Although not yet past the Draft Environment Impact Statement stage, a study of enhancing service on and extending the Danbury Branch would include additional stations in North Danbury (Federal Road), , and New Milford. The draft EIS was due by 2010, and the final EIS by 2011. The Spring 2009 Update for the first time held out the possibility of extension all the way to Pittsfield, MA, the original route of the New Haven Berkshire Division. Trackage rights would have to be negotiated with the Housatonic Railroad, which owns the line beyond Danbury to New Milford.


Enhancements to the Danbury Branch being studied also include re-electrification of the branch (the branch was electrified from 1925 to 1961), addition of passing sidings, realignment and/or super-elevation of track to eliminate or alleviate curvature and enhance speeds, and installation of automated train control signalling. The new signal system finally began operation in 2013, but extensive work was still ongoing in 2014 because of unresolved problems with the drop gates at grade crossings.


Earlier versions of the study examined service to Newtown and Brewster along the Beacon/Maybrook line, as additional branches off the Danbury Branch. These options were not recommended due to limited ridership potential versus additional cost.


As part of the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Program, additional service from the New Haven Line will be provided to New York Penn Station over the Hell Gate Line of the Northeast Corridor, owned by Amtrak. Trackage rights and union agreements would have to be negotiated for this service. Commuter service over this line, formerly the Harlem River Branch of the predecessor New Haven, ended in 1931. New stations will be built at Hunts Point, Parkchester–Van Nest, Morris Park, and Co-Op City.


This project was dormant from approximately 2002 to 2009, but an environmental assessment was announced by Metro-North, to be completed by 2011. The study was in conjunction with ongoing studies for the best uses of Penn Station. The study advances a single option of full (both peak and off-peak) service to Penn on the New Haven and Hudson Lines. Separate options for off-peak service are still being considered separate from the study, as implementation could take place with existing infrastructure and equipment. However, the project was delayed, so environmental and federal reviews are to be completed by 2017.


On January 8, 2014, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo voiced support for the project in his 2014 State of the State address.


In its 2015–2019 Capital Program, the MTA budgeted $695 million for New Haven Line Penn Station Access work, including track, structures, signal, power and communications work along the Hell Gate Line, specifications for rolling stock for the line, and construction of the four new stations. New track will be installed between the Parkchester/Van Nest station and north of the Co-Op City station. Three bridges along the route will be rehabilitated or replaced. The MTA plans to complete necessary environmental and federal reviews by 2017.


Service will begin after East Side Access service commences. The opening of that project would divert some Long Island Rail Road trains to Grand Central Terminal, therefore opening up slots at Penn Station for Metro-North service. During peak hours there will be between six and ten trains to Penn Station. There will be four trains per hour to Connecticut in the reverse peak direction, and there will be two trains per hour to and from Penn Station during off-peak and weekends.


In a limited form, it already takes place with the Jets/Giants game-day service to the Meadowlands, although it is not intended as service to Penn.


As of February 2009, Connecticut legislators were discussing service on an old New Haven passenger line that ceased passenger service decades prior known as the Highland Line, part of the original New England Railroad, also known as the Central New England Railway, both eventual subsidiaries of The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.


Currently, this is a freight-only line operated by Pan Am Railways. Station stops would include two in Bristol, as well as in New Britain, between Waterbury and Hartford. The next step is a preliminary scoping study, which would be followed by environmental studies. It is unknown if this will be a Metro-North extension of the Waterbury Branch.


The New York State Department of Transportation, the New York State Thruway Authority, and Metro-North conducted extensive studies concerning the replacement of the deteriorated Tappan Zee Bridge. Proposals for rail connections to the New Haven Line were ultimately rejected as too expensive.


Amtrak California is a brand name used by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Rail on three state-supported Amtrak rail routes within the US State of California, the "Capitol Corridor", the "Pacific Surfliner", and the "San Joaquins". It also includes an extensive network of Thruway Motorcoach bus connections, operated by private companies under contract. The three lines shared the use of "Amtrak California" branded Thruway buses and trainsets.


The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) assumed operation of almost all intercity passenger rail in the United States in 1971. Service in California, as in most of the United States, was basic and infrequent. In 1976 California began providing financial assistance to Amtrak. At the same time, the Caltrans Division of Rail was formed to oversee state-financed rail operations and the brand Amtrak California started appearing on state-supported routes.


In 1990, California passed Propositions 108 and 116, providing $3 billion for transportation projects ($ billion after inflation), with a large portion going to rail service. As a result, new locomotives and passenger cars were purchased by the state, and existing inter-city routes expanded. A more distinct image for Amtrak California, such as painting locomotives and passenger cars in "California Color" of blue and yellow, was established with the arrival of new rolling stock.


In 1998, while still funded by the state, the management of the "Capitol Corridor" was transferred to the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA), formed by local jurisdictions of the line serves. In 2015 the management of the "San Joaquin" and the "Pacific Surfliner" were similarly transferred to the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority (SJJPA) and the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency (LOSSAN), respectively. As a result, the "Amtrak California" brand became less prominent in the websites and marketing materials.


Caltrans is studying Amtrak service to the Coachella Valley.


The "San Joaquin" operates 14 trains (7 in each direction) each day between Bakersfield and Stockton. From Stockton, five trains from Bakersfield continue west to Oakland, while two trains proceed north to the state capital of Sacramento. Central Valley communities served include Fresno, Corcoran, Hanford, Lodi, Madera, Merced, Modesto, Turlock/Denair and Wasco. Delta/Bay communities of Antioch, Martinez, and Richmond are also served by the "San Joaquin". Los Angeles is not served on this route due to the bottleneck of the Tehachapi Pass line, where the Union Pacific prohibits passenger train use due to freight traffic along the world's busiest single-track railway. (On rare occasions Amtrak trains use this as a detour if their railway tracks are being repaired.) The "San Joaquin" has operated since 1974.


