Norfolk Southern resumed rail service into Asheville on May 20 after Tropical Storm Helene devastated Western North Carolina’s rail network last year. This restoration benefits industries reliant on rail for heavy freight, such as Baxter and Sierra Nevada Brewing, which faced supply disruptions during the eight-month outage. Though repairs continue, state funding and efforts by rail companies have revived key routes and tourist railroads. Norfolk Southern is investing $64 million to rebuild the critical Old Fort Loops section, aiming for winter completion. This progress revives hopes for passenger rail to Asheville, potentially connecting to Salisbury by 2034, boosting local economy and tourism.
by Jane Winik Sartwell, Carolina Public Press June 10, 2025
Asheville’s train has come. Norfolk Southern, Western North Carolina’s primary rail carrier, resumed rail service from Tennessee into Asheville on May 20. Those trains are the first the mountains have seen since Tropical Storm Helene left tracks utterly destroyed last year.
Plus, plans for a passenger rail line to Asheville are back on the table.
The repair work on the region’s rail network is far from over. But industries which rely on rail as a cost-effective way to deliver huge amounts of heavy material by train are celebrating.
Think Baxter, the major IV bag manufacturer in McDowell County. Or the high-purity quartz miners in Mitchell County. Or Silverline Plastics in Buncombe County. Even Sierra Nevada Brewing in Henderson County.
During those eight months without rail service, those companies and many others faced significant supply chain disruptions.
“For companies that use rail, trucks are just not a viable alternative,” Ashley Swanger, director of industry services at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, told Carolina Public Press.
Hauling hope
Some hope that restored railroads will attract more major manufacturing companies to Western North Carolina — not simply restoring the level of industry that existed before the storm, but actually growing the economy.
“The railroad system is an incredibly important thing for businesses that are deciding where to locate,” said Jason Orthner, director of the rail division at the North Carolina Department of Transportation. “Rail is a funnel for both raw materials and finished products to move in and out of the region in a cost-competitive, high-volume way.”
Others are just comforted by hearing the sound of a train horn and the rumble of the tracks after eight months of silence.
Restoration on the major Norfolk Southern line — in addition to millions of dollars in state funding — has allowed short-line railroads like Blue Ridge Southern Railroad and the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, a major tourist draw, to resume service as well.
“It was a Herculean effort by these railroad companies to restore service,” Orthner said.
“We’re so excited to see these companies commit to rebuilding the system — so much of the economy in Western North Carolina relies on it.”
Norfolk Southern cautions that rail traffic will return at a higher level than residents are accustomed to, and warns people to be mindful around the tracks.
“In the aftermath of this storm, anything returning to normal makes me happy,” Swanger said. “Even if it causes traffic, or it’s a bit of a headache, it’s just nice to see things coming back.”
The work that remains
As it stands now, however, rail recovery is incomplete.
CSX, another major rail company, operates a rail line between Erwin, Tennessee and Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Flooding and landslides along the Nolichucky River ripped away railbeds and bridges. 60 miles of track remains unusable.
Before the storm, that corridor handled 14 million gross tons of freight per year. Service is not expected to resume until the fall, at a cost of $600 million.
Much work remains for Norfolk Southern as well.
Though the company restored track heading west, there is still no route for trains to run east out of Asheville, toward the state’s major cities and ports. Before the first train can take that route, Norfolk Southern will have to restore the Old Fort Loops, a 16-mile, mountain-climbing portion of track east of Asheville.
“There is track around Old Fort that’s literally just hanging in the air,” said Ray Rapp, who serves as chair of the Western North Carolina Rail Committee.
For a long time, Norfolk Southern played its cards close to its chest concerning the plan for the Old Fort Loops. The assessments dragged on.
It seemed possible that the damage was just too great to rebuild.
“This section of the line is very technical,” Heather Garcia, spokesperson for Norfolk Southern, told CPP.
“In addition to significant elevation changes, the washouts and topography changes in this area mean we are, in some places, having to rebuild the ground underneath the tracks.”
Norfolk Southern only recently announced its intention to rebuild that historic section of track, with an investment of $64 million. The company is in the process of hiring construction workers, and hopes to have it restored by winter.
Train story in Western NC enters new chapter
The planned restoration of the Old Fort Loops means that conversations around a much-anticipated project can resume: passenger rail service to the mountains.
The last passenger train left Asheville 50 years ago. Now it may return.
An Amtrak line connecting Asheville and Salisbury — which would run three round-trips per day — could be operational as soon as 2034.
