Plan and avoid the rush
WASHINGTON – The Thanksgiving travel season will soon be underway and Amtrak and NC BY TRAIN are preparing to accommodate additional customers traveling on the Piedmont and Carolinian. Tickets sell out quickly, so customers are encouraged to book reservations early.
The Piedmont and Carolinian trains are sponsored by the North Carolina Department of Transportation and operated by Amtrak. The service is paid for through state funding and passenger fares.
The Piedmont travels daily from Raleigh to Charlotte and customers can take advantage of the Piedmont Lounge car, which offers onboard snack and drink vending machines. The Carolinian travels daily from New York to Charlotte. North Carolina Volunteer Train Hosts assist customers and provide information about rail passenger service and points of interest within North Carolina.
Both trains offer customers large spacious seats with ample legroom and no middle seat. Customers can stay connected throughout the entire journey (no “airplane mode”) with Wi-Fi included in the price of a ticket and outlets at every seat.
Amtrak also offers up to 45% off when six passengers travel together as part of its Share Fares deal so customers can Get Carried Away on Amtrak.
Last year, Amtrak had its largest customer count to date during the Thanksgiving week with over 846,000 riders on its trains across the country. Amtrak carried more than 160,000 customers the Sunday following Thanksgiving last year.
Customers can easily connect directly with Amtrak before, during and after their travels:
- Download the Amtrak app for easy booking and travel updates.
- To connect with customer service follow Amtrak on Facebook and @Amtrak on Twitter.
- For real time service alerts, follow @AmtrakNECAlerts for updates within the Northeast Region and @AmtrakAlerts for any other alerts outside of that region.
- We encourage customers to share their Amtrak experience on all social media channels by tagging @Amtrak and using the hashtag #Amtrak in their posts.
- Other options for obtaining information and purchasing tickets are NCBYTRAIN.org and 800-BY-TRAIN.