The "Capitol Corridor" route, operating since 1991, runs north from San Jose through the East Bay to Oakland and Richmond, then east through the Delta communities of Martinez and Suisun City, and the Sacramento Valley cities of Davis and Sacramento. One "Capitol Corridor" train per day continues east of Sacramento during the afternoon commute to the small Sierra Nevada town of Auburn, returning in the morning. It is the fourth-busiest Amtrak route nationwide.


Amtrak California operates a fleet of EMD F59PHI, GE Dash 8-32BWH and Siemens Charger locomotives that are used on "San Joaquin" and "Capitol Corridor" trains. These locomotives are owned by Caltrans and carry the CDTX reporting marks.


Locomotives from Amtrak's national fleet such as P42DC are often used as substitutes when the Amtrak California dedicated fleet of locomotives undergoes maintenance.


Twenty-two additional locomotives built by Siemens will join Amtrak California's locomotive fleet starting from 2017. These locomotives, named "Charger", were parts of a multi-state order funded by a combination of federal and state money. Illinois Department of Transportation, acting as the leading agency, awarded the order to Siemens on December 18, 2013. Caltrans ordered the first six with the initial order in 2013, then exercised the option to buy 14 more locomotives in 2015 to replace Amtrak-owned locomotives currently used on "Pacific Surfliner". Two additional locomotives were ordered in 2016.


Amtrak California's routes typically use bi-level, high-capacity passenger cars, dubbed the Surfliner and California Car. All of the California Cars are owned by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). Amtrak owns most of the Surfliner cars with some owned by Caltrans.


The design of the cars is based on Amtrak's Superliner bi-level passenger cars, but several changes were made to the design to make the vehicle more suitable for corridor services with frequent stops. One significant difference is that the Surfliner and California Car have two sets of automatic doors on each side instead of only one manually operated door on the Superliners, which speeds up boarding and alighting considerably. Additionally, Surfliner and California Car coaches are equipped with higher-density seating and bicycle racks to permit transport of unboxed bicycles.


Consists on the "San Joaquin", "Capitol Corridor", and "Pacific Surfliner" routes usually include between four and six cars, with one locomotive and a cab control car on the rear end.


In 2007, Amtrak California paid for the repair of seven wreck-damaged Superliner Coaches owned by Amtrak in exchange for a six-year lease, intended to quickly add capacity on busy "Capitol Corridor" and "San Joaquin" trains. Four of the cars have been painted to match the "California car" livery, and three have been painted to match the "Surfliner" livery. Each car also has the current Amtrak logo on the middle left side of each car.


Superliner I/II coaches from Amtrak's national fleet are used on some consists due to shortages of inter-city "Surfliner" & "California cars."


Increasing ridership on the "San Joaquin" led Amtrak California to purchase 14 Comet IB rail cars from NJ Transit in 2008 for $75,000 per car. Caltrans paid approximately $20 million to have these former commuter cars refurbished and reconfigured to serve as intercity coaches at Amtrak's Beech Grove Shops.


Caltrans has also paid to lease and refurbish 3 Horizon dinettes (used as café cars) and 3 Non-Powered Control Units (old F40PH locomotives converted to serve as a cab/baggage car).


In November 2017, the California Department of Transportation announced that it would be ordering seven Siemens Venture trainsets through its contractor Sumitomo Corporation. The states had initially contracted Sumitomo, which in turn subcontracted with Nippon Sharyo, to build the Next Generation Bi-Level Passenger Rail Car, but a prototype car failed a buff strength test in August 2015. After the test failure, Sumitomo canceled its deal with Nippon Sharyo, and turned to Siemens to be the new subcontractor. The cars are being built at the Siemens factory in Florin, California and will be hauled by California's existing fleet of diesel-electric locomotives.


California's trainsets will be used exclusively on the San Joaquins service and will consist of seven cars each: four coaches with economy seating, two coaches with economy seating and vending machines, and one cab car (control car) with economy seating. The order includes 49 cars for California, formed into seven semi-permanently-coupled trainsets. Since Siemens Venture trainsets were originally designed to be used with high platforms the SJJPA modify all stations, adding two mini-high platforms (short lengths of high platform, each long enough for one door, with an accessible ramp to the longer low platform). The first trainset is supposed to go into revenue service in 2020.


Amtrak California utilizes a livery and logo that is different from the standard Amtrak colors. All state-contracted Thruway Motorcoach and state-owned locomotives and passenger cars, with the exception of equipment used on the "Pacific Surfliner" route, are painted in the "California Colors" of blue and yellow. Each permanently assigned passenger car is named after a geographical feature of California.


The "Capitol Corridor" and "San Joaquin" trains are the two routes most identified with the Amtrak California image, since they extensively use "California Colored" equipment. The other state-supported rail route, the "Pacific Surfliner", uses a unique blue and silver paint scheme that is different from the other Amtrak California-branded trains.


The NPCUs that operate on the "Capitol Corridor" and "San Joaquin" are painted differently from the locomotives, as they are painted in the old "Caltrain" locomotive livery, with an "Amtrak California" and "Caltrans" logo on the sides. The single level cars, both the Comet cars and the Horizon dinettes, have three stripes closest to the boarding doors, orange, blue and green, which resemble the NJ Transit livery that was previously used on the Comet cars.