“People like me, who travel to Raleigh on a fairly frequent basis, would love to have a rail option out of Asheville,” Rep. Eric Ager, D-Buncombe, told CPP.
“On the business side, it would be a real boon to tourism. Folks could just spend the day. The logistical challenges are difficult, and I’ve heard that it’s going to take quite a while — the storm certainly didn’t help — but I think people would love it. I think people would use it.”
NCDOT estimates the cost of restoring passenger rail along this 139-mile track at around $650 million. The state has secured a grant from the Federal Railroad Administration for the project.
It’s a major undertaking, but the economic boost train passengers could provide to the mountains is considerable.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
This article presents a straightforward, factual report on the restoration and future plans for rail service in Western North Carolina. It includes quotes from government officials, business representatives, and transportation experts, highlighting economic and community benefits without evident ideological framing. The language is neutral and focuses on infrastructure recovery, economic development, and practical challenges, avoiding partisan commentary or advocacy. Overall, it maintains a balanced tone, simply informing readers about ongoing projects and their potential impacts.
SUMMARY: North Carolina House Republicans propose a new elections bill requiring full Social Security numbers on voter registration forms and DMV sharing licensed drivers’ SSNs with the Board of Elections, sparking privacy and security concerns. Critics, including Rep. Pricey Harrison and voting rights advocates, warn it violates federal privacy laws and risks voter data breaches, while supporters argue it enhances voter identification and reduces duplicates. The bill also mandates photo ID for military and overseas voters, limits local voting rights for certain non-residents, bans ranked-choice voting, and modifies ballot counting timelines. Democracy Out Loud and others strongly oppose the bill, calling it harmful to voter rights.
The North Carolina Supreme Court granted Mission Hospital a temporary stay on a lower court decision awarding 67 acute care beds to AdventHealth for a planned 222-bed hospital in Weaverville. The stay pauses legal action pending further review, with no set decision deadline. Mission Hospital argues the region needs expanded beds at their facility for complex care, not at AdventHealth’s new hospital. AdventHealth contends the stay does not indicate the court’s stance and that the motion was unnecessary. The dispute centers on state Certificate of Need (CON) law and whether procedural errors prejudiced Mission. AdventHealth plans a state-of-the-art surgery suite.
The North Carolina Supreme Court has granted Mission Hospital’s request for a temporary stay of a lower court’s decision to grant 67 acute care beds to AdventHealth nearly three years ago.
The order, delivered without comment, came just two days after attorneys for Mission Hospital filed a motion seeking the temporary stay and arguing that a three-judge panel’s ruling in the state’s appellate court this June should remain up for debate. The motion, first reported by Asheville Watchdog, created further uncertainty about whether the region would see additional healthcare competition.
The 67 beds are part of Florida-based AdventHealth’s plans to build a 222-bed hospital in Weaverville that would serve Buncombe, Madison, Yancey, and Graham counties. The company had started grading work at a 30-plus acre site west of I-26.
The Supreme Court’s allowance of a stay halts legal action until further consideration can take place. There is currently no deadline for a Supreme Court decision.
“Mission Hospital accepts thousands of transfers each year from other hospitals that have available beds – including facilities currently seeking approval to expand – because patients need high-level medical care only available in Western North Carolina at our hospital,” Mission Health spokesperson Nancy Lindell said. “Not all acute care beds are the same. Instead of adding more beds at facilities that are unable to provide the complex medical and surgical care needed, the region would be better served by expanding bed capacity at Mission Hospital. We consider it a privilege to care for our region’s sickest patients but need more beds to do so.”
An aerial view photo shows the Weaverville site where AdventHealth is proposing to build a 222-bed hospital in the coming years. // Photo credit: AdventHealth
AdventHealth said the stay says nothing about what North Carolina’s highest court thinks about the case.
“It is important to note that this stay is not an indication of the court’s thinking,” AdventHealth spokesperson Victoria Dunkle said when asked for the system’s response to the judge’s order.
“This would be like ordering a combo meal at a drive-thru and then taking credit for securing the drink and fries in the deal – the drink and fries automatically come with the combo and everybody gets them,” she said. “In these situations, a stay is in place whenever a petition for discretionary review is filed. HCA/Mission filed an unnecessary motion to obtain a stay that was already in place.”
This complex legal battle for beds is being staged on the field of certificate of need (CON) law, a North Carolina requirement that medical facilities seek the state’s permission when they want to expand, add services, or buy expensive equipment.
