Raleigh, NC (RGH)

320 West Cabarrus Street
Raleigh, NC 27601

Station Ownership

Facility:
North Carolina Railroad Company

Parking:
North Carolina Railroad Company

Platform(s):
North Carolina Railroad Company

Track(s):
North Carolina Railroad Company

Amtrak Contact

Todd Stennis

Routes Served:

• Carolinian
• Piedmont
• Silver Star

History

The current brick Raleigh station on Cabarrus Street was opened by the Southern Railway in 1950 upon moving from the city’s old Union Station on the west side of Nash Square. Southern Railway discontinued passenger train service to the Raleigh station in 1964, but Amtrak relocated here from the former Seaboard Air Line depot in 1986.

In the mid-2000s, Amtrak spent more than $580,000 to expand the waiting room and add a first class passenger lounge. Today, the Raleigh station is the busiest in North Carolina and one of the most active in the southeast. Since the 1990s, various studies have suggested that a new station would be needed to accommodate increased ridership resulting from additional train frequencies.

In January 2012, the Mayor and the City Council endorsed a recommendation by the city’s appointed Passenger Rail Task Force to adapt the former Dillon Supply warehouse west of downtown to serve as the centerpiece of a new multimodal transportation center. As envisioned, the complex—referred to as “Union Station”—would house Amtrak and local, regional, and intercity busses, while also providing opportunities for future expansion to accommodate proposed commuter and high-speed rail services.

Located at the end of W. Martin Street, the structure is the only building to sit within the busy Boylan Wye, a crucial piece of North Carolina’s railroad infrastructure where lines owned by CSX, Norfolk Southern, and the North Carolina Railroad meet. The current Amtrak station sits on the southern side of the wye, but there is little opportunity for expansion.

Although city leaders back the creation of an intermodal center at the Dillon site, a feasibility study must be completed before any rehabilitation or construction can proceed. In drafting a final master plan, it will be important to take into account the concerns of all stakeholders, which include the freight railroads, Amtrak, city and state transportation planning agencies, and local transit providers. Planners believe that the warehouse, which has dramatic, high ceilings, could easily be rehabilitated to include a waiting hall, ticket counters, and an area for retail storefronts and restaurants.

Using an incremental approach, the first step would require approximately $35 million to renovate the warehouse and build an 800 foot long platform for intercity passenger rail service; concurrent with this effort would be track and signal work amounting to at least $12 million. Future phases would include platforms for high-speed rail service.

In October 2011, residents approved a $40 million transportation bond issue that included $3 million for the new Union Station complex. Project managers will seek the remainder of the funds through federal and state transportation grant programs. Raleigh officials believe that the intermodal center will function as the hub of a new mixed-use district around the wye that will include residential, retail, and office units as well as space for cultural institutions. It will also link the reviving downtown with the historic Boylan Heights neighborhood and other residential areas to the west.

Raleigh, which is both the state capitol and the seat of Wake County, sits in the forested piedmont region of North Carolina. In 1770 the North Carolina General Assembly was petitioned to form a new county, and they created Wake County from portions of Cumberland, Orange, and Johnston Counties, taking its name from Margaret Wake Tryon, the wife of Governor William Tryon. The first county seat was in Bloomsbury.

Raleigh site was chosen for the state capital in 1788, in part for being close to Isaac Hunter’s Tavern, a popular place frequented by state legislators. No known city or town existed there previously; Raleigh is one of the few cities in the U.S. planned specifically as a state capitol. The city was named in 1792 for Sir Walter Raleigh, sponsor of the Colony of Roanoke, the “Lost Colony” on the Carolina coast. The city was chartered by the General Assembly there in 1794.

In 1831 a fire destroyed the state capitol. Reconstruction began two years later with granite delivered by the state’s first railroad. Raleigh celebrated the completion of the new state capitol and the new Raleigh & Gaston Railroad Company in 1840.

During General Sherman’s Carolinas Campaign in the American Civil War, Raleigh was captured by Union cavalry under General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick on April 13, 1865. After the Confederate cavalry retreated west toward Morrisville, the Union soldiers followed, sparing the city significant destruction. Though the city survived the war, economic problems of the post-war period prevented significant growth over the next several decades. However, in addition to Peace College, several institutions of higher learning were founded during that period, such as Shaw University, the south’s first African-American college; and St. Augustine’s college for the education of freedmen in 1867; and Meredith (Women’s Baptist) College in 1891.

Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill make up the three historically primary cities of the Research Triangle metropolitan region. The name comes from the 1959 opening of Research Triangle Park, located between Raleigh and Durham; following that opening, the area began to see significant growth in business and population. Research Triangle is the largest research park in the United States, sponsored by state and local governments, nearby universities and business interests. As of 2007, there were more than 130 research and development facilities existing in the park with more than 39,000 employees working for a total of 157 organizations. Raleigh’s other industrial base includes electrical, medical, electronic, and telecommunications equipment; clothing and apparel; food processing; paper products and pharmaceuticals.

The North Carolina Art Museum, occupying a large suburban campus near the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, just outside Raleigh, maintains one of the premier public art collections between Atlanta and Washington, D.C. In addition to its extensive collections of American, European and ancient art, the museum hosts major exhibitions.

This facility has a waiting room and is staffed by Amtrak employees.

Raleigh is served by eight daily trains.

ADA Compliance

Federal law requires compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by 2010. The following is a list of items typically required for transportation and public facilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Please check the regulations for guidance or contact us for more information.