Amtrak: Difference between revisions

Amtrak is required by law to operate a national route system.<ref>''Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1997.'' 105th Cong., Senate Report 105-85 (September 24, 1997).</ref> Amtrak has presence in 46 of the 48 contiguous states, as well as the District of Columbia (with only thruway connecting services in [[Wyoming]] and no services in [[South Dakota]]). Amtrak services fall into three groups: short-haul service on the Northeast Corridor, state-supported short-haul service outside the Northeast Corridor, and medium- and long-haul service known within Amtrak as the National Network. Amtrak receives federal funding for the vast majority of its operations including the central spine of the Northeast Corridor as well as for its National Network routes. In addition to the federally funded routes, Amtrak partners with transportation agencies in 18 states to operate other short and medium-haul routes outside of the Northeast Corridor, some of which connect to it or are extensions from it. In addition to its inter-city services, Amtrak also operates commuter services under contract for three public agencies: the [[MARC Train|MARC]] [[Penn Line]] in Maryland, [[Shore Line East]] in Connecticut,<ref>{{cite web |title=Shore Line East |url=https://portal.ct.gov/DOT/Traveler/Rail/SLE |access-date=June 19, 2022 |website=CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website |language=en}}</ref> and [[Metrolink (California)|Metrolink]] in Southern California.

The most popular and heavily used services are those running on the NEC, including the ''Acela'' and ''[[Northeast Regional]]''. The NEC runs between Boston and Washington, D.C. via New York City and Philadelphia. Some services continue into [[Virginia]]. The NEC services accounted for 4.4&nbsp;million of Amtrak's 12.2 million passengers in [[fiscal year]] 2021.<ref name=":0" /> Outside the NEC the most popular services are the short-haul corridors in California, the ''[[Pacific Surfliner]]'', ''[[Capitol Corridor]]'', and ''[[San Joaquin (train)|San Joaquins]]'', which are supplemented by an extensive network of connecting buses. Together the California corridor trains accounted for a combined 2.35 million passengers in fiscal year 2021.<ref name=":0" /> Other popular routes include the ''[[Empire Service]]'' between New York City and [[Niagara Falls, New York|Niagara Falls]], via [[Albany, New York|Albany]] and [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], which carried 613.2 thousand passengers in fiscal year 2021, and the ''[[Keystone Service]]'' between New York City and Harrisburg via Philadelphia that carried 394.3 thousand passengers that same year.<ref name=":0" />

* [[Post Road Branch]]: {{convert|12.42|mi|km|sigfig=4}}, [[Castleton-on-Hudson, New York|Castleton-on-Hudson]] to [[Rensselaer, New York]]

Amtrak owns New York Penn Station, Philadelphia 30th Street Station, Baltimore Penn Station and Providence Station. It also owns Chicago Union Station, formerly through a wholly owned subsidiary, the [[Chicago Union Station Company]] until absorbed by Amtrak in 2017. Through the [[Washington Terminal Company]], in which it owns a 99.7 percent interest, it owns the rail infrastructure around [[Washington Union Station]]. It holds a 99% interest in 30th Street Limited, a partnership responsible for redeveloping the area in and around 30th Street Station.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.secinfo.com/dRqWm.3113.htm|title=SEC Info - A/P I Deposit Corp - 'S-3' on 1/11/02|website=secinfo.com|access-date=May 20, 2020|archive-date=September 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090904011845/http://www.secinfo.com/dRqWm.3113.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Amtrak also owns Passenger Railroad Insurance.<ref>{{cite web |title=Email FS - FY02 |url=http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/02financial.pdf |website=Amtrak |access-date=November 23, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624184931/http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/02financial.pdf |archive-date=June 24, 2008}}</ref>