NC By Train is a brand name used by the Rail Division of the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for two state-supported Amtrak routes operating in the U. S. state of North Carolina–the Carolinian and the Piedmont. History Amtrak (in full, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) took over most intercity rail service in the United States in 1971. At the outset, service through North Carolina was mostly limited to long-distance routes that were not well-suited for regional travel. This remained unchanged when Southern Railway, one of the larger railroads that initially opted to keep its passenger services, handed its routes to Amtrak in 1979. By 1984, Amtrak service in North Carolina was limited to four trains: the New Orleans–New York Crescent, which passed through Charlotte and the Piedmont Triad; the New York–Miami Silver Meteor and New York–Savannah Palmetto, which both passed through the Sandhills; and the New York–Miami Silver Star, which passed through Raleigh. The only daylight service came from the Palmetto and northbound Silver Star. In that year, Governor Jim Hunt created a Public Transportation Division within NCDOT. Partly due to Hunt's efforts, Amtrak introduced the Carolinian on October 28, 1984 as a Charlotte-New York service, supported with a yearly $436,000 state subsidy. It ran from Charlotte through Greensboro and Raleigh along the state-owned North Carolina Railroad, then joined the Palmetto at Richmond, Virginia for the journey to New York. It was the first direct service between Charlotte and Raleigh in 30 years (or 50 years, depending on the source), and the first North Carolina-focused service in 20 years. Amtrak intended the Carolinian to be a one-year pilot project, and strongly considered making it a permanent fixture in its schedule. However, due to poor marketing, many passengers did not know that the train offered much of the state a one-seat ride to New York. As a result, while ridership far exceeded projections, the Carolinian lost over $800,000 as most passengers opted to travel within North Carolina and not continue north of the Virginia border. When North Carolina declined to increase its subsidy, Amtrak withdrew the Carolinian on September 3, 1985. Hunt's successor, Jim Martin, was also committed to the development of passenger rail. He created a Passenger Rail Task Force that recommended preserving rail corridors for both freight and passengers. It also recommended additional passenger service along the I-85 Corridor from Charlotte to Raleigh. In 1990, Amtrak and