The major events of National Train Day usually consist of equipment displays in the major stations across the Amtrak system. This includes "Acela Express" and "Keystone Service" sets in the Northeastern cities, and Superliner cars in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Antonio and Florida that are used on long distance trains in those regions. In addition, many private cars are also put on display. Other large cities featured rail equipment and displays from freight railroads, transit agencies, non-profit rail organizations and historical societies as part of National Train Day. Some smaller events consisted of a model train layout from a local club or other train-related items on display.


Because of a scheduling conflict on the original National Train Day in 2008, Toledo Union Station hosted their NTD event a week before the rest of the country in 2008. This tradition of having the 'first' Train Day has continued every year since at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza Amtrak and intermodal station.


Besides events at active Amtrak stations, railway history museums participate in National Train Day as well. This often includes tours of historic rail cars and excursion train rides.


The 2011 event celebrated Amtrak's 40th Anniversary celebration, as the company first went into service on May 1, 1971.


The National Association of Railroad Passengers, the largest non-profit rail advocacy organization in America, announced that their members would be celebrating the first National Train Day in 2008. Many other non-profits participated regionally.


In 2013, Duluth, Minnesota, hosted one of the largest events, having steam locomotives Milwaukee Road 261 and Soo Line 2719 operating on the North Shore Scenic Railroad, as well as large museum displays and events.


In 2015, it was announced that the community program called National Train Day would be replaced by a company sponsored event called Amtrak Train Days. The format changed from multiple events on a single day in many cities to individual events over the course of the spring, summer and fall.


Every National Train Day through 2012 featured an official celebrity spokesperson who appeared at a single event.


On National Train Day May 8, 2010 in New York Penn Station, the cast of "Cake Boss" presented a special cake to Amtrak for the event. Celebrity spokespersons were discontinued after 2012.


Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation, 513 U.S. 374 (1995), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that Amtrak is a government agency and thus is subject to the First Amendment.


Michael A. Lebron rented a large billboard in Amtrak's Penn Station. The advertisement was highly critical of the Coors Brewing Company for their support of the Contras in Nicaragua. The railroad turned down the ad because it was political, although the particular point of view was not an issue.


The District Court ruled that Amtrak, because of its close ties to the Federal Government, was a Government actor for First Amendment purposes, and that its rejection of the display was unconstitutional. The Court of Appeals reversed, noting that Amtrak was, by the terms of the legislation that created it, not a Government entity, and concluding that the Government was not so involved with Amtrak that the latter's decisions could be considered federal action.


Even though Amtrak is not incorporated as a government agency, it largely functions as one. Similar to the ruling in "Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority", the court found that the public and private entities functioned together to the point where Amtrak was covered by the First Amendment.


Later, in "Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads", the court held that Amtrak is a governmental entity for purposes of determining the validity of the metrics and standards.


NC By Train is a brand name used by the Rail Division of the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for two state-supported Amtrak routes operating in the U. S. state of North Carolina–the "Carolinian" and the "Piedmont."


Amtrak (in full, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) took over most intercity rail service in the United States in 1971. At the outset, service through North Carolina was mostly limited to long-distance routes that were not well-suited for regional travel. This remained unchanged when Southern Railway, one of the larger railroads that initially opted to keep its passenger services, handed its routes to Amtrak in 1979.


By 1984, Amtrak service in North Carolina was limited to four trains–the New Orleans-New York "Crescent," which passed through Charlotte and the Piedmont Triad; the New York-Miami "Silver Meteor," which passed through the Sandhills; the New York-Miami "Silver Star," which passed through Raleigh, and the New York-Savannah "Palmetto," which passed through the Sandhills. The only daylight service came from the "Palmetto" and northbound "Silver Star."


In that year, Governor Jim Hunt created a Public Transportation Division within NCDOT. Partly due to Hunt's efforts, Amtrak introduced the "Carolinian" on October 28, 1984 as a Charlotte-New York service, supported with a yearly $436,000 state subsidy. It ran from Charlotte through Greensboro and Raleigh along the state-owned North Carolina Railroad, then joined the "Palmetto" at Richmond, Virginia for the journey to New York. It was the first direct service between Charlotte and Raleigh in 30 years (or 50 years, depending on the source), and the first North Carolina-focused service in 20 years.


Amtrak intended the "Carolinian" to be a one-year pilot project, and strongly considered making it a permanent fixture in its schedule. However, due to poor marketing, many passengers did not know that the train offered much of the state a one-seat ride to New York. As a result, while ridership far exceeded projections, the "Carolinian" lost over $800,000 as most passengers opted to travel within North Carolina and not continue north of the Virginia border. When North Carolina declined to increase its subsidy, Amtrak withdrew the "Carolinian" on September 3, 1985.


Hunt's successor, Jim Martin, was also committed to the development of passenger rail. He created a Passenger Rail Task Force that recommended preserving rail corridors for both freight and passengers. It also recommended additional passenger service along the I-85 Corridor from Charlotte to Raleigh. In 1990, Amtrak and the state introduced a second incarnation of the "Carolinian." It ran along the same route as its 1984-85 predecessor, but joined the "Palmetto" at Rocky Mount. This incarnation was successful enough that within a year, Amtrak not only made the "Carolinian" permanent, but made it a full-fledged day train running independently from Charlotte to New York.


Building on this success, NCDOT formed a Rail Unit, which was expanded to a full-fledged division in 1995. During this time, state officials pressed for additional service along the fast-growing I-85 Corridor. However, Amtrak initially balked, claiming that it didn't have enough rolling stock to spare. NCDOT decided to buy its own equipment. In the fall of 1990, NCDOT bought five repurposed coaches and leased two locomotives for the planned Charlotte-Raleigh service, named the "Piedmont," which began service on May 25, 1995.


