Waiting for the Train Featured on Kicks 103.3 Morning Chat with Big Daddy Dave
Waiting for the Train stopped by Kicks 103.3 to chat with Big Daddy Dave about efforts to bring passenger rail back to western NC.
LENOIR, North Carolina—It becomes increasingly difficult to stop a speeding train once it gets going. But it also takes a great deal of effort and coordination to get that kind of weight moving in the first place.
Grassroots group Waiting for the Train understands this well.
The Burke County-based nonprofit has labored over the past year to generate the momentum necessary to bring passenger rail back to Appalachian North Carolina. (You’ll have to forgive me for my physics metaphors; my physics is a bit hazy.)
The level of support from municipal, county, and state officials behind reviving a passenger rail line between Asheville and Salisbury is significant, far exceeding any previous time since rail service was discontinued in the 1970s.
Notably, Rep. Hugh Blackwell and Sen. Warren Daniel are “in full support,” and based on conversations they’ve had with Amtrak officials and folks at the Department of Transportation, they believe we’ll see passenger trains traveling through Morganton’s Train Depot within the next 5-7 years.
Time estimates had previously hovered around 10 years.
Furthermore, all 28 local governments in the Western Piedmont’s Council of Governments (WPCG) coverage area, which includes Burke, Alexander, Caldwell, and Catawba counties, have also signed resolutions supporting the rail line.
By all accounts, few issues have more consensus across the political spectrum than passenger rail, at the moment; I’ve yet to meet a Burke County resident who has voiced opposition.
Clearly, there’s a lot of energy surrounding passenger rail.
Waiting for the Train has a sense that while momentum is significant, at the moment, it must be maintained. And that requires continually drumming up awareness about the potential Asheville-to-Salisbury line.
It’s likely, but still not guaranteed.
From tabling at local events to receiving news coverage in The Paper, The Morganton News Herald, and WSOC-TV, among other publications, Waiting for the Train’s working group has been busy spreading the gospel of passenger rail to whomever will listen.
This time on local radio.
Friday morning, I joined Waiting for the Train Co-founder Mimi Phifer and Kicks 103.3 Morning Show Host Big Daddy Dave to talk about the most recent updates on the Asheville-Salisbury line and what foothills residents can do to bolster additional energy for the cause.
(Look, I love passenger trains and couldn’t resist helping manifest our shift away from a car-centric culture.)
You can listen to our brief conversation below:
Glad to have found this post. And even happier to learn about the other stuff covered on Common Appalachian. Loving the vibes. Chooo Chooo.