New train station expected in Hillsborough, to expand Amtrak access

The Town of Hillsborough is working with North Carolina Railroad, Amtrak and the state to build a new train station in Hillsborough between Gold Hill Way and Orange Grove Road, on a roughly 20-acre parcel. 

The station itself will cover five acres. The Town is planning to dedicate five more acres to affordable housing, three acres to commercial spaces and the rest to other infrastructural needs, like landscape and parking. 

Stephanie Trueblood, the public space and sustainability manager for the Town of Hillsborough, said many aspects of the project are ongoing and subject to change. The Town's interest in constructing affordable housing on a portion of the lot requires further planning and analysis, she said. 

“This summer and into next fiscal year, we are working on a market study to put some thought into the layout and mix of uses for that property, and that presents a significant opportunity for the Town,” Matt Efird, assistant town manager for Hillsborough, said. 

Trueblood said the train station project aims to reestablish passenger rail service in Hillsborough, which stopped in 1964. She said the community has expressed a desire for the return of passenger rail service, dating back to a 2007 petition with 366 signatures from town residents supporting the project.

"The community, remembering when we had passenger service, and wanting that available option again, as well as Amtrak realizing that a station would be financially feasible here, is what really got the ball rolling," Trueblood said.

Trueblood said the rail line is already utilized by Amtrak and freight lines. The Town meets with the North Carolina Department of Transportation regularly to ensure the station meets Amtrak standards. 

The Hillsborough station will mark the 17th station in North Carolina that Amtrak lines travel through, Craig Newton, NCDOT facilities engineer consultant, said. 

 "When an idea for a Hillsborough train station came about, we worked with the city to secure the funding for it,” Newton said. “Our role is to coordinate with Amtrak and make sure that the station is designed and built to common standards.” 

Trueblood said the current plans for the station include a 7,700-square-foot station, rail platform, greenway connection to downtown Hillsborough, parking, a bus stop, a constructed wetland, a public road extension and outdoor seating. 

Newton said a meeting space for town commissioners and other town offices will be located within the station.

"Having another use inside the building provides a little more occupancy during the course of the day, which is good for security and those sorts of things. So it's good that they have more stuff going on on the site, in the building than just the train station use," Newton said. 

The project is currently in the planning, design and construction document-level engineering phase. Completion of the project is set for 2027, but permitting and coordination complexities may extend this date, Trueblood said. 

 The NCDOT, Town of Hillsborough, and GoTriangle reached a funding agreement in March of 2020. 

Trueblood said the estimated total cost of the project is $8 million, with $7 million allocated for the station and $1 million for the platform. Funding sources include $686,000 from GoTriangle, $34,000 from the Town of Hillsborough, and $6,280,000 from North Carolina Department of Transportation via federal grant funding.

"It's in the State Transportation Improvement Program," Newton said. "There's a competitive process where local governments can submit projects to be rated for their benefit-cost ratio. It was a high importance project for that whole region, really."

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