History UsefulNotes / Amtrak

Amtrak, the UsefulNotes/{{trademark}} name of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, is the national railway of the United States. Privately-owned passenger trains in the US had always operated at a loss or barely covering costs[[note]]They were mostly intended as a loss leader to get [=CEOs=] to sign on to lucrative freight contracts and/or to make land of places served more lucrative[[/note]]. As car ownership and passenger flights exploded following UsefulNotes/WorldWarII,[[note]]In part due to massive government spending on the development of many advances in aviation for military purposes, the Interstate Highway System, and other measures that benefited road and air travel while railroads still paid taxes (sometimes even taxes specifically earmarked for road or air travel)[[/note]] many railroad companies were going out of business, in part because the government required them to provide passenger service. In 1969, the largest bankruptcy in history at that point was the Penn Central Railroad[[note]]A merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central, two major, competing and largely parallel East Coast railways, which arguably massively botched the merging process at a time when they could not afford to make any mistakes[[/note]], essentially bankrupted by money-losing passenger service, and it proceeded to get worse (more big railroads would go under) if something wasn't done.

* '''Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Railroad Station''', Wilmington, Delaware is a small but fairly active station for the size of its city, serving the busy Northeast Corridor as well as SEPTA commuter rail to Philly, but it's most notable for its connection to the current US President UsefulNotes/JoeBiden. When Biden was still a US Senator from Delaware, he rode the train to DC from his home in Wilmington (about an hour commute) the entire 36 years of his tenure, and he has long championed increased funding and support for Amtrak. In fact, he and Jill never even ''had'' a Washington residence until he became Vice President under UsefulNotes/BarackObama in 2009. And when Obama's term ended eight years later, the Bidens returned to Delaware via train, of course.[[note]]Biden's daily commute was also in part the result of [[IGaveMyWord a promise he made to his sons]] after a horrific car accident killed his daughter and first wife: he had promised to be home with them every evening, a promise he kept throughout their childhood.[[/note]] In honor of Biden's decades-long patronage and advocacy, Amtrak and the city of Wilmington named the local train station after him in 2011. He also rode the train during his 2020 presidential campaign and planned to ride it back to Washington for his inauguration, but security concerns in the wake of the January 6, 2021 siege on the Capitol Building (in protest of his confirmation as president-elect) precluded this.

In the most heavily populated region, the Northeast, the rail system is extensive enough to rival those of Europe and includes a high-speed line. Everywhere else, it's generally slower than rail travel seventy years ago; this isn't for any technological reason, but rather largely one of power and scheduling (i.e.: the freight railroads own most of the track, and often give their trains priority over Amtrak in scheduling; this results in a lot of delays outside major rail hubs like UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, as an Amtrak train may have to wait as much as an hour to let one or two or more freight trains pass before pulling into the station) and to some degree infrastructure (a lot of track could use some upgrades and much of it is single-track, which slows down times, and the bulk of Amtrak's equipment dates back to the 1970s-1990s, an issue that is only now being rectified with new locomotives and cars thanks to a stimulus package during the Great Recession). However, UsefulNotes/HighSpeedRail - or at least the cheap American knock off version of it - is set to be extended to other regions in the next decade (the "Chicago Hub" region--which extends from UsefulNotes/{{Cleveland}} and UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} to UsefulNotes/KansasCity east-west and [[UsefulNotes/TwinCities Minneapolis]] to Louisville north-south--has seen particularly extensive improvements to Amtrak in preparation for it). But if media depict a passenger train in the contemporary US, it will most likely be an Amtrak train. In particular, it will likely be either a ''Pacific Surfliner''[[note]]Going from San Diego to San Luis Obispo via LA[[/note]] or a ''Northeast Corridor'' train[[note]]Particularly the Acela Express, which only has first and business class (no coach) and is one of the most expensive trains in the world - but it actually makes an "above the rails" profit[[/note]], [[CaliforniaDoubling even if the setting is]] [[JustTrainWrong somewhere completely]] [[FlyoverCountry different.]]

* '''Penn Station''', UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity is the busiest train station in the Western Hemisphere[[note]]Though not the largest. Grand Central Terminal is the largest station in the ''world'' but it's served entirely by local rails[[/note]]. The original station was a beaux-arts masterpiece that was controversially demolished in 1964 to build the new Madison Square Garden, and the station was entirely underground for almost 60 years. In 2021, Penn Station expanded into the James Farley Post Office after decades of DevelopmentHell. This annex has been renamed Moynihan Train Hall in honor of the late U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who created the idea of rebuilding the historic Penn Station.

* The ''Coast Starlight'' goes from Los Angeles to UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}}. Well known for its beautiful scenery. It used to be so notorious for the aforementioned delays due to freight trains that it was nicknamed the "Coast Starlate."

