North Carolina DOT

Company History: The NC DOT had worked with Amtrak for many years, subsidizing passenger service to and from the state. When the state pushed to add service between Raleigh and Charlotte (a distance of 173 miles) Amtrak begged off claiming a shortage of equipment. NC DOT bought and leased their own equipment and launched the daily Piedmont passenger train in 1995. In 2010 a second daily round trip was added and in 2018 a third was added. A fourth is planned for 2021. The track belongs to Norfolk Southern.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.