(The Center Square) – As the Biden administration comes to a close, North Carolina received a $14 million federal grant to improve Amtrak passenger train service in the state.
The funds will be used for safety improvements to separate the rail line in Charlotte from regular vehicles to prevent collisions, a railroad crossing safety training program at N.C. State University, and to improve the food service on Amtrak’s Piedmont service between Charlotte and Raleigh.
“The project will help enhance the on-board customer experience on the service, which operates four roundtrips daily from Charlotte to Raleigh,” the Federal Railroad Administration said in a release.
The grants were included in a more than $1 billion national package from the Federal Railroad Administration announced on Friday.
Amtrak’s Charlotte to Raleigh Piedmont service is a three-hour trip with stops in Cary, Durham, Greensboro, Kannapolis, Burlington, High Point and Salisbury.
In the first six months of 2024, more than 342,000 passengers rode Amtrak trains in North Carolina, a 20% jump from the same period a year before, Gov. Roy Cooper’s office said.
“Demand for North Carolina’s train routes continues to boom as people look for fast, affordable ways to travel our beautiful state,” Cooper said in a statement in July. “Every month this year has set records and made clear that by continuing to invest in passenger rail we can unlock new markets and strengthen communities across our state.”
Partnering with Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration, the state in July ran a special train from Raleigh to the U.S. Open golf tournament in Pinehurst, attracting 2,500 passengers.
On July 1, Cooper also hosted U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for a groundbreaking event for a construction project on the Raleigh to Wake Forest section of the Raleigh to Richmond “S” Line. The project was funded by a more than $1 billion federal grant to the state in late 2023.
“Rail grants being announced build on passenger rail projects of national significance moving forward under the Biden-Harris administration that will deliver the world-class passenger rail service Americans deserve,” the U.S. Transportation Department said in a news release.
President Joe Biden has long been a strong advocate for passenger rail service, commuting by train for decades from his home in Delaware to Washington.