* The ''Texas Eagle'' is one of Amtrak's thirteen long-distance routes. Of the seven trains that run from Chicago a week, four terminate in San Antonio, while the remaining three go all the way to Los Angeles. This Chicago-Los Angeles route is notable for being the longest Amtrak route in the system - the current timetable has it as 2728 miles, and the route's page on Amtrak's website tallies the recommended time for the train at over 65 hours. For contrast, the other Chicago-Los Angeles route, the ''Southwest Chief'', takes over 40 hours to cover 2265 miles.

* Finally, there are five other long-distance trains that do not stop in Chicago. In addition to the aforementioned ''Coast Starlight'' on the west coast, there is the ''Crescent'', which starts in New York and takes a southern route through Charlotte and UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}} to reach UsefulNotes/NewOrleans; the ''Sunset Limited'', which runs on the same days as the ''Texas Eagle'' from New Orleans to Los Angeles;[[note]]Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the ''Sunset Limited'' ran all the way to Orlando, and there are plans as of 2017 to reactivate this route for passenger service, but despite a bipartisan consensus across several affected states, the behavior of CSX (who owns the tracks) and budget woes mean it's stuck in DevelopmentHell for the time being[[/note]] and the ''Silver Star'' and ''Silver Meteor'', both of which run from New York to UsefulNotes/{{Miami}} via slightly different routes south of Richmond.[[note]]To be specific, between Selma, UsefulNotes/NorthCarolina and Savannah, UsefulNotes/{{Georgia}}, the ''Silver Star'' travels inland to serve the Carolinas' state capitals of Raleigh and Columbia, while the ''Silver Meteor'' stays closer to the coast and services Fayetteville, North Carolina and Charleston, UsefulNotes/SouthCarolina, a routing that is also utilized by the ''Palmetto''. In addition, in Florida, the ''Silver Star'' makes a detour west to serve the cities of Lakeland and Tampa, while the ''Silver Meteor'' travels directly between Kissimmee and Winter Haven.[[/note]]

* Amtrak is only active in the 48 contiguous states, with some routes extending north to [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver]]. UsefulNotes/{{Alaska}} has its own railroad company, the Alaska Railroad, which provides both freight and passenger service. Hawaii is obviously better reached by plane and boat, though Honolulu is in the process of building its own light rail service. Of the Lower 48, the only states not served by Amtrak in any capacity are UsefulNotes/SouthDakota and UsefulNotes/{{Wyoming}}. President Biden's plans for expanding Amtrak service would include a link to Cheyenne, Wyoming, but no such luck for South Dakota.

Amtrak, the UsefulNotes/{{trademark}} name of The National Passenger Railway Corporation, is the national railway of the United States. Privately-owned passenger trains in the US had always operated at a loss or barely covering costs[[note]]They were mostly intended as a loss leader to get [=CEOs=] to sign on to lucrative freight contracts and/or to make land of places served more lucrative[[/note]]. As car ownership and passenger flights exploded following UsefulNotes/WorldWarII,[[note]]In part due to massive government spending on the development of many advances in aviation for military purposes, the Interstate Highway System, and other measures that benefited road and air travel while railroads still paid taxes (sometimes even taxes specifically earmarked for road or air travel)[[/note]] many railroad companies were going out of business, in part because the government required them to provide passenger service. In 1969, the largest bankruptcy in history at that point was the Penn Central Railroad[[note]]A merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central, two major, competing and largely parallel East Coast railways, which arguably massively botched the merging process at a time when they could not afford to make any mistakes[[/note]], essentially bankrupted by money-losing passenger service, and it proceeded to get worse (more big railroads would go under) if something wasn't done.

* While UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco is often cited for its lack of intercity rail service, the truth is that you ''can'' take a BART train or bus to Oakland and Emeryville right across the bay, or take Caltrain down to San Jose, so the Bay Area isn't completely without an Amtrak connection.[[note]]The Bay Area is also served by stations at Fairfield, Martinez, Richmond, Emeryville, the Oakland Coliseum, Fremont, Santa Clara, and San Jose.[[/note]] Major cities with no direct Amtrak service to speak of include [[UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}} Phoenix]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}} Columbus]], UsefulNotes/LasVegas,[[note]]as surprising as that may sound given its status as a tourist hub, although the city used to be serviced by the ''Desert Wind'' before it was discontinued in 1997[[/note]] UsefulNotes/{{Nashville}}, Louisville, and [[UsefulNotes/OklahomaUSA Tulsa]].

