At the time, the southbound Carolinian had deadheaded 10 miles (16 km) south to the nearest wye in Pineville and turned around there.

In 1993, the cost of the wye plus land purchase was estimated at $200,000; by late 1994, this grew to $695,000, plus $1.5 million for a maintenance facility in Raleigh.

After delays in refurbishing the motive power and passenger cars, an additional Piedmont round trip began operating on June 5, 2010.

[10] On March 22, 2011, it was announced that an agreement between NCDOT, Amtrak, Norfolk Southern and the North Carolina Railroad had been reached that would allow for $461 million in grants from the federal government to be used in upgrading infrastructure.

The money would be used to add additional double track and passing sidings, as well as reducing curves, resulting in a 13-minute reduction in travel time.

The speed increase would be implemented after the installation of positive train control safety technology, and it would reduce travel time by another 12 to 15 minutes.

[14] Improvements include the new Raleigh Union Station, which had its "ribbon cutting" in late April 2018 and began accepting trains that July.

[2] On May 27, 2021, Amtrak released a long-range planning document for improved service in the Southeast Region that proposed additional Piedmont frequencies between Charlotte and Raleigh, as well as a potential expansion of two round trips south to Atlanta, Georgia along the route of the Crescent.

[23] Expanding the Piedmont route to Atlanta would create the first daylight service south of Charlotte in the Amtrak era.

NCDOT's current F59PHs were originally used by GO Transit of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and rebuilt by American Motive Power and Altoona Works.

Each regular coach is named after a state landmark or state symbol, including "Box Turtle", "Cardinal", "Carolina Lily", "Channel Bass", "Dogwood", "Emerald", "Fraser Fir", "Granite", "Gray Squirrel", "Honey Bee", "Long Leaf Pine", "Plott Hound", "Scotch Bonnet", and "Sweet Potato".

[20] All rolling stock has been painted in a blue and silver livery, with red accents, based on the North Carolina state flag.

In August 2019, the Federal Railroad Administration awarded NCDOT up to $76.9 million to purchase 13 new coaches, allowing the replacement of some older cars and an expansion to four daily round trips.

[30] By February 2020, nine former circus train cars purchased by NCDOT for $383,000 in 2017 for restoration and use on the Piedmont were stored in Spring Hope, North Carolina.

[34] In October 2024, NCDOT was awarded federal and matching grants for the purchase of 26 new cars of rolling stock and 6 new engines, which are expected to begin running on the Piedmont service sometime in the 2026 calendar year.

[35] In January 2025, NCDOT was awarded a $14 million federal grant for adding cafe car service to Piedmont trains.