor service between Charlotte and Raleigh is provided by thePiedmont. The two trains are marketed by NCDOT under theNC By Train brand.

The train operates over theNortheast Corridor between New York andWashington, D.C. The North Carolina portion of the route runs along theNorth Carolina Railroad, a state-owned railroad which is leased toNorfolk Southern.

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 bySouthern 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 theCarolinian on October 28, 1984, in partnership with the state of North Carolina. It was originally asection of thePalmetto, which ran between New York andSavannah, Georgia. It ran from Charlotte to Raleigh, where it stopped at the oldSeaboard Air Line Railroad station. From there, it ran toHenderson to Collier Yard south ofPetersburg, Virginia. AtRichmond, Virginia, theCarolinian joined thePalmetto for the journey to New York along theNortheast Corridor. The southbound train operated in the reverse direction, splitting from thePalmetto in Richmond while thePalmetto continued to Savannah. North Carolina supported theCarolinian with a $436,000 yearly subsidy from Charlotte to the Virginia line.^[3][4] 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 thePiedmont Palmetto.

Amtrak intended theCarolinian 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 theCarolinian on September 3, 1985, after North Carolina declined to increase its subsidy. Supporters of theCarolinian 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.^[5][6]

Amtrak and North Carolina re-launched theCarolinian on May 12, 1990. Like the original, it was originally a section of thePalmetto, only this time the split occurred inRocky Mount, North Carolina.^[7] This incarnation proved successful enough that in April 1991, Amtrak made theCarolinian a full-fledged day train running from Charlotte to New York.^[8] While thePalmetto runs through from Richmond toAlexandria, Virginia; theCarolinian stops at Fredericksburg and Quantico (shared withNortheast Regional trains going to Newport News or Norfolk) before continuing on to Alexandria.

In 1995, theCarolinian was joined with a sister regional train, thePiedmont, which runs along theI-85 Corridor between Raleigh and Charlotte–the southern leg of theCarolinian. ThePiedmont was originally due to enter service in 1993, but was delayed when Norfolk Southern insisted that Amtrak build a newwye in Charlotte to turn theCarolinian andPiedmont around. Previously, the southboundCarolinian had to make a time-consuming 10-miledeadhead trip to the nearest wye inPineville, North Carolina.^[9][10]

In 2004, theCarolinian began bypassingBWI Rail Station.^{[citation needed]}

On March 9, 2015, a northboundCaroliniancollided with a tractor-trailer that was stuck on the tracks inHalifax County, North Carolina. The locomotive landed on its side, while all of the cars remained upright. There were no fatalities, but 55 people were injured.^[11][12]

In April 2020, NCDOT and Amtrak suspended theCarolinian as part of a larger round of service reductions in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[13] TheCarolinian returned on May 18 as a truncated service between Charlotte and Raleigh.^[14] Full service to New York was restored on June 1, 2020.^[15]

In 2017, NCDOT and theConnecticut Department of Transportation were in talks to extend theCarolinian from New York toNew Haven, with additional stops atNew Rochelle,Stamford, andBridgeport. The resultant route would be 779 miles (1,254 km) long. By increasing the length of the route to over 750 miles (1,210 km), theCarolinian would become a long-distance network route rather than state-supported, as defined by thePassenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008. In effect, this would allow the train to be fully subsidized by the federal government and thus free North Carolina of its state funding obligations.^[16][17]

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 theSoutheast 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 along the NCRR. It is estimated that restoring the S-Line will cut an hour off theCarolinian's running time by enabling a more direct route over the Virginia border.^[18]

MostCarolinian trains consist of six cars hauled by alocomotive.^[19]

The passenger cars are theAmfleet I series passenger cars built by theBudd Company in the mid-to-late 1970s. Most trains include a Business Class car, a Café car (food service/lounge), and four Coach Class cars. Maximum seating in such a configuration is 346, split between business class and reserved coach.^[20]

Between Charlotte and Washington, trains are pulled by aGE Genesis diesel locomotive at speeds up to 110 mph (177 km/h). Between New York and Washington, the service operates over the Northeast Corridor which has overhead electric wires and trains are pulled bySiemens ACS-64 electric locomotives at speeds up to 125 mph (201 km/h)

In the coming years all equipment will be replaced with Amtrak Airo trainsets, the railroad's branding of its combination ofSiemens Venture passenger cars and aSiemens Charger diesel-electric locomotive.^[21] The trainsets for theCarolinian will have six passenger cars, which will include a food service area and a mix of 2x2 Coach Class and 2x1 Business Class seating. The consist will be to Amtrak's B-1 Configuration, which will also be used onTheDowneaster,Keystone Service,ThePalmetto,ThePennsylvanian andTheVermonter.^[22] The car closest to the locomotive will be a specialized "Auxiliary Power Vehicle" which will include a pantograph to collect power from overhead lines and will feed it to four traction motors in the car, and via a DC link cable, to the four traction motors in the locomotive.^[23] The car at the opposite end of the train will be acontrol car/coach car that can operate the train inpusher mode, preventing the need to switch engines or use awye/loop to reverse the direction of the train.^[22] The arrangement will offer a near seamless transition between power sources atWashington, a process that currently requires a time-consuming locomotive change.