* While UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco is often cited for its lack of intercity rail service, the truth is that you ''can'' take a BART train or bus to Oakland and Emeryville right across the bay, or take Caltrain down to San Jose, so the Bay Area isn't completely without an Amtrak connection.[[note]]The Bay Area is also served by stations at Fairfield, Martinez, Richmond, Emeryville, the Oakland Coliseum, Fremont, Santa Clara, and San Jose.[[/note]] Major cities with no direct Amtrak service to speak of include [[UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}} Phoenix]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}} Columbus]], UsefulNotes/LasVegas (as surprising as that may sound given its status as a tourist hub, although the city used to be serviced by the ''Desert Wind'' before it was discontinued in 1997), UsefulNotes/{{Nashville}}, Louisville, and [[UsefulNotes/OklahomaUSA Tulsa]].

* '''Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Railroad Station''', Wilmington, Delaware is a small but fairly active station for the size of its city, serving the busy Northeast Corridor as well as SEPTA commuter rail to Philly, but it's most notable for its connection to the current US President UsefulNotes/JoeBiden. When Biden was still a US Senator from Delaware, he rode the train to DC from his home in Wilmington (about an hour commute) the entire 36 years of his tenure, and he has long championed increased funding and support for Amtrak. In fact, he and wife Jill never even ''had'' a Washington residence until he became Vice President under UsefulNotes/BarackObama in 2009. And when Obama's term ended eight years later, the Bidens returned to Delaware via train, of course.[[note]]Biden's daily commute was also in part the result of [[IGaveMyWord a promise he made to his sons]] after a horrific car accident killed his daughter and first wife: he had promised to be home with them every evening, a promise he kept throughout their childhood.[[/note]] In honor of Biden's decades-long patronage and advocacy, Amtrak and the city of Wilmington named the local train station after him in 2011. He also rode the train during his 2020 presidential campaign and planned to ride it back to Washington for his inauguration, but security concerns in the wake of the January 6, 2021 siege on the Capitol Building (in protest of his confirmation as president-elect) precluded this.

So Congress passed a law ending this requirement and replacing it with a skeletal network that became Amtrak. It began service in May of 1971. UsefulNotes/RichardNixon intended Amtrak as a "Last Hurrah" that would [[SpringtimeForHitler demonstrate once and for all]] that Americans didn't want or need passenger trains and thus allowing his administration to quietly shut the system down after a few years. Nixon's plan failed. Though ridership has rebounded enormously since then, the network is run on a [[NoBudget very small budget]], so certain priorities have to be set. It doesn't help that it is continually subject to ExecutiveMeddling from Congress, making silly mandates such as requiring Amtrak to carry guns in checked baggage (without providing any funds for lockable cabinets for said guns[[note]]Most guns have a value of ''at least'' several hundred dollars, with many being worth thousands. No sane gun owner wants their valuable weapon to be outside their home in an ''unlocked'' cabinet were literally anyone could walk up and steal it.[[/note]]), as well as threats to cut off funding for onboard food service. Then, of course, are the continual demands that Amtrak somehow pay for itself, despite no other non high speed passenger rail system in the world making a profit, and despite massive federal funding for competing highways[[note]]As of its 40th anniversary in 2011, it had received less funding in its entire existence than the Interstate received ''annually''[[/note]] and airports. Things got a bit better during the Vice-Presidency of RailEnthusiast UsefulNotes/JoeBiden, while the increasing costs and [[OverreactingAirportSecurity general unpleasantness]] of air travel, the growing awareness of flying's environmental impacts, plus highways becoming increasingly congested and in some cases, rather boring to drive (especially through flat, practically featureless farmland) resulted in Amtrak ridership numbers topping 30 million for five straight years (FY 2011-2015) breaking ridership records several times along the way. Amtrak is also famous for making GOP senators who cry for the abandonment of all rail travel shriek in horror if a closure of a line through ''their'' state is proposed. Amtrak does bring vital tourist dollars to rural areas of FlyOverCountry (for the precise reason that [[CaptainObvious a train does not fly over said country]]) and pretty much every politician knows and acknowledges this, the only question is whether the funding for Amtrak is worth that. The answer depends highly on whose district the line runs through. The current Amtrak system map has about as much to do with politics as it does with transportation or the behavior of host railroads.

