Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach routes, two connecting Wilson to large swaths of eastern North Carolina and one connecting Winston-Salem and High Point. Volunteers from the North Carolina Train Host Association are on hand between Charlotte and Selma to provide information about points of interest in North Carolina. Station hosts are also on hand at the state's three busiest stations–Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh. The Kannapolis, Salisbury, High Point, Burlington and Selma stations are served by NC Station Attendants who meet all trains and answer travel questions. The other stations along the route are staffed with Amtrak personnel with full ticketing and baggage service. Piedmont The Piedmont, operating since 1995, is a route from Charlotte to Raleigh with three daily round trips. It travels along the far southern leg of the Carolinian route, largely paralleling Interstate 85. While the Carolinian uses Amtrak rolling stock painted in Amtrak's national red-white-blue scheme, the Piedmont uses state-owned locomotives and coaches painted in a blue-silver-red palette echoing the North Carolina state flag. Its introduction enabled same-day business travel between Charlotte and Raleigh. Proposed routes Southeast Corridor Salisbury – Asheville Western North Carolina had been served by passenger trains following the construction of the Western North Carolina Railroad in the 1850s until the Southern Railway discontinued service in August 1975. In January 1997, NCDOT's Rail Division first studied the possibility of restoring service to the region. Based on projected costs, revenue, and ridership, the best option was determined to be a route between Salisbury and Asheville along 139 miles of Norfolk Southern's S-Line. Intermediate stops would be made in Statesville, Hickory, Morganton, Marion, Old Fort, and Black Mountain. Passenger could transfer to the Piedmont or Carolinian at Salisbury station. In 1999, local stakeholders formed the Western North Carolina Rail Corridor Committee to promote enactment of the route. In March 2001, NCDOT published an updated study with a timetable of phases for the project, along with a cost estimate for each phase. During the first phase, Amtrak would trial the route with Thruway Bus service along US 70 to Asheville. The report also recommended an additional station in Valdese. In April 2002, an NCDOT report proposed a schedule of two daily round trips on the route: one morning and one evening departure in each direction. The report estimated that the station, track, signal, and bridge projects required to start the route would cost $134,700,000. North Carolina's Comprehensive State Rail