All classes of service include complimentary WiFi, an electric outlet (120 V, 60 Hz AC) at each seat, reading lamps, fold-out tray tables. Reservations are required on all trains, tickets may be purchased online, from an agent at some stations, a ticketing machine at most stations, or, at a higher cost, from the conductor on the train.^[24]

• Coach Class: 2x2 seating. Passengers self-select seats on a first-come, first-served basis.^[25]
• Business Class: 2x2 seating with more legroom than coach. Passengers receive complimentary soft drinks. Seats assigned in advance.^[26]

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

• AmtrakNortheast Corridor, New York toWashington
• CSXRF&P Subdivision,Richmond Terminal Subdivision,North End Subdivision, andSouth End Subdivision, Washington toSelma
• NSRaleigh District, Selma to Greensboro (leased from NCRR)
• NSDanville District,Greensboro to Linwood (leased from NCRR)
• NSCharlotte District,Linwood toCharlotte (leased from NCRR)

TwoAmtrak Thruway bus routes connect large swaths of eastern North Carolina to the Wilson station.^[27] One route servesGreenville,New Bern,Havelock, andMorehead City; another servesGoldsboro,Kinston,Jacksonville, andWilmington. A third Thruway route connectsWinston-Salem to the High Point station.

TheNorth Carolina Department of Transportation provides funding to operate theCarolinian from Charlotte to the Virginia border.^[17] NCDOT offers free transit passes which allow detrainingCarolinian passengers in North Carolina to get one free bus ride and one transfer on the same day of travel. Passes are honored by 13 participating transit systems along its route.

Ridership in 2013 was over 317,550 passengers.^[28][29] It was then followed by a period of steadily decreasing passengers through the COVID-19 pandemic, where it saw 150,365 riders in 2020.^[30] In fiscal year 2022 theCarolinian saw a 38.7% increase from 2021, surpassing 2018 and 2019 levels with 270,050 passengers.^[31] The Carolinian's ridership increased by 16.9% in fiscal year 2023, to 315,781, nearly matching its previous ridership record of 317,550 in 2013.^[32] In fiscal year 2024 theCarolinian saw record ridership with 347,360 passengers boarding.^[33] Additionally in FY 2024, theCarolinian had operating revenue of $21.7 million^[34]

The train has two seasonal stops in October. A station inLexington is used during theLexington Barbecue Festival, while anadditional station in Raleigh is used for theNorth Carolina State Fair.

Before 2019, the northboundCarolinian followed the practice of most medium- and long-distance trains operating in the Northeast and did not allow passengers to travel only between stations on the Northeast Corridor. It only stopped to discharge passengers from Washington northward in order to keep seats available for passengers making longer trips. Starting in 2019, the northboundCarolinian began allowing local travel on the Northeast Corridor on Sundays, Thursdays and Fridays. The southboundCarolinian allows local travel in the Northeast at all times from Trenton southward.

