Asheville Amtrak plan seeks around 250K in funding; advocates to look for sponsors

ASHEVILLE - After the approval of federal funding toward the development of an Asheville Amtrak line to Salisbury, the Western North Carolina Rail Committee is expecting to take on the project headfirst, where funding for the project is the next "very important step."

While the first step was funded with the $500,000 federal grant, the second and third steps require a federal match from regional, private, or state sources.

N.C. Department of Transportation Rail Division Director Jason Orthner projected the match to be around a "$250,000 to $300,000 non-federal match," during the March 6 WNC Rail Committee meeting.

The WNC Rail Committee is a nonprofit organization with a focus on “rail freight, rail excursions and passenger rail access in Western North Carolina,” according to its website.

Marion Mayor Steve Little told the Citizen Times that funding would likely come from a collaboration between multiple state and regional bodies — where rail advocates across WNC are likely to ask from tourism development authorities to state representatives for funding.

"It could be a combination of state legislature funding, and it could be the cities and the counties along the section: Buncombe, McDowell, Burke, Catawba, Iredell and Rowan," Little said.

The funding efforts come alongside recent economic data showing the impact of North Carolina rail, where a recent NCDOT economic report indicated passenger and freight rail contributes to over $20 billion in statewide economic output and supports around 88,000 jobs.

N.C. Department of Transportation Rail Division Director Jason Orthner spoke during the WNC Rail Committee's March 6 meeting, where Orthner said the economic data points to some of the benefits an expanded WNC rail system could bring.

"Certainly a major component of that is making sure Western North Carolina is served well. That the rail system is viable and that we're doing all we can to ensure that manufacturers, businesses and others located to that area and that we have a rail system to support that growth," Orthner said during the March 6 meeting.

Of the $3.5 million approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation for North Carolina rail identification efforts, $500,000 will go to identifying and developing the Asheville to Salisbury passenger rail corridor. Salisbury was chosen as preexisting rail lines exist between the two cities, the Citizen Times reported in December.

For this project, collaboration with rail companies would be part of the next step of bringing passenger rail back to the region, where the project will require those interested in the project to "have our eyes on the infrastructure that's required to deliver that service is all part of the step," Orthner said.

The rail line between Salisbury and Asheville is currently owned by Norfolk Southern.

What stage in the process is the WNC rail corridor?

In December, the WNC Rail Committee heard that Asheville is reported to be the highest-demand location for a new passenger rail line in a yet-to-be-published DOT Amtrak ridership survey. The high-demand for the location comes alongside reports the NC by Train service increased ridership by 23% in 2023, bringing the year's total ridership to 641,000—up 38% since 2019.

Currently, however, the project will need both local and state funding in order to progress to the next steps of completing the Corridor ID Process, a three-phase program that includes scoping, service planning and then preliminary engineering and environmental planning.

Orthner said the goal is to find an element of collaboration with businesses, railroads and WNC communities along the path to Salisbury in order to find the funding.

"That step is a very important step," Orthner said.

The options could include private investment or investment from local governments, tourism development authorities, private companies or funding from the North Carolina legislature, though Little told the Citizen Times the latter was "unlikely." The funding just has to be non-federal.

The final draft of the WNC feasibility study gave the final project a $665 million price tag to complete the 139-mile passenger rail line. The number is a $260 million increase from the NCDOT’s 2015 long-range state rail plan estimates, which set the initial cost at around $405.3 million.

Edwards is 'very interested'

Regional rail advocates are also looking for support for the proposal from Congressman Chuck Edwards, who previously told the Citizen Times in August that he was "open to further discussion with local NCDOT leaders" about the project.

During the March 6 meeting, Marion Mayor Steve Little, a co-chair of the committee, said he visited with Edwards earlier this week pitching the project alongside recent the recent economic report on North Carolina's rail system.

Little, a long-time rail advocate and rail historian, said the interaction was positive, where Little told the Citizen Times that Edwards expressed, he was "very interested" in the WNC passenger rail project.

"It's a big step, in my opinion," Little told the Citizen Times. "There are huge benefits to Western North Carolina."

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

More: 'It's coming': Asheville Amtrak feasibility study brings calls for funds, advocacy

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 plan seeks around 250K; Congressman 'very interested'