It would have begun service sooner, but Norfolk Southern Railway, which operates the North Carolina Railroad under a longstanding lease with the state, insisted that the state build a wye in Charlotte to turn the trains around. Previously, the southbound Carolinian had to make a time-consuming 10-mile deadhead trip to the nearest wye in Pineville, North Carolina. A second round trip was added in 2010, followed by a third in 2018, with a fourth to come in 2021.


Unlike many states that subsidize Amtrak routes within their borders, North Carolina handles much of the marketing and operations for its state-subsidized services itself. It continued to distribute printed timetables for the "Carolinian" and "Piedmont" after Amtrak discontinued printed timetables. It operates a toll-free information line, 800-BY-TRAIN, which is staffed by North Carolinians. NCDOT also sets the schedules for the "Piedmont" and owns the equipment, though it is operated by Amtrak train crews.


The NCDOT offers free transit passes which allow detraining "Carolinian" and "Piedmont" passengers to get one free bus ride and one transfer on the same day of travel. Passes are honored by 13 participating transit systems along its route.


The "Carolinian", operating since 1990 and in its current form since 1991, is a route from Charlotte to New York, running once daily in each direction. It serves Charlotte, Kannapolis, Salisbury, High Point, Greensboro, Burlington, Durham, Cary, Raleigh, Selma, Wilson and Rocky Mount before continuing to the Northeast Corridor via Richmond. North Carolina subsidizes the train from Charlotte to the Virginia border.


It is augmented by three Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach routes, two connecting Wilson to large swaths of eastern North Carolina and one connecting Winston-Salem and High Point.


Volunteers from the North Carolina Train Host Association are on hand between Charlotte and Selma to provide information about points of interest in North Carolina. Station hosts are also on hand at the state's three busiest stations–Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh.


The Kannapolis, Salisbury, High Point, Burlington and Selma stations are served by NC Station Attendants who meet all trains and answer travel questions. The other stations along the route are staffed with Amtrak personnel with full ticketing and baggage service.


The Piedmont, operating since 1995, is a route from Charlotte to Raleigh with three daily round trips. It travels along the far southern leg of the "Carolinian" route, largely paralleling Interstate 85. While the "Carolinian" uses Amtrak rolling stock painted in Amtrak's national red-white-blue scheme, the "Piedmont" uses state-owned locomotives and coaches painted in a blue-silver-red palette echoing the North Carolina state flag. Its introduction enabled same-day business travel between Charlotte and Raleigh.


United States House Transportation Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials


The Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials is a subcommittee within the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.


The Subcommittee oversees regulation of railroads by the Surface Transportation Board, including economic regulations; Amtrak, rail safety, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the National Mediation Board, which handles railway labor disputes. It is also oversees of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration within the U.S. Department of Transportation, which is responsible for the safety of the nation oil and gas pipelines as well as the transportation of hazardous materials.


The Surf Line is a railroad line that runs from San Diego north to Orange County along California's Pacific Coast. It was so named because much of the line is near the Pacific Ocean, within less than in some places. The tracks are now owned by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority and the North County Transit District, and hosts Metrolink's Orange County Line and Inland Empire–Orange County Line, the San Diego Coaster, and Amtrak "Pacific Surfliner" passenger trains. The BNSF Railway operates freight over the line using trackage rights.


Construction of the Surf Line between Los Angeles and San Diego began on October 12, 1880, with the organization of the California Southern Railroad Company. On January 2, 1882, the California Southern commenced passenger and freight service between National City and Fallbrook Junction, just north of Oceanside. From Oceanside the line turned northeast for a winding route through the Temecula Canyon, and was finished on August 21, 1882.


The line became part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad's transcontinental rail line in 1885 via an extension of the California Southern from Colton north over the Cajon Pass to Barstow. From 1886 to 1888, the Riverside, Santa Ana and Los Angeles Railway built a branch from Highgrove southwest via Riverside to Santa Ana and from Orange (just north of Santa Ana) northwest to Los Angeles. Also in 1888 the San Bernardino and San Diego Railway completed its line from Oceanside north to Santa Ana, completing what was originally called the Los Angeles-San Diego Short Line. The now-downgraded old route was destroyed by floods in 1891 and the new line, later named the Surf Line, was now the only line to San Diego from the north.


In 1910, the Fullerton and Richfield Railway built a short cutoff of the San Bernardino-Los Angeles route from Atwood west to Fullerton, giving the Surf Line its northern terminus of Fullerton.


For much of the 20th century, the Surf Line (officially, the Fourth District of the Los Angeles Division) was to the Santa Fe what the New York City–Philadelphia corridor was to the Pennsylvania Railroad. Daily traffic could reach a density of ten trains (each way) during the summer months. The route hosted AT&SF "San Diegan" passenger trains, renamed the "Pacific Surfliner" by Amtrak in 2000. The Santa Fe installed Centralized traffic control in 1943–1944 which increased capacity on the line.


Commuter trains began operating in the 1990s under the monikers Metrolink and Coaster when the Southern California Regional Rail Authority and the San Diego Northern Railway bought the sections of the line in Orange and San Diego Counties, respectively.


About two-thirds of the segment from the Orange County line to the Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego has been double-tracked. As one of the nation's busiest corridors, local transportation and planning agencies want to complete the entire section. A section of double track between Elvira (SR 52) and Morena (Balboa Avenue) was completed in July 2020. The $192 million project, which began in August 2015, completed of double track from San Diego northward.


