A train on the Piedmont line pulls into Salisbury Station. Photo by Andy Mooney, Salisbury Post.

SALISBURY — When the North Carolina Department of Transportation decided to remove the early morning and afternoon stop from the Salisbury train station in 2023, local officials said they felt blindsided after not being consulted or informed beforehand. Now, NCDOT officials said they have learned from that process and are seeking public comment on stop times as they look to add to the Piedmont route.

Rowan County’s opportunity to comment in person began on Monday, as NCDOT officials were available to speak with at the Rowan Museum on Monday. They also showcased information on the status of the current Piedmont corridor train frequencies and issues with expanding or changing frequencies and times.

The Piedmont route runs between Raleigh and Charlotte and has stops in Cary, Durham, Burlington, Greensboro, High Point, Salisbury and Kannapolis.

SOUTHBOUND DEPARTURE TIMES:

SALISBURY:

• 12:25 p.m.
• 3:11 p.m.
• 5:41 p.m.
• 8:06 p.m.

KANNAPOLIS:

• 8:59 a.m.
• 12:42 p.m.
• 3:27 p.m.
• 8:23 p.m.

NORTHBOUND DEPARTURE TIMES:

SALISBURY:

• 7:28 a.m.
• 11:06 a.m.
• 3:01 p.m.
• 8:22 p.m.

KANNAPOLIS:

• 7:10 a.m.
• 10:50 a.m.
• 2:45 p.m.
• 5:25 p.m.

“We have a plan to add a sixth round trip between Raleigh and Charlotte, and we recognize that we need to ask our customers, and our potential customers, including just the people who live and work in the cities that we pass through, what would serve their needs,” said Jason Myers, NCDOT Rail Programs Manager.

Myers added that while he was not with the Rail Division when the decision was made in 2023, the stories around the office were “how they realized they made a mistake and how they vowed to do this project differently” by allowing opportunities for input.

The prevailing sentiment from attendees, many of whom represented the city of Salisbury, on Monday was for the return of the early morning southbound and the 5 p.m. northbound stops that were lost in 2023. Currently, the earliest Charlotte-bound train departs Salisbury at 12:25 p.m., while there is a significant gap between 3:01 p.m. and 8:22 p.m. where no Raleigh-bound trains stop in Salisbury.

“If you come here to go to a job, it has to be a job that starts in the afternoon and I can’t get home until nine at night? It’s just not feasible, and it’s not feasible for a family to go, say, to the North Carolina (Transportation) Museum. You’re going to come at noon and have to hurry up and leave by three o’clock so you can make it home? No,” said Salisbury Mayor Tamara Sheffield.

Sheffield added that she found it unfathomable that Salisbury “could not leverage our rail for the VA (Medical Center) services.”

Myers said the change came because the department had “gotten a lot of feedback to have a faster schedule.” He said that the department’s data showed the 71 train, the early morning southbound stop, as the least popular train for Salisbury, High Point and Burlington.

“The thought was, ‘people aren’t taking the train here, but they’re taking it in the afternoon. If we have two afternoon trains, that’ll serve everybody’s needs, right?’” said Myers. “And in terms of the quantitative aspect of it, ridership is up here even though there’s no more service. In that sense, it was successful.

“But I think what we’re hearing now is that the types of travelers that were using it at that time were pretty consistent. It might not have been many people, but it was the same people day after day and that disrupted their lives that maybe a train in the afternoon didn’t fix.”

The project in question will add that sixth line that could fill some service gaps, said Myers, but the issue is not as simple as picking a time where it could be most easily added.

“It’s going to be a whole new schedule. Almost none of the trains, (except) the Carolinian because that’s tied to the Northeast Corridor, that’ll be on the same schedule, but all the other trains are going to shift around a little bit because of the factors that we’re describing in (the meeting),” said Myers.

He added that the department has “a whole lot of little needles to thread on the railroad,” which included sharing the tracks with freight trains, maintenance and travel time.

“The No. 1 thing is trains have to pass each other when there’s two tracks, and there’s not always two tracks. And if there’s (only) two tracks, three trains can’t pass each other at the same time and so we have to try to schedule that pretty carefully,” said Myers.

For now, Myers said the NCDOT has not decided how they want that sixth line to change the scheduling. He did say that he was leaning towards more of a focus on morning travel, however.

“I would say, if there’s something we think is going to be different, it’s that we are going to be trying to shift the schedule to focus more on the morning. But, there’s also late in the day. There’s dozens and dozens and dozens of overlapping markets, and we’re trying to get as much as we can to benefit everybody,” said Myers.

The department has scheduled additional public meetings in other communities along the Piedmont service route, with the next meeting being held in Kannapolis from 5 to 7 p.m. on June 10 at Trinity United Methodist Church, 416 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.

There is also an online portal for people to offer their comments on how the scheduling can be shifted to best serve the community. The portal will be open until June 30. The survey can be found on the department’s public input website at https://publicinput.com/h05225#tab-61216. It can also be accessed by going to the NCDOT website, under the public meetings and events tab.

Sheffield said that anyone who is concerned or affected should “have their voice heard” through commenting.

“The one thing you can control is getting your voice out there. Salisbury has to tell its story. If not, somebody else will tell it for us. We have to be telling our story, and this is one way you can do that,” said Sheffield. “I’m going to advocate for people to give them good feedback, because that’s what they need. You’re only as good as the information that you have.”