It’s always seemed to me that the timing of the SINGLE evening trip option was the issue for why the train is lightly used. It’s headed out and returning from Durm too early for most folks looking to ‘make a night of it’.
Perhaps that’s why you find the return train empty or maybe no one ever comes back once they go to Durm 
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those are fightin words 'round these parts
The last Raleigh to Durham train is way too early. I’d do it all the time if I could leave at 10 instead of 6.
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I’ve taken the 10:15 from Durham on a Friday night. My friends and I were the only ones in the car.
Yeah, that’s way, way, way too early.
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The two things that most folks in Raleigh would go to Durham for are performances at DPAC and Bulls games. 10:15 is too early for a last train returning to Raleigh for anyone to ever use it for those events. If that train were later, then it would be a viable option. But, as it stands, if they can’t sell tickets for a train that is mistimed and because of a lack of ridership it then means they won’t ever give us the train at a later time that would be most effective. Is that what you are saying?
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I also assume the timing of those trains is tied to Charlotte seeing as that’s the origin. Not saying we shouldn’t have another train running later or dedicated Raleigh - Durham trains, but that current "return"train is coming in from Charlotte.
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This is just reinforces my earlier point… Amtrak is a city to city transit option. I would be all for a Raleigh-Durham point to point train that runs all day/night. But until it is marketed differently or addresses the need to connect two closer points people will not think of Amtrak as a real transit alternative between the two cities.
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I think the issue is that the trains “sleep” in Raleigh after a hard day’s work going to Charlotte and back. The last train to Durham westbound is the Carolinian, not a Piedmont train.
Ideally we need a yard in Durham where some of the Piedmont trains can dock overnight so there can be frequent all day travel between the 2 cities operated by NCDOT, not solely Amtrak
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While I agree with that, we’ve had to leave several Bulls games because of the timing. But from the standpoint of Amtrak, you can understand why they’re not investing more equipment, labor, services etc. when the 6-10pm trains are essentially empty.
The hypothetical that if we offered more trains and times, then that will spur more ridership is a tough sell.
Counterpoint: every time a new round trip has been added, ridership has surged. They’re breaking ridership records year after year. I know @orulz will argue this point and I tend to agree. I think that the holdup now is (1) the CLT rail facility (2) lack of equipment, which won’t be remediated for another few years, and is contingent on the rail facility, and (3) capacity constraints on the NCRR between Cary and GBO where it is single tracked only.
But I think the ridership is absolutely strong enough to justify more trips.
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If we had a good schedule, it could actually be marketed as an option. 100% that most folks don’t even know it’s an option because they’ve never been pitched.
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A very large percentage of people have no idea there is a passenger train between NC’s cities.
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We have a marketing and branding issue. Who’s responsibility is it Durham’s? Raleigh’s? Amtraks? I’m sure both cities could benefit from making this more known to the public, but no one does.
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I knew there was Amtrak from Raleigh to D.C., Florida, and Charlotte, but I didn’t realize until years after I moved here that there were multiple trains a day on the Charlotte route. I’ve taken my bike on it to Durham twice, and I think both times the train from Charlotte was delayed en-route.
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First, if the train is full leaving Durham heading east, then they don’t have nearly enough capacity. You should expect peak load factor somewhere in the middle of the route, somewhere around High Point to Burlington. I wouldn’t imagine that the Piedmont averages much over 50% peak load factor, but that’s still quite a lot of trips. If the trains were filling up on a typical day, then they wouldn’t have capacity to accommodate heavy ridership days around holidays and events.
Also, the way the crews manage seating on the train can result in some cars being full while others are empty at various points in the trip.
The goal is to reduce the number of doors they have to open at each low-platform station. (Doors have to be attended by a conductor at low platforms). Usually this winds up being something like: “Passengers for Raleigh, car 1. Passengers for Greensboro, car 2. Passengers for other stations, car 3”
At Raleigh, I believe they open all doors because it’s a high platform station. So they might have just had you ride in a car that had just emptied out.
Durham<->Raleigh also isn’t a big source of ridership for the Piedmont. I think we need to be aware that riding the train for a night out in Durham (or wherever) is a very popular idea among those of us here on this forum, but all told this is a tiny percentage of current and potential train ridership. I think it’s an example of selection bias: the sorts of people who are into both trains and downtown breweries or whatever are way over-represented here compared to the general population.
More common reasons are:
- visiting family
- going to and from college
- going to an event in another town
- people traveling to Raleigh to do something related to state government
- other business travelers
- supercommuters who travel in-state weekly (or more)
Etc, etc
Anyway, last time I rode the Piedmont was about a year ago, for a USMNT soccer game in Charlotte. The train was quite full both ways, I don’t remember many open seats at all.
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i did medical delivery work between Raleigh and Durham. i had to drive to duke h often and then into the city and country side. oxygen and wheelchairs etc…I’m not sure about the infrastructure connecting the two as having a great deal of ridership.
2028 (or never…)
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Jewelry insurer picks Raleigh for 200 high-paying jobs
“Jewelers Mutual, founded in 1913 in Wisconsin, is planning to invest $5.85 million to create 200 jobs in the city. The project was unveiled Tuesday during a meeting of the state’s Economic Investment Committee, which approved a performance-based JDIG grant of $2.4 million tied to the investment.
The positions are expected to pay a minimum average wage of $169,592. Dallas was a finalist city for the investment alongside Raleigh, according to the committee.”
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Heading to One North Hills Tower too like the Japanese tobacco company did. Jewelry insurance company plans to add 200 high-paying jobs in Raleigh’s North Hills (wral.com)
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