The tracks are adjacent to coastal bluffs some above the beach for in Del Mar. Persistent coastal erosion eats away at the bluff each year and the rate has accelerated due to sea level rise due to climate change. The bluff has had to be shored up to safely run current operations. Steel beams were driven into the beach at the base of the bluff in September 2020 to stabilize the face of the bluff for 20 or 30 years.


In August, the California Coastal Commission had emphasized the need to move the railroad tracks inland as they reviewed the emergency permits for the stabilization work. The San Diego Association of Governments(SANDAG) is conducting a $3 million study on relocating the rail line. A tunnel under Del Mar, which would cost more than $3 billion, is being considered.


The segment of the LOSSAN Corridor within San Diego County achieved full implementation of Positive train control in December of 2018, for all passenger and freight trains operating on this segment.


These are not all the stations that currently operate. Many of these stations no longer exist (i.e. Linda Vista) and new ones have opened (i.e. Sorrento Valley). For a list of stations that currently operate, see the articles for Metrolink's Orange County Line and the Coaster.


Electrification of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad


The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad pioneered electrification of main line railroads using high-voltage, alternating current, single-phase overhead catenary. It electrified its mainline between Stamford, Connecticut, and Woodlawn, New York, in 1907, and extended the electrification to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1914. While single-phase AC railroad electrification has become commonplace, the New Haven's system was unprecedented at the time of construction. The significance of this electrification was recognized in 1982 by its designation as a National Historic Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).


The New Haven tried several experiments with low-voltage DC electrification in the decade preceding their main line overhead electrification. These included:


The third rail system resulted, not surprisingly, in a number of accidents. It also resulted in a decree from the Connecticut Supreme Court on June 13, 1906 forbidding the use of third rail electrification within the state. The New Haven was forced by this decision to design their main line electrification system using overhead catenary.


Several different systems combinations of voltage and frequency were considered in the initial design. Due to the relatively large distances involved, transmission at high voltages using alternate current was recognized as being unavoidable. An architecture similar to commercial DC utilities and urban railroads was considered using high voltage transmission lines, rotary converters, and overhead DC catenary. The studies of the time assumed an electrical efficiency of only 75 percent for this architecture.


The highest voltage for which generators could be reliably designed at this time was about 22 kV. An intermediate design was considered using 22 kV transmission lines, substations to reduce catenary voltage to between 3 and 6 kV, and transformers on the engines to the 560 V required by the traction motors. The railroad realized that it could save significant capital cost if the intermediate substitution were omitted and locomotives received line voltage at around 11 kV.


The New Haven's electrification was the first of its kind; no previous railroad had practical experience operating a high voltage distribution system above a steam railroad. Many of the system's ultimate specifications were the result of educated design decisions based on the state of the electrical technology in 1907.


Proposals were obtained from General Electric (GE) and Westinghouse. Both companies submitted a variety of AC and DC schemes, though GE favoured DC electrification. But New Haven chose single-phase AC at 11 kV, 25 Hz. as proposed by Westinghouse, who had been researching AC electrification of railroads since 1895 and in association with Baldwin supplied Baldwin-Westinghouse locomotives. Later GE also supplied some locomotives.


The designers considered several voltages for the transmission segment of the system including 3-6 kV, 11 kV, and 22 kV. Ultimately, the transmission and catenary systems were combined into a transformerless system, that utilized the same voltage from output of generator to catenary to locomotive pantograph. As 11 kV was the highest voltage that could be obtained directly from the output of the generators of 1907, 11 kV was selected as the transmission and catenary voltage of the system.


The New Haven considered two different operating frequencies for use in their electrification: 15 Hz and 25 Hz. The lower frequency of 15 Hz afforded reduced motor size, lower inductive losses, and a higher motor power factor. 25 Hz had by 1907 already become a commercial standard, and the railroad already operated a number of trolley power houses at 25 Hz and had equipped many of its shops with 25 Hz motors. Selection of 15 Hz viewed by the railroad as a 'break in gage' which would have limited the commercial value of the system. Thus the railroad selected the 25 Hz standard, even though it might have been more desirable from an engineering perspective. Note that many European railroads standardized on a 16.7 Hz traction power frequency.


The New Haven had no precedent to follow when designing its catenary system. Overhead catenary had previously been the domain of trolleys, except for a few three-phase railways in Europe. No prior experience existed with operating high-speed railways with an overhead contact system. The catenary designed by the New Haven was a unique, relatively rigid triangular cross-section.


The triangular cross-section of catenary used in the original electrification was only repeated by one other railway. The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway used a similar triangular catenary from 1909 until 1929. The New Haven's 1914 extensions dispensed with the triangular catenary design.


Catenary support spacing was set at . This was based on keeping the straight line deviation from center of track to within with a curve radius of 3 degree, which was the tightest curve between the original system's termini at Woodlawn and Stamford.


The generators at the Cos Cob Power Station were designed to supply single-phase power directly to the catenary. They were also required to supply three-phase power both to the New Haven itself for use along the lines, and to the New York Central's (NYC) Port Morris generating station to compensate the NYC for the power consumed by New Haven trains on the NYC's third-rail supplied line to Grand Central Terminal. The Cos Cob generators were three-phase machines, but wired to supply both three phase and single phase power simultaneously.


Although the railroad considered the 1907 electrification highly successful, two problems required an ultimate redesign of the transmission system. The first was electromagnetic interference in adjacent, parallel telegraph and telephone wires caused by the high currents in the traction power system.


