Opinion: Asheville has a chance to bring back Amtrak passenger train system
In an age when car travel dominates transportation, it is difficult to conceive of a time when six passenger trains a day ran between Asheville and Lake Junaluska in Haywood County, while another four connected our city to Murphy in Cherokee County.
At the turn of the 20th century, that type of rail travel was a reality.
Fifty years later, those initial passenger lines had ceased operation, and by the summer of 1975, passenger rail connecting Asheville to the outside world was discontinued altogether. Today, the remaining passenger rail service in the region is focused on scenic excursions, even as many attempts have been made in the intervening years to reconnect Asheville to the Amtrak lines south and east of our city.
Those efforts may finally have a chance for success, thanks to the federal bipartisan infrastructure bill approved by Congress in the fall of 2021. In total, the federal bipartisan infrastructure bill includes $66 billion for passenger and freight rail infrastructure investment, with $44 billion to be distributed through the Federal Railroad Administration’s discretionary grant program.
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As part of its Amtrak Connects US initiative, Amtrak has unveiled early-stage plans that would include Asheville among more than 30 new routes by 2035.
To better understand passenger rail funding opportunities under the federal bill, the City of Asheville and Rail Response, a project of the N.C. Metro Mayors Coalition, will be hosting a public meeting at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20. We hope that this meeting, to be held at the DoubleTree Hotel at 199 Haywood St., will provide those interested with a better understanding of rail systems in North Carolina, specifically intercity passenger rail and its benefits to residents.
The meeting will also offer an opportunity to understand the larger efforts to expand passenger rail service across the state, as well as the resources that a municipality needs to compete for intercity rail funding.
This event comes as state transportation officials seek planning grants to both improve existing routes and expand routes, including bringing service back to Asheville. To be clear, this is not about passenger commuter rail within metropolitan areas, but service connecting cities to each other.
The extension of service to Asheville would offer our residents a chance to enjoy the opportunities to travel to other cities in our region and across the state, improving quality of life and offering a mode of travel that reduces carbon emissions.
It would also offer the ability to bring travelers here whether for work, education, visit friends and family, or a weekend or day trip. And they could do so using a more economical and climate friendly form of transportation.
Passenger rail travel provides a safe and affordable method of transportation while offering the opportunity to read a book, catch up on email or enjoy conversation with friends, and watch the scenic landscape as a backdrop.
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As a member of the Rail Response workgroup, I look forward to exploring these possibilities and helping community leaders learn more about how we can best position our area. At the meeting, we will be joined by workgroup co-chairs Susan Kluttz, former Salisbury Mayor and former Secretary of the State Department of Cultural Resources, and Nick Tennyson, former mayor of Durham and former Secretary of the N.C. Department of Transportation.
As the larger passenger rail system is modernized, rail travel is increasingly attracting more and more travelers. It is a travel solution that makes sense as we all look for ways to live more sustainable and less hectic lives.
Asheville can and should be a part of this initiative.
Esther Manheimer is the Mayor of Asheville.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Could Asheville connect to other cities via Amtrak train system?