In the most heavily populated region, the Northeast, the rail system is extensive enough to rival those of Europe and includes a high-speed line. Everywhere else, it's generally slower than rail travel seventy years ago; this isn't for any technological reason, but rather largely one of power and scheduling (i.e.: the freight railroads own most of the track, and often give their trains priority over Amtrak in scheduling; this results in a lot of delays outside major rail hubs like Chicago, as an Amtrak train may have to wait as much as an hour to let one or two or more freight trains pass before pulling into the station) and to some degree infrastructure (a lot of track could use some upgrades and much of it is single-track, which slows down times, and the bulk of Amtrak's equipment dates back to the 1970s-1990s, an issue that is only now being rectified with new locomotives and cars thanks to a stimulus package during the Great Recession). However, UsefulNotes/HighSpeedRail - or at least the cheap American knock off version of it - is set to be extended to other regions in the next decade (the "[[UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} Chicago Hub]]" region--which extends from Cleveland and Detroit to Kansas City east-west and Minneapolis to Louisville north-south--has seen particularly extensive improvements to Amtrak in preparation for it). But if media depict a passenger train in the contemporary US, it will most likely be an Amtrak train. In particular, it will likely be either a ''Pacific Surfliner''[[note]]Going from San Diego to San Luis Obispo via LA[[/note]] or a ''Northeast Corridor'' train[[note]]Particularly the Acela Express, which only has first and business class (no coach) and is one of the most expensive trains in the world - but it actually makes an "above the rails" profit[[/note]], [[CaliforniaDoubling even if the setting is]] [[JustTrainWrong somewhere completely]] [[FlyoverCountry different.]]

* The Empire Corridor in New York State; the ''Empire Service'' travels between New York and Albany-Rensselaer or Niagara Falls. One train a day, labeled the ''Maple Leaf'', extends across the border to UsefulNotes/{{Toronto}}, UsefulNotes/{{Canada}}, with two hours built into the schedule for customs and immigration inspections. The scenic ''Adirondack'' travels from New York to UsefulNotes/{{Montreal}}, also crossing the U.S.-Canadian border, while the ''Ethan Allen Express'' travels from New York to Rutland, Vermont. The ''Lake Shore Limited'', one of two long distance trains that goes from New York to Chicago, has the New York branch start on the Empire Corridor until it joins the Boston branch at Albany-Rensselaer, at which point it follows the ''Empire Service'' and ''Maple Leaf'' route until the Buffalo suburb of Depew, at which point it splits to go towards Chicago.

* The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is the busiest line in the West, from San Diego to [[Film/{{Sideways}} San Luis Obispo]] by way of Los Angeles, and [[ShamelessSelfPromotion yes, tourists]], quite a lot of it runs right along the beach. Especially popular with military personnel, college students, and weekend vacationers. This is also one of the few Amtrak trains where it is not required to reserve seats in advance.

* The ''Coast Starlight'' goes from Los Angeles to Seattle. Well known for its beautiful scenery. It used to be so notorious for the aforementioned delays due to freight trains that it was nicknamed the "Coast Starlate."

* The ''Auto Train'' from Lorton, Virginia (just outside Washington, DC) to Sanford, Florida (outside Orlando). It is unique in North America in that the passengers' automobiles are loaded onto special freight cars and are unloaded at their destination. It's so incredibly popular among senior citizens living in Florida for the winter that the Amtrak senior discount, despite being honored even on the premium ''Acela Express'', is invalid on the ''Auto Train''. It holds a few OverlyNarrowSuperlative type records, among them being the longest "passenger" train (if you count the parts that carry only cars) and the longest train route between two stops [[note]]While the train does make a refueling stop in Florence, South Carolina, you cannot board or alight there, except to have a smoke[[/note]] in the world. Also very close to making a profit, but not quite there yet. The Auto Train is the SpiritualSuccessor to a train of the same name run by a private company until 1981 when that company went bankrupt due to their other route (Louisville-Sanford) being a failure. Plans by Amtrak to offer a similar service on other routes are currently stuck in DevelopmentHell, partly because of the budget woes mentioned above.

* Finally, there are five other long-distance trains that do not stop in Chicago. In addition to the aforementioned ''Coast Starlight'' on the west coast, there is the ''Crescent'', which starts in New York and takes a southern route through Charlotte and Atlanta to reach New Orleans; the ''Sunset Limited'', which runs on the same days as the ''Texas Eagle'' from New Orleans to Los Angeles;[[note]]Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the ''Sunset Limited'' ran all the way to Orlando, and there are plans as of 2017 to reactivate this route for passenger service, but despite a bipartisan consensus across several affected states, the behavior of CSX (who owns the tracks) and budget woes mean it's stuck in DevelopmentHell for the time being[[/note]] and the ''Silver Star'' and ''Silver Meteor'', both of which run from New York to Miami via slightly different routes south of Richmond.[[note]]To be specific, between Selma, North Carolina and Savannah, Georgia, the ''Silver Star'' travels inland to serve the Carolinas' state capitals of Raleigh and Columbia, while the ''Silver Meteor'' stays closer to the coast and services Fayetteville, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina, a routing that is also utilized by the ''Palmetto''. In addition, in Florida, the ''Silver Star'' makes a detour west to serve the cities of Lakeland and Tampa, while the ''Silver Meteor'' travels directly between Kissimmee and Winter Haven.[[/note]]