The second was that the system's geographic growth and the evolving state of electrical technology created a need for higher transmission voltages. The railroad could have simply raised the operating voltage of the entire system, however this would have required all the catenary insulators to be upgraded to withstand a higher potential, and replacement of all the locomotive high voltage equipment. And while higher transmission voltages had become common in the seven years since the initial electrification, generators were still limited by economics to a maximum output voltage of around 11 kV.


The solution decided upon by the railroad, after several years of study, was a balanced autotransformer system.


Remarkably, the railroad changed transmission system architectures within four hours, although preliminary work had taken the preceding 18 months. On Sunday, January 25, 1914, the railroad shut down the entire power system at 2 am. Gangs of workers throughout the system reconfigured the transmission lines over the next 70 minutes. System startup was commenced and by 5:30 am, electric trains were running over the new, autotransformer supplied system.


The New Haven's system was extended across the Hell Gate Bridge to the New York Connecting Railroad upon the line's construction. The system of electrification was an extension of the New Haven's revised 11/22 kV autotransformer architecture. The original electrification extended from the New Haven's main line, across the Hell Gate Bridge, to the Bay Ridge yard. The line south of Bowery Bay Junction was de-electrified in the 1950s. The line between New Rochelle and the Harold Interlocking was transferred to Amtrak in 1976 upon dissolution of Penn Central. The electrification system continued to be controlled as a portion of the ex-New Haven system until the 1987 conversion to 60 Hz operation.


When the New Haven main line was converted by Metro-North to 60 Hz operation, the Amtrak Hell Gate line was also converted, but as an isolated system powered from the Van Nest substation. Control of the catenary system was transferred from Cos Cob to the Load Dispatcher at New York Penn Station. Although conversion occurred subsequent to the PRR-era electrification, Amtrak substation numbers 45-47 were assigned for consistency with the rest of the PRR numbering scheme.


The Connecticut River Line (colloquially known as the Conn River Line) is a railroad line owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), that serves the "Knowledge Corridor" between Springfield and East Northfield, Massachusetts.


Freight rail service along the line is operated by Pan Am Railways, and passenger rail service is operated by Amtrak. The line is dispatched and operated on behalf of MassDOT by Pan Am's operations subsidiary, Springfield Terminal Railway.


The original line between Springfield and Northampton was built by the Northampton and Springfield Railroad (chartered in 1842) during the early 1840s. While the line was under construction, the rail company merged with another company building a line from Greenfield, Massachusetts, south to Northampton. The Connecticut River Railroad (CRRR) was then formed in 1845 by the merger of the Northampton and Springfield Railroad with the Greenfield and Northampton Railroad.


The line opened between Springfield and Northampton in 1845 and by the following summer was extended to Deerfield, and then to Greenfield in November 1846. In 1849, the line was extended further north to the Massachusetts-Vermont state line, where it met the Brattleboro line of the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad (which later became part of the Fitchburg Railroad).


The line became part of the Boston and Maine Corporation (B&M) in 1893 when the CRRR was acquired by the B&M. In 1983 the line became part of Guilford Rail System (which later became Pan Am Railways). Pan Am Railways sold the line to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation in late 2014, but retains an exclusive common carrier freight easement over the line and continues to maintain and dispatch the line under a contract with MassDOT.


Several local trains were dropped during systemwide cuts on May 18, 1958. Most local service ended on June 14, 1959; stops at Brightwood, Riverside, Mount Tom, Whately, and Deerfield were dropped. Local passengers were allowed to use the four daily through trains for service to Holyoke, Northampton, South Deerfield, and Greenfield; limited Friday and Sunday service to serve college students was also retained. The Springfield–Greenfield sections of two daily through trains were dropped on April 29, 1962, leaving just two daily round trips – the "Montrealer"/"Washingtonian" and "Ambassador". Those trains were cut on September 6, 1966, ending through passenger service over the line. Limited local service (one southbound Friday trip, and two Sunday round trips) between Springfield and Brattleboro lasted until later that year.


In 1972, Amtrak began running the "Montrealer" along the line at night, stopping at Northampton but not Holyoke or Greenfield. The "Montrealer" was discontinued in 1987 due to poor track conditions on the line. Service resumed in 1989 after Amtrak seized control of the line in Vermont from the Boston and Maine Railroad, but the train was rerouted over the Central Vermont Railway through Massachusetts and Connecticut to avoid the still-dilapidated Connecticut River Line, because Guilford Rail System refused to improve poor track conditions. A stop was added at to replace Northampton. The "Montrealer" was replaced by the daytime "Vermonter" in 1995, using the original route through Connecticut but still avoiding the Conn River Line in Massachusetts.


Freight service along the Connecticut River line has for many years been operated by Pan Am Railways. In recent years the line has been operated at FRA Class I levels, with freight trains limited to a maximum speed of . Due to these conditions, there are only a few remaining online customers. One of the largest potential customers, Yankee Candle, despite being on the other side of the road, receives wax shipments via truck from a competing railroad's depot further south.


In order to shorten travel times on the "Vermonter" and add additional local service to the populated Connecticut River Valley, the Connecticut River Line was rebuilt with $73 million in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money and $10 million in state funds. The restoration work on the line included the replacement of about 95,000 ties; installation of of new continuously welded rail; new active warning signals and crossing gates at 23 public grade crossings and four private crossings; upgrades to six bridges; and the first phase of a new signal installation. Restoration work began in August 2012 and was scheduled to be completed in 2016.


