RALEIGH -- First Lady Kristin Cooper joined state and local officials, as well as members of the community, to christen the #1871 “Town of Cary” commuter locomotive for use in North Carolina’s daily Piedmont passenger service. The event was held at the N.C. Department of Transportation Locomotive and Railcar Maintenance Facility in Raleigh.

“We are pleased to christen one of our newly rebuilt locomotives in honor of the Town of Cary and its long association with rail service in North Carolina,” said NCDOT Secretary Jim Trogdon. “Rail improvements like this are essential to providing a comprehensive transportation system to move people safely and efficiently.”

“The railroad is an important part of our town’s rich, long history,” Town of Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht said. “We are honored to have a locomotive bear the name of our town.  It will serve as a wonderful rolling testament to our community’s ongoing commitment to meaningful and cost effective transportation improvements that make life better for the citizens of Cary and North Carolina.”

NCDOT names its locomotives for the cities along the Raleigh to Charlotte passenger rail corridor. Each locomotive’s number corresponds to the incorporation or charter date of the city after which it is named. The #1871 “Town of Cary” is painted in the NCDOT Piedmont paint scheme, which incorporates the colors and symbols of North Carolina’s state flag. It began service last month.

The locomotive was originally built in 1990 for Toronto’s GoTransit system. As part of NCDOT’s Piedmont Improvement Program funded through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the locomotive was completely rebuilt mechanically and electrically. It also received numerous other upgrades, making it one of the safest and most cost effective passenger locomotives in the country.

All rebuild work was completed at the Norfolk Southern Juanita shops in Altoona, PA. The cost of purchasing and rebuilding the locomotive was $2.15 million, far less than the $6 million to $7 million cost of a comparable new passenger locomotive.

Through the PIP, NCDOT is investing more than $500 million in rail improvements between Raleigh and Charlotte. The program also paid for modernizations to the Cary Depot’s passenger information system and expanded the depot to accommodate increased ridership. In addition, a new railroad bridge was built over Morrisville Parkway to improve safety and reduce the potential for collisions between trains and vehicles. The Cary Depot is the fourth busiest station in the state, serving nearly 85,000 passengers in 2016, and is second in the nation on Amtrak’s Customer Service Survey.