Southern Pines and Fayetteville could be among four North Carolina towns and cities that would lose Amtrak passenger train service under the proposed White House budget, according to the National Association of Railroad Passengers.
According to the organization, the Trump Administration’s proposed budget would threaten 16 long-distance routes, which include the Silver Star route that provides daily service to Southern Pines and the Palmetto route, which runs daily through Fayetteville. At a minimum, the NARP says, more than 200 U.S. towns and cities could lose Amtrak service under the current plan.
“These working class communities were tired of being treated like ‘flyover country,'”said NARP President Jim Mathews. “But by proposing the elimination of Amtrak’s long distance trains, the Trump Administration does them one worse, cutting a vital service that connects these small town economies to the rest of the U.S.”
The Trump budget would cut about $2.4 billion from transportation, a 13-percent reduction of last year’s funding.
North Carolina is home to 16 Amtrak stations: Burlington, Cary, Charlotte, Durham, Fayetteville, Gastonia, Greensboro, Hamlet, High Point, Kannapolis, Raleigh, Rocky Mount, Salisbury, Selma, Southern Pines and Wilson.
According to NARP, Hamlet and Gastonia would join Southern Pines and Fayetteville on the chopping block under the proposed plan.