A 100-person Norfolk Southern Railway work crew began major track work on July 7, 2014, intending to complete the line's upgrade over the summer. The arrival of the NS crew allowed the Pan Am crews, who had previously started the track work, to focus on grade crossings and other work on the line.


Commuter rail service has been proposed for the corridor, running between Springfield and Greenfield with four daily round trips. A 2014 state transportation funding bill included $30 million for acquiring used MBTA Commuter Rail rolling stock and new locomotives for the service. On August 20, 2014, the state finalized a $17 million deal to purchase the line from Pan Am.


In 2014, following several years of planning and construction, the original mainline was restored to modern standards, with a maximum authorized speed of for passenger trains on the long straight sections of track between Hatfield and Deerfield. The "Vermonter" was rerouted to the line on December 29, 2014, stopping at and . New handicapped-accessible platforms have been built at both of these stations. A station stop in was added in the summer of 2015.


In February 2016, Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack said that MassDOT was looking at starting a pilot commuter service as early as 2017. In June 2018, Governor Charlie Baker announced that two Amtrak "Shuttle" round trips would be extended to Greenfield in 2019 as a pilot program. The service began August 31, 2019, and is operated under the Valley Flyer moniker.


Amtrak Express is Amtrak's freight and shipping service. It handles small package express service, heavy freight shipments and city-to-city freight shipping by private and commercial customers. Boxes up to 36" x 36" x 36" (maximum 50 pounds), suitcases, and boxed bicycles are acceptable, but numerous classes of fragile, valuable and hazardous items are not permitted. Large pallet shipments of up to 500 pounds (227 kg) are accepted at certain major stations. Quoted transit times range from 2 to 7 days depending on distance and service frequency.


Service is available between most Amtrak stations that handle checked baggage (over 130 cities). Service and hours vary widely by station, limited by available equipment and security considerations, and service is not available on all days at all stations.


Each piece in the shipment, including individual pieces shipped together on a pallets, must have a separate lot label (provided by Amtrak), and name, address and telephone number of the shipper and the consignee legibly marked or securely attached to the package.


Shipments must be in sturdy containers that will withstand ordinary care in handling. Shipments that may be susceptible to damage by conditions that may be encountered in transport (i.e., changes in temperature) must be adequately protected by proper packaging. Amtrak does not accept containers that are not sturdy or cannot hold contents, light rubber/plastic containers (heavy plastic shipping containers are permissible), trash bags or woven fabric zipper bags.


Amtrak Express charges are based on the total weight and distance of shipment. Large but lightweight pieces may be calculated using the item's Cubic Dimensional Weight. Express rates can be determined at any staffed Amtrak location through the reservation system or by calling the Amtrak Express Desk. Amtrak accepts cash or credit card for payment of Express charges. Payment is due at the time the shipment is dropped-off.


Amtrak automatically assumes liability of $50 per shipment for loss or damage. Shippers may declare additional value of up to $2,000 for $1.00 per $100 of value declared, or up to $10,000 for $1.50 per $100 declared.


Shipments are held, without charge, for a period of 48 hours after arrival. Afterwards, storage will be charged at the rate of either $3.00 per 100 pounds, per 24 hours, or $4.00 per piece, per 24 hours (whichever is greater) until claimed.


Some special items are exempt from maximum size per piece requirements, such as:


The following prohibited items are not acceptable for shipment under any circumstances:


Amtrak accepts human remains at many stations that handle Amtrak Express. Undertakers must make prior arrangements with the Amtrak Express Desk.


The Chicago Union Station Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Amtrak that owns Chicago's Union Station, the largest intercity station in the Midwest, as well as the approach tracks. It was originally owned equally by four companies - the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway and Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (two Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiaries), the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (Burlington Route), and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) - and has been wholly owned by Amtrak since 1984.


The Union Station Company was incorporated July 3, 1913, and organized November 19, 1913, to replace the old union station on the same spot. On May 7, 1915, the company was renamed to the Chicago Union Station Company. The station was opened May 16, 1925; viaduct construction for cross streets lasted into 1927.


The connection with the PFW&C was at the south end of the CUS trackage at the Roosevelt Road crossing. The north end of CUS trackage is at the curve near Kinzie Street, west of which the PCC&StL and CM&StP shared trackage to a split at Western Avenue. At the Roosevelt Road crossing, the tracks of the CB&Q split to the west, turning west just after crossing under the St. Charles Air Line Railroad. A fifth line - the Chicago and Alton Railroad - merged with the PFW&C line at Alton Junction and used Union Station, admitted on September 18, 1915.


The last Pennsylvania Railroad train into the north side of Union Station (via the PCC&StL) ran April 23, 1927; afterwards, PRR passenger service ran out the south side and the PFW&C, using the South Chicago and Southern Railroad to reach the PCC&StL.


Buildings were gradually built over the sunken approach tracks using leased air rights.


A new connection at Englewood Station was completed October 15, 1971, allowing trains on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad to run over the PFW&C to Union Station instead of to LaSalle Street Station. This was never used by passenger trains, as the dying Rock Island decided to continue using LaSalle, and Metra's Rock Island District commuter trains still use that same route.


The CM&StP became the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad in 1928. Their approach trackage, shared with the PCC&StL, has since been acquired by Metra. The CB&Q and its approach became part of Burlington Northern Railroad in 1970, and is now part of the BNSF Railway. The PFW&C trackage is now owned by Norfolk Southern (transferred from Conrail in 1999).


Amtrak acquired the outstanding shares held by BN and the Milwaukee Road in 1984, having earlier acquired the stake held by what had become Penn Central. Amtrak also owns former PFW&C trackage from Roosevelt Road south to Alton Junction (21st Street), including their 14th Street Maintenance Facility.


