Charlotte Gateway Station and Railroad Improvements

[ajfunder]

I received this from a railfan friend. Are we getting new locomotives too?

[kermit]

3 hours ago, ajfunder said:

I received this from a railfan friend. Are we getting new locomotives too?

The livery paint jobs and text suggests that we are getting new power. This is a surprise to me.

The grant was for the purpose of improving passenger safety (the grant program was rolled out quickly after the Silver Star hit a freight train in Columbia SC). I don't see how new power improves safety, but our rebuilt locos are probably nearing the end of life. NCDOT has sat on the grant money for a while and said VERY little about this order. I guess it makes sense that NCDOT would find more cash for some new power to add to the order.

New locos will look good, but reliability of the current stock is very good, so I am not sure their will be big improvements in OTP because of these (they will have slightly better acceleration so maybe they reduce run times by a couple of minutes). 

The eight train set order is also good news. The 6.5 coaches indicate a doubling of capacity (more or less) on current service. The "cafe" service is unclear based on the list at the top of the graphic. 

I believe four sets will handle expanded Piedmont service (up to eight round trips per day I think), so keeping two spares, there will be enough equipment for Wilmington trains (the graphic does specify Piedmont service though)

Edited November 11, 2022 by kermit

[Reverie39]

1 hour ago, kermit said:

The livery paint jobs and text suggests that we are getting new power. This is a surprise to me.

The grant was for the purpose of improving passenger safety (the grant program was rolled out quickly after the Silver Star hit a freight train in Columbia SC). I don't see how new power improves safety, but our rebuilt locos are probably nearing the end of life. NCDOT has sat on the grant money for a while and said VERY little about this order. I guess it makes sense that NCDOT would find more cash for some new power to add to the order.

New locos will look good, but reliability of the current stock is very good, so I am not sure their will be big improvements in scheduling because of these (they will have slightly better acceleration). 

The eight trainset order is good news. I believe four sets will be needed for expanded Piedmont service, keep one spare, and that leaves three sets that could be used for Wilmington trains (the graphic does specify Piedmont service though)

Are trains to Wilmington officially becoming a thing?

[kermit]

On 11/11/2022 at 1:37 PM, Reverie39 said:

Are trains to Wilmington officially becoming a thing?

Not yet, but the current condition of the project is that they COULD get started on construction on state owned tracks (along with a deal w CSX on use or purchase of their tracks) with infrastructure bill funds.  I also think there is some state-level political will for this project since Goldsboro, Mount Olive and Warsaw might be big winners from it. 

Since Wilmington trains will be much more car-competitive than Asheville trains I view it as a more viable service which, IMO, should come first.

Edited November 14, 2022 by kermit

[SydneyCarton]

[Reverie39]

Do we know if the station will offer retail within the station itself? I was recently at Washington Union and noted how it's basically a shopping mall inside which is pretty cool. I found myself wondering if people went there just to shop, even without a train to catch, and I think it's very much true. According to Wikipedia, the station gets 50,000 transit visitors every weekday, but 110,000 non-transit visitors. Would be interesting to see at least some retail in Gateway station to make it a little unique and a place to visit even if you don't have a train to catch.

[ajfunder]

Word on the street is NCDOT is delivering an extra train set to test clearances at Gateway Station Tuesday-Thursday this week. Someone go take pictures!

[JeanClt]

Word on the street is NCDOT is delivering an extra train set to test clearances at Gateway Station Tuesday-Thursday this week. Someone go take pictures!

!!!!!

[Reverie39]

This is a very random question, but I may be taking a gameday (Panthers) train into Charlotte for the first time soon. Is walking from the train station into Uptown something that is generally done? Google says 38 min to the stadium, is this a fairly walkable stretch? Or if not, what are the other options? Ubering seems like an annoying solution.

This highlights the need for an Uptown station. The current station has such an awkward location. I wish there was a bridge over the rail yard to a Blue Line station.

Edit: looks like there may be a CATS bus (Route 11) that stops at the Amtrak station for each arriving train. That's helpful.