State	Town/City	Station	Connections
New York	New York City	New York Penn Station	Amtrak (long-distance):Cardinal,Crescent,Lake Shore Limited,Palmetto,Silver Meteor Amtrak (intercity):Acela,Adirondack,Berkshire Flyer,Empire Service,Ethan Allen Express,Keystone Service,Maple Leaf,Northeast Regional,Pennsylvanian,Vermonter LIRR:■ City Terminal Zone,■ Port Washington Branch NJ Transit:■ North Jersey Coast Line,■ Northeast Corridor Line,■ Gladstone Branch,■ Montclair–Boonton Line,■ Morristown Line NYC Subway:​​​​ PATH:HOB-33JSQ-33JSQ-33 (via HOB) NYC Transit Bus
New Jersey	Newark	Newark Penn Station	Amtrak:Acela,Cardinal,Crescent,Keystone Service,Northeast Regional,Pennsylvanian,Silver Meteor,Vermonter NJ Transit:■ North Jersey Coast Line,■ Northeast Corridor Line,■ Raritan Valley Line PATH:NWK-WTC Newark Light Rail NJ Transit Bus
	Trenton	Trenton	Amtrak:Cardinal,Crescent,Keystone Service,Northeast Regional,Pennsylvanian,Silver Meteor,Vermonter NJ Transit:■ Northeast Corridor Line,■ River Line SEPTA Regional Rail:■ Trenton Line NJ Transit Bus,SEPTA Suburban Bus
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	30th Street Station	Amtrak:Acela,Cardinal,Crescent,Keystone Service,Northeast Regional,Palmetto,Pennsylvanian,Silver Meteor,Vermonter SEPTA Regional Rail:all routes NJ Transit:■ Atlantic City Line SEPTA Metro: SEPTA City Bus,SEPTA Suburban Bus
Delaware	Wilmington	Wilmington	Amtrak:Acela,Cardinal,Crescent,Palmetto,Northeast Regional,Silver Meteor,Vermonter SEPTA Regional Rail:■ Wilmington/​Newark Line DART First State Greyhound Lines
Maryland	Baltimore	Baltimore	Amtrak:Acela,Cardinal,Crescent,Palmetto,Northeast Regional,Silver Meteor,Vermonter MARC:■ Penn Line Light RailLink MTA Maryland,Charm City Circulator
District of Columbia	Washington	Washington Union Station	Amtrak:Acela,Cardinal,Crescent,Floridian,Palmetto,Northeast Regional,Silver Meteor,Vermonter MARC:■ Brunswick Line,■ Camden Line,■ Penn Line VRE:■ Manassas Line,■ Fredericksburg Line Washington Metro:Red Line DC Streetcar:H Street/Benning Road Line Metrobus,MTA Maryland,Loudoun County Transit,OmniRide Intercity bus:Greyhound,Megabus,BestBus,Peter Pan,OurBus
Virginia	Alexandria	Alexandria	Amtrak:Cardinal,Crescent,Floridian,Northeast Regional,Silver Meteor VRE:■ Fredericksburg Line,■ Manassas Line Metro:Blue Line,Yellow Line Metrobus,DASH
	Quantico	Quantico	Amtrak:Northeast Regional VRE:■ Fredericksburg Line PRTC
	Fredericksburg	Fredericksburg	Amtrak:Northeast Regional,Silver Meteor VRE:■ Fredericksburg Line FRED
	Richmond	Richmond Staples Mill Road	Amtrak:Floridian,Northeast Regional,Palmetto,Silver Meteor,Amtrak Thruway toCharlottesville GRTC
	Ettrick	Petersburg	Amtrak:Floridian,Northeast Regional,Palmetto,Silver Meteor
North Carolina	Rocky Mount	Rocky Mount	Amtrak:Floridian,Palmetto,Silver Meteor Tar River Transit Intercity bus:Greyhound
	Wilson	Wilson	Amtrak:Palmetto,Amtrak Thruway toGreenville,New Bern,Havelock,Morehead City,Goldsboro,Kinston,Jacksonville, andWilmington,North Carolina
	Selma	Selma-Smithfield	Amtrak:Palmetto
	Raleigh	Raleigh	Amtrak:Floridian,Piedmont GoRaleigh,GoTriangle
		North Carolina State Fair	Only served duringNorth Carolina State Fair[35][36] Amtrak:Piedmont
	Cary	Cary	Amtrak:Floridian,Piedmont GoCary,GoTriangle
	Durham	Durham	Amtrak:Piedmont GoDurham,GoTriangle Intercity bus:Greyhound Buses,Megabus
	Burlington	Burlington	Amtrak:Piedmont Elon BioBus, Alamance County Transportation Authority, Burlington Link Transit
	Greensboro	Greensboro	Amtrak:Crescent,Piedmont GTA,PART Intercity bus:Greyhound
	High Point	High Point	Amtrak:Crescent,Piedmont,Amtrak Thruway.[i] Hi tran,PART[i]
	Lexington	Lexington	Only served duringLexington Barbecue Festival;[35][37] full-time station planned. Amtrak:Piedmont
	Salisbury	Salisbury	Amtrak:Crescent,Piedmont Salisbury Transit
	Kannapolis	Kannapolis	Amtrak:Piedmont CK Rider
	Charlotte	Charlotte	Amtrak:Crescent,Piedmont CATS
^abAmtrak contracts with PART to provide Thruway service to Winston-Salem. Passage is available via through-ticketing or as a separate fare. Both methods are co-branded as NC Amtrak Connector.

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