* Amtrak is only active in the 48 contiguous states, with some routes extending north to [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver]]. Alaska has its own railroad company, the Alaska Railroad, which provides both freight and passenger service. Hawaii is obviously better reached by plane and boat, though Honolulu is in the process of building its own light rail service. Of the Lower 48, the only states not served by Amtrak in any capacity are South Dakota and Wyoming. President Biden's plans for expanding Amtrak service would include a link to Cheyenne, Wyoming, but no such luck for South Dakota.
* While San Francisco is often cited for its lack of intercity rail service, the truth is that you ''can'' take a BART train or bus to Oakland and Emeryville right across the bay, or take Caltrain down to San Jose, so the Bay Area isn't completely without an Amtrak connection.[[note]]The Bay Area is also served by stations at Fairfield, Martinez, Richmond, Emeryville, the Oakland Coliseum, Fremont, Santa Clara, and San Jose.[[/note]] Major cities with no direct Amtrak service to speak of include Phoenix, [[UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}} Columbus]], UsefulNotes/LasVegas (as surprising as that may sound given its status as a tourist hub, although the city used to be serviced by the ''Desert Wind'' before it was discontinued in 1997), Nashville, Louisville, and Tulsa.

* Amtrak is only active in the 48 contiguous states, with some routes extending north to [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver]]. Alaska has its own railroad company, the Alaska Railroad, which provides both freight and passenger service. Hawaii is obviously better reached by plane and boat, though Honolulu is in the process of building light rail service. Of the Lower 48, the only states not served by Amtrak in any capacity are South Dakota and Wyoming. President Biden's plans for expanding Amtrak service would include a link to Cheyenne, Wyoming, but no such luck for South Dakota.

* Amtrak is only active in the 48 contiguous states, with some routes extending north to [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver]]. Alaska has its own railroad company, the Alaska Railroad, which provides both freight and passenger service, while Hawaii is obviously better reached by plane and boat, though Honolulu will be gaining its own [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honolulu_Rail_Transit Urban Rail]] after decades of DevelopmentHell[[note]]Republican Neal Blaisdell who had [[https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/21305380.Neal_Shaw_Blaisdell this]] to say about motorcars was an early proponent of such a system in ''1966''[[/note]]. Of the Lower 48, the only states not served by Amtrak in any capacity are South Dakota and Wyoming. President Biden's plans for expanding Amtrak service would include a link to Cheyenne, Wyoming, but no such luck for South Dakota.
* While San Francisco is often cited for its lack of intercity rail service, the truth is that you ''can'' take a BART train or bus to Oakland and Emeryville right across the bay, or take Caltrain down to San Jose, so the Bay Area isn't completely without an Amtrak connection. The Bay Area is also served by stations at Fairfield, Martinez, Richmond, Emeryville, the Oakland Coliseum, Fremont, Santa Clara, and San Jose. Major cities with no direct Amtrak service to speak of include Phoenix, [[UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}} Columbus]], UsefulNotes/LasVegas (as surprising as that may sound given its status as a tourist hub, although the city used to be serviced by the ''Desert Wind'' before it was discontinued in 1997), Nashville, Louisville, and Tulsa.

* The ''Capitol Corridor'' is Northern California's answer to the Pacific Surfliner, running from San Jose to Auburn (and soon to Reno) by way of Oakland and Sacramento. Amtrak notably does not reach San Francisco. The previous train station in Oakland was damaged by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and has been out of use ever since. Passengers wanting to reach San Francisco board a Thruway bus in Emeryville across the bay. The Richmond and Oakland Coliseum stations also have connections to [[UsefulNotes/BayAreaRapidTransit BART]] and the San Jose Diridon station has connections to Caltrain and VTA light rail to reach other Bay Area destinations. However, the California High Speed Rail project includes a new station for San Francisco and construction is already underway. Popular with state officials.

* While San Francisco is often cited for its lack of intercity rail service, the truth is that you ''can'' take a train or bus to Oakland and Emeryville right across the bay, so the Bay Area isn't completely without an Amtrak connection. The Bay Area is also served by stations at Fairfield, Martinez, Richmond, Emeryville, the Oakland Coliseum, Fremont, Santa Clara, and San Jose. Major cities with no direct Amtrak service to speak of include Phoenix, [[UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}} Columbus]], UsefulNotes/LasVegas (as surprising as that may sound given its status as a tourist hub, although the city used to be serviced by the ''Desert Wind'' before it was discontinued in 1997), Nashville, Louisville, and Tulsa.

