North Carolina NCDOT-Amtrak Piedmont Service

[hsr_fan]

Site Admin Note: Combining a few threads into a Piedmont Thread

Looks like the last of Amtrak's Phase III Heritage coaches are getting a makeover. They were definitely due!

Sharp looking refurbished Piedmont car

[Engineer James]

Looks awesome...

[villager]

Better still, the new combine car can carry bikes UNBOXED!

Check out the new Bikes on Board program at NCDOT RAIL DIVISION.

[fairlane57]

Looks British...like the trains you see around the London metro area.

[jhdeasy]

Nice looking car! Would love to see some interior photos.

I remember seeing it pass thru ALX westbound on The Cardinal in the 1980s when it was the private car KANAWHA.

[VPayne]

Who did the rebuild?

[jhdeasy]

Who did the rebuild?

I don't know ... the work to refurbish some of NC DOT's other passenger cars (the coaches and the cafe-lounge) was done by Delaware Car Company ... their shop is located on the west side of the NEC a few hundred yards north of the Wilmington DE station.

[crazy_nip]

these cars are owned by the NCDOT

[matthewsaggie]

Rebuild was done in Wilmington and the color selection and design was done by NCDOt Rail Division to match the NC owned locos. All the Piedmont cars are to be run through rebuilds and painted the same colors. This car was running on the Piedmont tonight. It has had bike racks added in the baggage section. See www.bytrain.org.

[AgentSkelly]

Wow...I think the word spiffy best describes the paint job

[villager]

Train 73: RGH - CLT
Scheduled Running Time: 3:09
Average Running Time: 3:10
Median Running Time: 3:08
Minimum Running Time: 3:01
Maximum Running Time: 3:37
St Deviation (in minutes): 8
90th Percentile Running Time: 3:16
Amtrak On-Time Standard Percentage: 89%


Train 74: CLT - RGH
Scheduled Running Time: 3:10
Average Running Time: 3:21
Median Running Time: 3:13
Minimum Running Time: 3:03
Maximum Running Time: 4:19
St Deviation (in minutes): 21
90th Percentile Running Time: 3:56
Amtrak On-Time Standard Percentage: 61%

This was a particularly strong month for 73. The previous three months' Amtrak OTP percentages for Train 73 were 61%, 68%, and 67%, respectively. For Train 74, those percentages were 75%, 65%, and 63%.

[villager]

Here are the numbers for March 07. Previous month in parentheses.


Train 73: RGH - CLT
Scheduled Running Time: 3:09
Average Running Time: 3:11 (3:10)
Median Running Time: 3:06 (3:08)
Minimum Running Time: 3:02 (3:01)
Maximum Running Time: 4:03 (3:37)
St Deviation (in minutes): 15 (8)
90th Percentile Running Time: 3:26 (3:16)
Amtrak On-Time Standard Percentage: 87% (89%)


Train 74: CLT - RGH
Scheduled Running Time: 3:10
Average Running Time: 3:16 (3:21)
Median Running Time: 3:10 (3:13)
Minimum Running Time: 3:02 (3:03)
Maximum Running Time: 4:29 (4:19)
St Deviation (in minutes): 17 (21)
90th Percentile Running Time: 3:30 (3:56)
Amtrak On-Time Standard Percentage: 81% (61%)

Another good month for 73, only slightly marred by a particularly long max time. Train 74's OTP percentage took a big jump up fromt 81% to 61%. While my records only go back to July 06, this is the first time both trains have averaged over 80% OTP in the same month in my recordkeeping.

High-speed turnouts that give passenger trains the straight move through the switches were installed in January near Kannapolis, north of Charlotte. Signalling adjustments also added some new 79 mph territory which was previously 50 mph.

The increasing reliability of both trains bodes well for the possibility of adding the midday trip pair between Raleigh and Charlotte.

[shlustig]

Too bad that we can't get performance like this on the St. Louis, Detroit, or Syracuse corridors!

[gprimr1]

Do these trains benefit from the improvements being made by Virginia Railway Express?

[villager]

We in NC wish we could get this type of performance between Raleigh and DC. Then intercity train travel around here would REALLY take off.

I'm not as diligent with the stats for the Carolinian, because it takes so much more work (so many more stations). However, the amount of data I do have points to a scheduled run of 12:59 from NYP to CLT, and an average run of 13:50, a median of 13:37, and a 90th percentile of 14:59, two hours late. Ugh.

There's no magic, of course. Well-maintained and attended to rights of way with capital programs aimed at reducing bottlenecks produce mostly on-time and relatively speedy services. Places where this doesn't exist leads to crummy train service.