'Most requested location': Asheville most desired city for NC Amtrak stop: NCDOT study

ASHEVILLE - Nearly $3.5 million has been approved for identifying new rail routes across North Carolina, including $500,000 to identify and develop an Asheville to Salisbury passenger rail corridor.

The investment marks an early step in returning passenger rail to Western North Carolina.

The grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation were announced by U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis on Dec. 5 and coincided with the announcement of a $1 billion grant toward expanding the "S-Line" service between Raleigh and Richmond.

While the DOT has yet to put out an official statement regarding the grants, the Western North Carolina Rail Committee met during their fourth annual meeting on Dec. 6, celebrating the news, along with hearing updates from the N.C. Department of Transportation Rail Division Director Jason Orthner.

"That is super exciting news and that puts North Carolina as one of the few states that has a really mature and ready-to-go programs with the confidence of the federal government," Orthner said.

Regarding the Asheville-Salisbury corridor obtaining the $500,000 development investment, Orthner put it bluntly.

"The simplest way to say it is: Western North Carolina is on the map, definitively," he said.

In March, NCDOT put forward a Salisbury to Asheville line for federal consideration as part of 12 proposed routes. Just a few months later, a draft of the WNC Passenger Rail Feasibility Study was released in June. The study considers the construction of a 139-mile rail line to Asheville from Salisbury and currently estimates the line would cost around $665 million to install.

While the final form of the study should be released "this week," the demand for an Asheville route is evident according to another NCDOT study.

In a yet-to-be published ridership survey, Asheville has been the most requested location not currently on the NC by Train Amtrak service, Orthner said.

"Asheville is the No. 1 location coming out of that, and I think it really represents Western North Carolina," Orthner said.

More: No longer a 'distant dream,' Asheville vies for return of passenger rail services to WNC

In October, nearly 66,000 passengers rode the NC by Train service provided by the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the single highest monthly ridership recorded by NCDOT.

None of those passengers departed from WNC.

The last passenger rail line left Asheville in 1975, leaving the region without active passenger rail service for nearly 50 years. In 2021, Amtrak included an Asheville line within the company's 2035 long-range rail plan.

Serious discussions ahead, regional support

Mayor Esther Manheimer said the federal funding was "incredibly significant."

"I think a lot of this has been talked about for years, but everyone's sort of scratching their head about where the funding will come from," Manheimer told the Citizen Times. "We're now finally seeing significant funding to support these efforts."

Ray Rapp, a Democratic former state legislator and long-time rail proponent, noted that many serious discussions about the proposal are still ahead. This is just the first step in a longer process.

"These are serious steps and what I don't want people to do is call Amtrak to try to get a ticket. But understand, in the broad sweep, we are moving ever closer," Rapp told the Citizen Times. "And I think this is a very viable, realistic option that will restore passenger service to Asheville that we have not had since 1975."

The current plan to explore a rail line between Asheville and Salisbury began with a 1997 study of the different alternatives for passenger rail to Asheville, according to the draft WNC Rail Feasibility Study.

Salisbury located 130 miles east of Asheville in Rowan County.

Over the last 26 years, five studies have found that Salisbury is the most logical alternative for the connection, while a 2020 Southeast Regional Rail Plan indicated an eventual connection between the high-performance corridor identified between Atlanta and Washington D.C.

Another big hurdle? The state will need to provide at least 20% of the money for the $665 million proposal.

Rapp said they would need to rally state and local elected leaders to help inform and guide the decision making process.

One of the major decisions for the city of Asheville concerns the final rail stop.

The draft report mentions a $5 million extension, which would take the rail line beyond a currently proposed Biltmore Village stop and would place the final rail stop closer to the River Arts District. If the city wanted to bring rail further toward downtown, the city may have to raise the money.

"It's at least another $5 million that, at this point, the city of Asheville is going to have to raise if it wants to move the location," Rapp said during the meeting. "I'm just bringing that up as an example, not as the defining issue. These are the conversations we are going to be having if we are going to move the ball forward."

A final location within or near the River Arts District was not specified in the draft study, but the $5 million required to move the location is currently included in the $665 estimated budget. It only represents about .7% of the estimated budget for the project.

Manheimer said the city could look at moving the Biltmore Location as the final stop, but noted that it's too early in the process to say where the final stop would be.

"Historically, Biltmore was the stop and possibly that's why that assumption was made," she said. "But Asheville has changed a lot in that time and it might make sense for a different location."

"Certainly we're just at the preliminary stages and we have to look at a lot of information before determining, as a city, which opportunities we want to support." she continued.

Rapp said they have not yet heard from U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards on the proposal — he had previously expressed reservations about the project.

However, Rapp has been working with regional state legislators, like State Rep. Hugh Blackwell and State Sen. Warren Daniel, to work toward obtaining the state money that will be needed to "finish out what needs to be done on the development of the corridor."

Other NC rail lines?

A route to Asheville was just one of seven locations that will see investment from the DOT. Here are the other $500,000 grant recipients:

• Charlotte to Washington, D.C. Corridor

• Charlotte to Atlanta, Georgia Corridor

• Charlotte to Kings Mountain Corridor

• Winston-Salem to Raleigh Corridor

• Fayetteville to Raleigh Corridor

• Wilmington to Raleigh Corridor

• Asheville to Salisbury Corridor

More: Asheville Amtrak train line proposal advanced by NC transportation department

More: Opinion: Asheville has a chance to bring back Amtrak passenger train system

Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville Amtrak plans net $500K in federal funding