Amtrak, the UsefulNotes/{{trademark}} name of The National Passenger Railway Corporation, is the national railway of the United States. Privately-owned passenger trains in the US had always operated at a loss or barely covering costs[[note]]They were mostly intended as a loss leader to get [=CEOs=] to sign on to lucrative freight contracts and/or to make land of places served more lucrative[[/note]]. As car ownership and passenger flights exploded following UsefulNotes/WorldWarII,[[note]]In part due to massive government spending on the development of many advances in aviation for military purposes, the Interstate Highway System, and other measures that benefited road and air travel while railroads still paid taxes (sometimes even taxes specifically earmarked for road or air travel)[[/note]] many railroad companies were going out of business, in part because the government required them to provide passenger service. In 1969, the largest bankruptcy in history at that point was the Penn Central Railroad[[note]]A merger of two major, competing and largely parallel East Coast railways, which arguably massively botched the merging process at a time when they could not afford to make any mistakes[[/note]], essentially bankrupted by money-losing passenger service, and it proceeded to get worse (more big railroads would go under) if something wasn't done.

In the most heavily populated region, the Northeast, the rail system is extensive enough to rival those of Europe and includes a high-speed line. Everywhere else, it's generally slower than rail travel seventy years ago; this isn't for any technological reason, but rather largely one of power and scheduling (i.e.: the freight companies own most of the track, and often give their trains priority over Amtrak in scheduling; this results in a lot of delays outside major rail hubs like Chicago, as an Amtrak train may have to wait as much as an hour to let one or two or more freight trains pass before pulling into the station) and to some degree infrastructure (a lot of track could use some upgrades and much of it is single-track, which slows down times, and the bulk of Amtrak's equipment dates back to the 1970s-1990s, an issue that is only now being rectified with new locomotives and cars thanks to a stimulus package during the Great Recession). However, UsefulNotes/HighSpeedRail - or at least the cheap American knock off version of it - is set to be extended to other regions in the next decade (the "[[UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} Chicago Hub]]" region--which extends from Cleveland and Detroit to Kansas City east-west and Minneapolis to Louisville north-south--has seen particularly extensive improvements to Amtrak in preparation for it). But if media depict a passenger train in the contemporary US, it will most likely be an Amtrak train. In particular, it will likely be either a ''Pacific Surfliner''[[note]]Going from San Diego to San Luis Obispo via LA[[/note]] or a ''Northeast Corridor'' train[[note]]Particularly the Acela Express, which only has first and business class (no coach) and is one of the most expensive trains in the world - but it actually makes an "above the rails" profit[[/note]], [[CaliforniaDoubling even if the setting is]] [[JustTrainWrong somewhere completely]] [[FlyoverCountry different.]]

* The Northeast Corridor extends from UsefulNotes/{{Boston}} to UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC, serving several major cities in the northeastern region. It’s the only fully electrified Amtrak line, and thus one can instantly tell if a picture is from the Northeast Corridor by the presence of the overhead wires. The primary service on the corridor is the ''Northeast Regional'', running from either Boston, Springfield or New York to either Washington, DC, Richmond, Newport News or Roanoke. Due to the region's high population density, it is one of the few Amtrak lines that turns a profit; it and the Acela Express together generate more than half of the entire system's revenue. The route uses mostly electric equipment[[note]] except for the Virginia section of the route from Washington DC to Newport News or Lynchburg, and on the branch line from New Haven to Springfield, which are diesel-powered[[/note]]. Note that some trains that begin in Springfield require one to transfer to a train coming from Boston at New Haven to head towards points further south.

* Finally, there are five other long-distance trains that do not stop in Chicago. In addition to the aforementioned ''Coast Starlight'' on the west coast, there is the ''Crescent'', which starts in New York and takes a southern route through Atlanta to reach New Orleans; the ''Sunset Limited'', which runs on the same days as the ''Texas Eagle'' from New Orleans to Los Angeles;[[note]]Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the Sunset Limited ran all the way to the Atlantic Coast of Florida and there are plans as of 2017 to reactivate this route for passenger service, but despite a bipartisan consensus across several affected states, the behavior of CSX (who owns the tracks) and budget woes mean it's stuck in DevelopmentHell for the time being[[/note]] and the ''Silver Star'' and ''Silver Meteor'', both of which run from New York to Miami via slightly different routes south of Richmond.[[note]]To be specific, between Selma, North Carolina and Savannah, Georgia, the ''Silver Star'' travels inland to serve the Carolinas' state capitals of Raleigh and Columbia, while the ''Silver Meteor'' stays closer to the coast and services Fayetteville, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina, a routing that is also utilized by the ''Palmetto''. In addition, in Florida, the ''Silver Star'' makes a detour west to serve the cities of Lakeland and Tampa, while the ''Silver Meteor'' travels directly between Kissimmee and Winter Haven.[[/note]]

