From Staff Reports

Amtrak in early April released a map with  plans in the Southeast that would include a new line from Asheville to Salisbury.

Indeed, “Asheville residents could one day hop on a train at the local Amtrak station for their next trip to the Carolina coast or their next business trip to Washington, D.C.,” the Asheville Citizen Times noted.

“The proposal is in response to President Joe Biden’s proposed infrastructure plan to re-engineer the nation’s infrastructure over the next 8 years,” Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported.

 The passenger rail extenson would be part of an $80 billion expansion and repair plan for Amtrak to expand to new cities, as well as address repairs, modernize its rail system elsewhere and improve existing corridors.

The Amtrak plan would be included in President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan — a proposed $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs bill.

“It’s been more than 45 years since an official passenger train left Asheville, and the next one could be about 15 years in the future, if Congress approves the bill,” the ACT reported.

“The Amtrak Connects US plan seeks to add up to 160 more communities with more than 30 new routes and more trips added to 20 existing routes. The plan would add 15 more states to Amtrak’s network by 2035, as the plan seeks to add 20 million passengers to the 32 million who used Amtrak last fiscal year,” the ACT noted.