Welcome to Charlotte! I hope you had a pleasant trip. My name is Scott. I will be your tour guide for this stop. This is the Amtrak train station on North Tryon Street.
Rail transportation has been an important part of Charlotte's history. Our location, connected by rail between Columbia, SC and Greensboro, NC, eventually turned Charlotte into a distribution hub. Today the Charlotte region is at the center of the largest consolidated rail system in the country.
Two major rail systems, Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation, link 27,000 miles of rail to 22 states East of the Mississippi River. They bring more than 200 trains through Charlotte weekly. Norfolk Southern's $50 million computerized yard can classify up to 28,000 cars a day.
Rail also provides piggy back facilities working with trucking capabilities in the city, and Amtrak in Charlotte provides passenger lines traveling north and south which can connect to east/west lines to access most of the United States. The NC Dept. of Transportation sponsors two Amtrak-operated passenger trains, the Piedmont and Carolinian. Both trains provide a safe, environmentally friendly and energy efficient transportation alternative for families and business travelers who frequently travel between the state's major cities.
The train station may move from North Tryon Street to a more central location uptown by the end of the decade.
Norfolk Southern is running out of room at the current station, where its freight operations share space with Amtrak's passenger service.
In order to accommodate their needs for office space and railroad track, the department of transportation and Amtrak have agreed to locate in the future to another location.
The existing station was designed in the mid-1960s to handle twelve passenger trains a day. Now it services such cities as Raleigh, New York, New Orleans and Atlanta.
State officials are seriously considering West Trade Street near where Norfolk Southern Corp.'s main line crosses between Graham and Cedar streets.
Charlotte planning studies have suggested such a move, and the idea is endorsed by uptown business leaders, who view a passenger train station as a potential economic generator.
It is believed the station would bring more people to the center city for entertainment, sports and shopping. It would also attract new development.
I'm sure you're ready to see Charlotte, but first look across the street. That large building you see is one of our major television stations, WSOC-TV.
For those just interested in city transportation, we'll go directly to your new Transit Mall.
Related Sites NC Dept. of Transportation - Rail Division Norfolk Southern Corp. CSX Corporation Amtrak Randy Hampton's Railfanning Guide (NCDOT)
Directions Address: 1419 N. Tryon Street, Charlotte NC Phone: (704) 376-4416
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