NC’s passenger trains carried a record number of travelers again last year
A record number of people rode North Carolina’s state-subsidized Amtrak trains in 2025, the fourth straight year of record ridership since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nearly 740,000 boarded Piedmont and Carolinian trains, about 19,000 more than in 2024. The Piedmont makes four roundtrips between Raleigh and Charlotte each day, while the Carolinian makes one daily roundtrip between Charlotte and the Northeast.
Last year’s ridership was 59% more than in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic. October was the busiest month on record, with 74,400 passengers.
The ridership numbers don’t include long-distance Amtrak trains such as the Floridian and Crescent that stop at various cities as they pass through the state.
Some of the increase is a result of special events and promotions, said Jason Orthner, head of the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Rail Division. Trains make stops at the N.C. State Fair and the Lexington Barbecue Festival, and NCDOT adjusts the Piedmont’s Sunday schedule to accommodate Carolina Panthers fans. In April, NCDOT offered its first “Rockingham Special” between the Triangle and a NASCAR race at Rockingham Speedway.
The service has also benefited from aggressive marketing, including social media and videos from online influencers riding the trains, Orthner said.
“And once people are on the train, they’re like, ‘Wow, this is really a nice experience,’” he said. “’I can work, I can get done the things I need to do and get to my destination. And it’s affordable.’”
A one-way ticket from Raleigh to Charlotte costs $29.
The state’s intercity rail program, NC By Train, began in 1990 with the Carolinian, which makes a dozen stops in North Carolina on a daily round trip between Charlotte and New York City. The Piedmont started making daily round trips between Raleigh and Charlotte in 1995, with seven stops in between, including Cary and Durham.
Amtrak operates the trains, at a cost to the state of about $10 million a year. For more information, go to www.ncbytrain.org/.