* While San Francisco is often cited for its lack of intercity rail service, the truth is that you ''can'' take a train or bus to Oakland and Emeryville right across the bay, so the Bay Area isn't completely without an Amtrak connection. The Bay Area is also served by stations at Fairfield, Martinez, Richmond, Emeryville, the Oakland Coliseum, Fremont, Santa Clara, and San Jose. Major cities with no direct Amtrak service to speak of include Phoenix, [[UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}} Columbus]], UsefulNotes/LasVegas (as surprising as that may sound given its status as a tourist hub), Nashville, Louisville, and Tulsa.

* The ''Auto Train'' from Lorton, Virginia (just outside Washington, DC) to Sanford, Florida (outside Orlando). It is unique in North America in that the passengers' automobiles are loaded onto special freight cars and are unloaded at their destination. It's so incredibly popular among senior citizens living in Florida for the winter that the Amtrak senior discount, despite being honored even on the premium ''Acela Express'', is invalid on the ''Auto Train''. It holds a few OverlyNarrowSuperlative type records, among them being the longest "passenger" train (if you count the parts that carry only cars) and the longest train route between two stops [[note]] While the train does make a refueling stop, you cannot board or alight there, except to have a smoke[[/note]] in the world. Also very close to making a profit, but not quite there yet. The Auto Train is the SpiritualSuccessor to a train of the same name run by a private company until 1981 when that company went bankrupt due to their other route (Louisville-Sanford) being a failure. Plans by Amtrak to offer a similar service on other routes are currently stuck in DevelopmentHell, partly because of the budget woes mentioned above.

* '''Union Station''', UsefulNotes/LosAngeles is the sixth-busiest station (#5 is South Station, UsefulNotes/{{Boston}} if you're keeping count) and something of an oddball. It's designed to look like a [[UsefulNotes/{{Spain}} giant mission-style church]] complete with gardens, the tracks and platforms are elevated, and it's been in a state of constant expansion since 1989. It was a major hub for [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood Golden Age movie stars]] and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII troops bound for the Pacific]] before the advent of passenger air travel, and you've seen it many times if you watched ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]].'' It was one of the last grand "Union Statons" to be built in the US towards the tail end of the "golden age" of rail travel in the country and is one planned terminus for the new California High Speed Rail system to enter service some time in the late 2020s (the other is a yet to be constructed station in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco).

* Finally, there are five other long-distance trains that do not stop in Chicago. In addition to the aforementioned ''Coast Starlight'' on the west coast, there is the ''Crescent'', which starts in New York and takes a southern route through Atlanta to reach New Orleans; the ''Sunset Limited'', which runs on the same days as the ''Texas Eagle'' from New Orleans to Los Angeles;[[note]]Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the Sunset Limited ran all the way to the Atlantic Coast of Florida and there are plans as of 2017 to reactivate this route for passenger service, but despite a bipartisan consensus across several affected states, the behavior of CSX (who owns the tracks) and budget woes mean it's stuck in DevelopmentHell for the time being[[/note]] and the ''Silver Star'' and ''Silver Meteor'', both of which run from New York to Miami via slightly different routes after Washington.

* The ''Keystone Service'' from New York to Harrisburg via Philadelphia. There's also one train per day that goes beyond Harrisburg to UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}, which is labeled the ''Pennsylvanian''. The section between Philadelphia and Harrisburg (known as the Keystone Corridor) is Amtrak's only electrified corridor outside of the Northeast Corridor, though as with most service, electrification ends at Harrisburg. This route, particularly the ''Pennsylvanian'', is also popular with the state's large UsefulNotes/{{Amish}} population, as they don't drive and generally find rail travel more [[https://amishamerica.com/how-do-amish-travel/ culturally agreeable]] than flying. Once they reach Pittsburgh they're able to take the ''Capitol Limited'' into Ohio and points further west.

* '''30th Street Station''', UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} is the third busiest station in the Amtrak system, as it is on the Northeast Corridor and the connection point for every train into the interior of Pennsylvania. This station, built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in the early 1900s, also has connections to [[UsefulNotes/PhiladelphiaSubways Philly's vast network of subways, streetcars, and commuter rails]], and UsefulNotes/NewJerseyTransit to Atlantic City. Despite all of this, no Amtrak trains terminate here except two early-morning ''Keystone Service'' trains that only run from Philadelphia to Harrisburg; all other Amtrak trains are through services.