Edited November 29, 2022 by Reverie39

[J.Kirk]

8 minutes ago, Reverie39 said:

This is a very random question, but I may be taking a gameday (Panthers) train into Charlotte for the first time soon. Is walking from the train station into Uptown something that is generally done? Google says 38 min to the stadium, is this a fairly walkable stretch? Or if not, what are the other options? Ubering seems like an annoying solution.

This highlights the need for an Uptown station. The current station has such an awkward location. I wish there was a bridge over the rail yard to a Blue Line station.

I took the train from Raleigh to Charlotte for the Panthers vs Browns game on September 11th. From my experience, and I'm an avid walker, I will take  an Uber from the Charlotte train station to the stadium next time. IMO it's not that it's too far of a walk. It's just an awkward one since the sidewalks in that area aren't very great! 

[tozmervo]

They've actually rebuilt a lot of the sidewalks in the area of the station recently, but there's still about a half-mile stretch from 277 going north where the pedestrian condition is less than ideal. (There are sidewalks, just crappy ones). 

[KJHburg]

this all begs the question when is the Amtrak station going to open at Gateway Center how many more years away??

 

[J.Kirk]

33 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

this all begs the question when is the Amtrak station going to open at Gateway Center how many more years away??

 

I agree with you. It'd just be nice to get dropped off right in the center of the city. When that happens, and I believe it will soon, the train experience will be amazing and I bet a lot more people will take the train instead of drive. 

Edited November 29, 2022 by J.Kirk

[KJHburg]

14 minutes ago, J.Kirk said:

I agree with you. It'd just be nice to get dropped off right in the center of the city. When that happens, and I believe it will soon, the train experience will be amazing and I bet a lot more people will take the train instead of drive. 

exactly and since parking is at a premium it is good way for those in the Triad or Triangle to get to Charlotte and return. 

[Seaboard Fellow]

Here’s a few pics from the clearance test today 

[ajfunder]

1 hour ago, Seaboard Fellow said:

Here’s a few pics from the clearance test today 

Awesome, the station building can’t come soon enough. Thanks for sharing!

[RANYC]

Any engineers know if it would have been at all possible for the station bldg and tracks to be built in parallel in order to complete at around the same time?

[kermit]

On 11/30/2022 at 4:48 AM, RANYC said:

Any engineers know if it would have been at all possible for the station bldg and tracks to be built in parallel in order to complete at around the same time?

Of course it was possible. But Charlotte / NCDOT didn't want to pay for the building, they wanted it to be built as part of a PPP instead. Seems (to me) that this was a piece of infrastructure worth paying for.

The PPP has been repeatedly delayed due to pandemic and issues with the PPP process (private companies are flakey)

 

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by kermit

[Reverie39]

13 hours ago, Seaboard Fellow said:

Here’s a few pics from the clearance test today 

Now that is a worthy entering view by train into the Queen City.

[tarhoosier]

Seaboard fellow you earned your name today.

[AirNostrumMAD]

Sorry if this is a simple question. Isn't Charlotte supposed to get a Temporary Amtrak station? Is that not on the books? Is Amtrak Service into uptown not imminent (imminent in transportation development standardS)

[kayman]

8 hours ago, kermit said:

Of course it was possible. But Charlotte / NCDOT didn't want to pay for the building, they wanted it to be built as part of a PPP instead. Seems (to me) that this was a piece of infrastructure worth paying for.

 

 

Charlotte's role in this decision is really limited tbh. They are at the whims of NCDOT/NCRR priorities.  A lot of this has to with certain TPTB only doing what they can with bare minimums here because it's Charlotte and this belief it can fund & build  this itself.  Reality is they can't because there isn't a home rule charter at the moment allowing such autonomy. 

I know for a fact this didn't occur with the Raleigh Union Station project.

Edited December 1, 2022 by kayman

[JeanClt]

NC by Train Twitter:

[tozmervo]

nice timing with the streetcar

[Reverie39]

Maybe one day we'll see Amtrak, commuter rail, light rail, and streetcar trains regularly arriving and departing from this very spot. Will be a very busy train spot.