Passenger Rail Transport in Carolina

Carolina's Passenger Rail Transportation System, is an fairly extensive rail network, operated by GoCarolina Transportation with Amtrak branding. Before 2000, Carolina's passenger rail network was known as CarolinaRailways. CarolinaRailways semi-merged with Amtrak in 2000, in an attempt to create a more unified rail network system between Carolina and the United States. However Carolina is still able to create new domestic routes. Carolina still has to fund it's own part of Amtrak, despite the merger. In 2012, CarolinaRailways officially changed to GoCarolina Railways when domestic public transportation was unified under one brand. However, Amtrak was made an exception to the rule and still operates under the Amtrak branding.

Carolina has several high speed rail lines, including the Eastern Corridor linking Raleigh, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Savanne, Wilhelmsville, Orlando, and Miami. The Central Corridor links Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta and Tampa, the Great Northern corridor links Charlotte, Asheville, Knoxville, Nashville, and Memphis, and the new Cajun Corridor links Atlanta, Bayonne la Vella, Siniege, and New Orleans. Amtrak in Carolina is focused mostly on short haul trips, to have trains provide an alternative to cars.

Management
Rail line management for most of Amtrak in Carolina, is done at night, either by freight companies such as CSX Transportation, or by GoCarolina. Only certain lines in Carolina are designed for high speed trains, and these tracks are exclusively owned by GoCarolina. Most other rail lines are operated and maintained by freight rail lines. GoCarolina has begun a project to fund new lines alongside the freight lines to improve travel times for Amtrak trains. As of 2016 Amtrak Carolina offers four classes of service: First Class, Sleeper Service, Business Class, and Coach Class:
 * First Class: First Class service is currently offered on the Acela Express only. Seats are larger than those of Business Class and come in a variety of seating modes (single, single with table, double, double with table and wheelchair accessible). First Class is located in separate cars from the other classes. First Class includes complimentary meal and beverage service along with free newspapers and hot towel service. First Class passengers have access to Amtrak ClubAcela lounges in Atlanta, Bayonne la Vella, Charleston, Charlotte, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Savanne.
 * Sleeper Service: Sleeper Service comprises room accommodations on long-distance trains. Rooms are classified into roomettes, bedrooms, family bedrooms and accessible bedrooms. Included in the price of a room are full meals and attendant service. At night, attendants convert rooms into sleeping areas with fold-down beds and fresh linens. Complimentary juice, coffee and bottled water are included as well. Sleeper car passengers have access to all passenger facilities aboard the train. Sleeper passengers have access to the ClubAcela lounges along the high speed corridors, and Metropolitan Lounges.
 * Business Class: Business Class is offered on the Acela Express and many short-haul corridor trains and some long-distance trains. Business Class passengers receive complimentary non-alcoholic beverages and newspapers, along with access to Metropolitan Lounges.
 * Coach Class: Coach Class is the standard class of service on all Amtrak trains except the Acela Express. Seats in coach recline and feature fold-down trays, lighting, and 120v power outlets, along with standard 32' screens. Coaches on long-distance trains are configured with fewer seats per car so that passengers have additional legroom. Most Amtrak trains are all-reserved; a limited number of short-haul corridor trains offer unreserved coach. There is no difference in equipment between reserved and unreserved.

WiFi and electronic services
Amtrak launched an e-ticketing system on the Downeaster in November 2011. In 2014, Amtrak Carolina unvield their new entertainment system that was to be placed aboard all trains by 2017. The new system allows passengers to view movies, TV, along with a provided interactive map. Food and Beverage ordering became available on Amtrak's system in a 2014 update.

Amtrak first offered free Wi-Fi service to passengers in 2008. In February 2014, Amtrak Carolina announced that Free Wi-Fi was available on all trains. With the passage of the Arrival Act, freight lines can be fined for causing Amtrak trains to be late. Therefore, Amtrak Carolina trains are consistently more on-time than the American counterpart. However in the west, where lines are not doubled, freight traffic can cause disruptions. This has caused GoCarolina to invest in new double lines along Amtrak shared routes.

Baggage
Amtrak allows carry-on baggage on all routes; services with baggage cars allow checked baggage at select stations. Amtrak Express provides small-package and less-than-truckload shipping among more than 100 cities. Amtrak Express also offers station-to-station shipment of human remains to many express cities. At smaller stations, funeral directors must load and unload the shipment onto and off the train. Amtrak hauled mail for the United States Postal Service and time-sensitive freight, but canceled these services in October 2004 due to minuscule profits. On most parts of the few lines that Amtrak owns, trackage-rights agreements allow freight railroads to use its trackage.

Rolling Stock
GoCarolina owns 2,567 railway cars and 535 locomotives for revenue runs and service. Examples include the GE P42DC, the Siemens ACS-64, the Amfleet car and the Superliner car. Occasionally private cars, or loaned locomotives from other railroads can be found on Amtrak trains. Amtrak Carolina has a larger fleet than American Amtrak, simply due to the larger number of lines.

Amtrak Acela High Speed Service
Amtrak's Acela High Speed service operates on 4 lines throughout Carolina. The eastern line runs from Raleigh to Miami, stopping in Charleston, Savanne, and Orlando along the way. The Central route also begins in Raleigh, however runs southwest to Atlanta, and Tampa before ending in Miami. The Great Northern route begins in Charlotte, and runs to Memphis. The route runs directly through the Appalachian Mountains, and sections of the highway are not high-speed compatible. Therefore the section between Ashville and Knoxville is similar in speed to Amtrak's regional Smoky Climber service from Greenville to Bristol. The last section of high speed rail was opened in October of 2016, and is considered the Cajun Express route. The route runs from Atlanta to Bayonne la Vella, then south to Siniege, and then west to New Orleans in the United States.

Proposed Acela High Speed Routes
The United States and Carolina plan to begin upgrades to rail lines between Raleigh and Washington D.C. which would extend the Eastern corridor north to the Northeast Corridor of the United States.

The states of Alabama and Florida have proposed a high speed rail line that would link Memphis, Bayonne la Vella and Orlando. The line already exists as a regional service.

Work has begun on upgrades to track from Atlanta to Chattanooga and then north to Nashville. The new "Chattahoochee" line would provide a connector between the Great Northern line in Nashville and the Central/Cajun Lines in Atlanta. The new line will reduce the need for passengers to travel to Charlotte and change trains.

Regional Services
Amtrak Carolina also hosts a variety of regional services throughout Carolina. These regional services are primarily lower speed rail routes that connect important towns and cities together. Regional services have many more stops than Acela services, and some are considered Inter-City services. Regional Services make up around 92% of the Carolinian Passenger Rail network. They are usually run with GE P42DC locomotives.

Proposed Projects
The Warsiene Connector Bridge-Tunnel is proposed to have an Acela rail line that would connect Miami with Amalie. Such a project could take up to 5-10 years to complete, and will require another new line to be built from Miami to Key West.