* The Chicago Hub services include long-distance trains (''California Zephyr'' to Emeryville, ''Capitol Limited'' to Washington DC, ''Southwest Chief'' to Los Angeles, ''Texas Eagle'' to San Antonio or Los Angeles depending on the day of the week, ''Lake Shore Limited'' to New York or Boston, ''Cardinal'' to New York, ''Empire Builder'' to Seattle-Portland, and ''City of New Orleans'' to guess where) as well as shorter corridor services to Milwaukee, Detroit-Pontiac-Flint, Grand Rapids, and St. Louis that are all being upgraded to higher speeds; for instance, the Chicago-Milwaukee ''Hiawatha'' covers the 86 miles in 89 minutes, including three intermediate stops and slow running in city centers.

* The ''Capitol Corridor'' is Northern California's answer to the Pacific Surfliner, running from San Jose to Auburn (and soon to Reno) by way of Oakland and Sacramento. Amtrak notably does not reach San Francisco. The previous train station in Oakland was damaged by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and has been out of use ever since. Passengers wanting to reach San Francisco can either board a Thruway bus in Emeryville across the bay. The Richmond and Oakland Coliseum stations also have connections to [[UsefulNotes/BayAreaRapidTransit BART]] and the San Jose Diridon station has connections to Caltrain and VTA light rail to reach other Bay Area destinations. However, the California High Speed Rail project includes a new station for San Francisco and construction is already underway. Popular with state officials.

* While San Francisco is often cited for its lack of intercity rail service, the truth is that you ''can'' take a train to Oakland right across the bay, so the Bay Area isn't completely without an Amtrak connection. The Bay Area is also served by stations at Fairfield, Martinez, Richmond, Emeryville, the Oakland Coliseum, Fremont, Santa Clara, and San Jose. Major cities with no direct Amtrak service to speak of include Phoenix, [[UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}} Columbus]], UsefulNotes/LasVegas (as surprising as that may sound given its status as a tourist hub), Nashville, Louisville, and Tulsa.

* While San Francisco is often cited for its lack of intercity rail service, the truth is that you ''can'' take a train to Oakland right across the bay, so the Bay Area isn't completely without an Amtrak connection. The Bay Area is also served by stations at Martinez, Richmond, Emeryville, the Oakland Coliseum, Fremont, and San Jose. Major cities with no direct Amtrak service to speak of include Phoenix, [[UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}} Columbus]], UsefulNotes/LasVegas (as surprising as that may sound given its status as a tourist hub), Nashville, Louisville, and Tulsa.

So Congress passed a law ending this requirement and replacing it with a skeletal network that became Amtrak. It began service in May of 1971. UsefulNotes/RichardNixon intended Amtrak as a "Last Hurrah" that would [[SpringtimeForHitler demonstrate once and for all]] that Americans didn't want or need passenger trains and thus allowing his administration to quietly shut the system down after a few years. Nixon's plan failed. Though ridership has rebounded enormously since then, the network is run on a [[NoBudget very small budget]], so certain priorities have to be set. It doesn't help that it is continually subject to ExecutiveMeddling from Congress, making silly mandates such as requiring Amtrak to carry guns in checked baggage (without providing any funds for lockable cabinets for said guns[[note]]Most guns have a value of ''at least'' several hundred dollars, with many being worth thousands. No sane gun owner wants their valuable weapon to be outside their home in an ''unlocked'' cabinet were literally anyone could walk up and steal it.[[/note]]), as well as threats to cut off funding for onboard food service. Then, of course, are the continual demands that Amtrak somehow pay for itself, despite no other non high speed passenger rail system in the world making a profit, and despite massive federal funding for competing highways[[note]]As of its 40th anniversary in 2011, it had received less funding in its entire existence than the Interstate received ''annually''[[/note]] and airports. Things got a bit better during the Vice-Presidency of RailEnthusiast UsefulNotes/JoeBiden, while the increasing costs and [[OverreactingAirportSecurity general unpleasantness]] of air travel, the growing awareness of flying's environmental impacts, plus highways becoming increasingly congested and in some cases, rather boring to drive (especially through flat, practically featureless farmland) resulted in Amtrak ridership numbers topping 30 million for five straight years (FY 2011-2015)breaking ridership records several times along the way. Amtrak is also famous for making GOP senators who cry for the abandonment of all rail travel shriek in horror if a closure of a line through ''their'' state is proposed. Amtrak does bring vital tourist dollars to rural areas of FlyOverCountry (for the precise reason that [[CaptainObvious a train does not fly over said country]]) and pretty much every politician knows and acknowledges this, the only question is whether the funding for Amtrak is worth that. The answer depends highly on whose district the line runs through. The current Amtrak system map has about as much to do with politics as it does with transportation or the behavior of host railroads.