Thruway service from Asheville to Salisbury, NC is back on the table again.
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This service has been promised for a very long time, but always pulled back at the last minute for some reason or another. Meanwhile, the idea of thruway connections in Eastern NC went from proposal to reality in no time. The two routes in eastern NC have decent, but not amazing, ridership. Wilson-Greenville-New Bern-Havelock-Morehead City averages 20 passengers per day, while Wilson-Goldsboro-Kinston-Jacksonville-Wilmington averages 30. Politically, the coastal plain in eastern NC has always had more clout than the mountains in the west.
An Amtrak study predicts thruway ridership to Asheville of 2,100 per year, which is a pitiful number amounting to less than 6 per day. However, an NCDOT study predicts 13,000 per year, averaging to 35 per day, which would be in line with the ENC services above which are generally considered a success.
I live in Cary and my parents live in Asheville, and they have expressed that they would frequently use this service when they visit, which usually works out to about monthly; I have to imagine that there are quite a few other people who would do the same, or do the reverse for a fun visit to Asheville. Having a good stop location in Asheville is really important. The proposed spot I've heard about is along the tracks, near Biltmore Village, which is okay... but if you're going to do this with a bus, and given that few think actual passenger trains will ever be practical, you might as well take advantage of the fact that you don't have to stay close to the rails, and put the stop at the transit center downtown.