AdventHealth won approval for beds in 2022
AdventHealth won approval for the 67 acute care beds in late 2022, but Mission disputed the decision, using the CON’s appeal process. In June, a three-court panel of the state’s appellate court ruled in AdventHealth’s favor, a ruling that some saw as the final decision in the case.
On July 23, Mission attorneys filed a motion with the North Carolina Supreme Court seeking the temporary stay and requesting the court consider two factors: “substantial prejudice” on the part of DHSR in rejecting Mission’s application and AdventHealth’s proposal for the beds not meeting NCDHHS policy requiring new hospitals have a general operating room.
Both NCDHHS and AdventHealth are defendants in the case.
Mission alleged substantial prejudice because “DHHS did not allow eight attendees to speak at a certain time at the public hearing because they were purported employees of Mission Memorial or employees of one its affiliated hospitals or entities,” according to a summary in the June 18 appellate court decision. The public hearing was held shortly after AdventHealth, Mission and Novant Health applied for the 67 beds.
“The partial answers that the Court of Appeals has given are contradictory and confusing,” Mission’s attorneys wrote in their July 23 motion, arguing the appellate court failed to precisely define the criteria for a finding of “substantial prejudice.”
The motion asked the court to decide whether NCDHHS had violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it changed its requirement on the general operating room and then to decide whether “this error substantially prejudiced Mission.”
According to AdventHealth’s current proposed plans, the Weaverville hospital would have “A state-of-the-art Surgery Suite for general and specialty.”
AdventHealth will file a response in the case, Dunkle told The Watchdog last Friday.
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Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Andrew R. Jones is a Watchdog investigative reporter. Email arjones@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The content primarily focuses on a legal and healthcare infrastructure issue involving hospital bed allocations and regulatory processes in North Carolina. It presents information factually from multiple perspectives, including Mission Hospital and AdventHealth statements, without evident favoring of political ideology or partisan language. The article discusses procedural and administrative details surrounding healthcare regulation and competition, which are generally nonpartisan topics, reflecting a neutral and balanced reporting style typical of centrist coverage.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-07-30 09:01:00
Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn introduced a bill banning the National Education Association (NEA) from influencing Congress, requiring annual certification of non-interference. Blackburn criticized the NEA for abandoning its mission to support teachers, accusing it of pushing a “far-left political agenda” involving “woke gender ideology, antisemitism, and propaganda.” Earlier, Blackburn and Rep. Mark Harris proposed revoking the NEA’s congressional charter, accusing the union of partisan activism. Their efforts are backed by groups like Moms for Liberty and Heritage Action, who condemn the NEA for prioritizing radical politics over parental rights and children’s education.
(The Center Square) – Tennessee Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn introduced her second bill this month targeting the nation’s largest teacher’s union.
Her latest bill would ban the National Education Association from influencing Congress. The association would be required to submit a certification every year proving that it has not tried to influence lawmakers, according to a news release from Blackburn.
“The National Education Association has abandoned its mission of supporting America’s teachers and students in the name of pushing its far-left political agenda,” Blackburn said. “The NEA has become nothing more than a radical-left activist group, and it has no business using its status as a congressionally chartered entity to push woke gender ideology, antisemitism, and propaganda on America’s students.”
U.S. Rep. Rev. Mark Harris, R-N.C.
Harris.House.gov
Earlier this month, Blackburn and U.S. Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., introduced a bill that would revoke the National Education Association’s charter.
“Congress established the NEA in 1906 to support America’s teachers and strengthen our schools, but it has abandoned that mission in favor of a radical agenda,” Harris said. “From branding President Trump a fascist to embracing divisive gender ideology and walking away from efforts to fight antisemitism, the NEA has become nothing more than a partisan advocacy group.”
The bill is supported by Moms for Liberty, Heritage Action, Young America’s Foundation and other groups, according to Harris and Blackburn.
“It’s incredibly sad that the nation’s largest teachers union has put woke politics before America’s children,” said Tina Descovich, CEO of Moms for Liberty. “The NEA’s embrace of radical left policies and antisemitism combined with their rejection of parental rights has forced moms and dads across America to condemn this organization.”
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Right-Leaning
The article presents a clear ideological perspective aligned with conservative viewpoints. It highlights criticism of the National Education Association (NEA) by Republican lawmakers using charged language such as “radical-left political agenda,” “woke gender ideology,” and “partisan advocacy group.” The inclusion of supportive statements from conservative organizations like Moms for Liberty and Heritage Action reinforces this stance. The framing focuses on portraying the NEA negatively for its political positions, rather than neutrally reporting on the legislative actions, indicating a right-leaning bias in tone and content.
