Anyone ever take public transportation to Asheville? Bus or Amtrak?

[Southsideirish]

I know there is no Amtrak station in Asheville yet but does anyone have any information about a train as close to Asheville as possible -either High Point or Greensboro?

Has anyone ever done this or heard of same? Which of the two - High Point or Greensboro would be closer for a drive, park and ride scenario?
We are planning on moving to Asheville as soon as we sell our condo but will probably be coming back to Chicago about once a month or two for a long time and we get mighty tired of that 13 hr. ride. Would much prefer to just sit back, relax and read a book. We prefer not to fly.

Thanks for any information!!!

[niallmac]

1. I don't know but I am envious if that counts!

I have friends in Asheville which is a great reason to visit. :7
Enjoy your new home!

[newswolf56]

2. An old rail-rider, this blows my mind. In the old days, you took...

the Carolina Special out of Penn Station in NYC, changed to the Southern in DC (same train, different railroad), got off in Greensboro about 3 a.m. and caught the Over-Mountain Local into Asheville. Left Penn Station at 5:30 p.m., arrived in Asheville about 6:30 a.m. the next morning. This was during the '60s, when there was no real airport in Asheville: you could get there by plane, but with all the stops and plane-changes, the trip from NYC took 19 hours as opposed to 12 by train.

A nice touch on the Over-Mountain Local that illustrates the graciousness of old-time rail travel: there was no dining car on the local, but after you boarded, the conductor passed out breakfast menus, took your order and radioed it ahead to High Point, where the train stopped long enough to load everybody's food in covered metal trays -- typically a classic Southern breakfast: eggs, bacon, toast, fried grits, sliced tomato, fresh-brewed coffee -- all delicious. (The trays were then collected and brought back to High Point when the local made its return trip that evening.)

The U.S. is the only industrialized country in the world that is methodically destroying its railroads, and all the great Southland passenger trains -- the Pelican, the Crescent, the Carolina Special, the Silver Meteor, the Powhatan Arrow, the Pocahontas -- are gone. It makes me very sad.

(The deliberate destruction of the railroads is another way our whoring politicians have betrayed us to Big Oil: without adequate railroads, people are forced into ever greater dependence on private automobiles.)

[BR_Parkway]

5. I tried Googling but didn't find any more info. I'm in Boone and would

love to know more about the old train routes through here.

[petite marmotte]

3. This Might Help

There is a Greyhound bus station in Asheville (Tunnel Road) and you can take a bus to Amtrak stations in Greenville, SC, - which is probably the closest - or Amtrak in Charlotte. Either one is probably a couple of hours ride. I know this because a buddy of mine is an Amtrak engineer. He visited here once by catching a train to Charlotte, but had to bus in from there to Asheville. He found it was easier to leave Asheville by driving to Greenville. He rented a car in Asheville and left it at the rental lot right near the Greenville Amtrak station. You can check Amtrak routes from either of those departure points on their website probably.

This is about as good as public transportation gets around here, as far as I can tell. I lived in the SF Bay area for years with good bus and BART lines, so I was spoiled I guess. Allow for bad winter weather here also, when buses will simply stop running.

Hope that helps!

[Southsideirish]

4. Thanks very much for the information! It was quite helpful.