Harold Interlocking is a large railroad junction located in New York City. It is the busiest rail junction in the United States. It serves trains on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line and Port Washington Branch, which diverge at the junction.


Reconstruction work on Harold Interlocking started in 2009, as part of the East Side Access project to bring LIRR service to Grand Central Terminal. As part of the project, two tunnels for Northeast Corridor trains bypassing Harold Interlocking are being built to address congestion problems and occasional accidents.


The junction is located in Queens, New York, east of the East River Tunnels and next to Amtrak's and NJ Transit Rail Operations' Sunnyside Yard. During the rush hour period, over 40 trains per hour pass through the interlocking; and a total of 783 trains each weekday. In addition to Amtrak trains, the interlocking serves the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), whose Main Line and Port Washington Branch diverge from the Northeast Corridor at Harold Interlocking.


The complexity of the junction and the large volume of traffic has caused frequent delays and occasional accidents in this portion of the Northeast Corridor.


The Pennsylvania Railroad built the Harold Interlocking in 1908 as part of the New York Tunnel Extension project, which built Pennsylvania Station, the North River Tunnels (under the Hudson River), the East River Tunnels and Sunnyside Yard.


The interlocking was renovated in summer 1990 during a nine-week modernization project. This renovation was conducted several months after a power surge caused trains to be stuck in the interlocking. Since the 1990s, Harold Interlocking has been controlled from a tower at Penn Station.


The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) began construction of several infrastructure improvements to the junction area in 2009, but a major project to redesign and rebuild the interlocking required additional funding.


Work on the Northeast Corridor bypass started in 2013. However, by October 2015, the tunnels were behind schedule because Amtrak and the MTA could not cooperate on track access schedules. These delays ultimately raised construction costs by almost $1 billion as of April 2018, and in a report that month, the MTA attributed the delays to a lack of cooperation on Amtrak's part. The work at Harold Interlocking also included the installation of a microprocessor-based interlocking logic, replacing the old relay-based one.


Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads


Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads, 575 U.S. ___ (2015), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held "for purposes of determining the validity of the metrics and standards, Amtrak is a governmental entity."


Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy authored the Opinion of the Court, remanding the case back to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.


Associate Justice Samuel Alito authored a concurring opinion, while Associate Justice Clarence Thomas authored an opinion concurring in the judgment.


Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach, also referred to as Amtrak Thruway Connecting Service is Amtrak's system of Amtrak-owned intercity coaches, locally contracted transit buses, through-ticketed local bus routes, and taxi services to connect Amtrak train stations to areas not served by its railroads, or stations which are disconnected temporarily due to service delays or track maintenance issues. Train and Thruway Motorcoach tickets are purchased together from Amtrak for the length of a passenger's journey, and the connections are timed for convenient dedicated and guaranteed-reliable transfers between the two services. In addition to providing connecting service to unserved areas, some Thruway Motorcoaches operate as redundant service along well-established passenger rail corridors to add extra capacity.


From 1999 to 2019, California state law only allowed tickets for California routes to be sold as part of train journeys. However, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 742 on October 8, 2019, which repealed this law.


Amtrak establishes temporary Thruway Motorcoach service when normal rail service encounters disruptions.


Thruway Motorcoaches are also substituted in place of an Amtrak California train on the following unnumbered segments:


Thruway Motorcoaches can also be used as an alternative to the Amtrak "Downeaster" on the following segments:


This is a list of the train stations with the highest Amtrak ridership the United States in the fiscal year 2020 (October 2019 to September 2020). Ridership figures from 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 have been provided for comparative purposes. In the fiscal year 2020, ridership was down significantly across the board due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rankings exclude Amtrak stations located in Canada. Ridership numbers are for Amtrak only—commuter rail, subway, and other modes are not included.


Zoo Junction is an important junction on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where the Northeast Corridor meets the Keystone Corridor (ex-Pennsylvania Railroad main line).


Zoo Junction is a flying junction, where multiple tracks cross one another by bridges to avoid conflict with other trains.


In 1870, the Pennsylvania Railroad built the Connecting Railway from Frankford Junction to Zoo to bypass congested street running in Philadelphia. Instead of reaching the city directly from the north, the Connecting Railway turned west, crossed the Schuylkill River on the Connecting Railway Bridge (a stone arch viaduct) and then turned south to join the PRR's Main Line at Mantua Junction. Mantua was a wye junction controlled by three manual signal boxes; there was also an engine house in the center of the wye.


By 1888 the Mantua Junction was at capacity. In 1910 the PRR built two duck-under tunnels to allow trains to reach the Connecting Railway without blocking the Main Line. In 1935, the interlocking reached its final form in conjunction with electrification and the construction of 30th Street Station and Suburban Station.


In the crescent-shaped pocket between the junction and the river was the Philadelphia Zoo, which gave the interlocking its name. The former Zoological Garden station was located next to the interlocking to serve visitors to the Zoo.


The Keystone Corridor is a 349-mile (562 km) railroad corridor between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that consists of two rail lines: Amtrak and SEPTA's Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg main line, which hosts SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale Line commuter rail service, and Amtrak's "Keystone" and "Pennsylvanian" inter-city trains; and the Norfolk Southern Pittsburgh Line. The corridor was originally the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.


Since 2006, the line has been one of the high-speed corridors designated by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The track from Lancaster to Parkesburg permits trains of up to , while the section between Paoli and Philadelphia allows .


Amtrak runs two intercity rail services along the Keystone Corridor: the Harrisburg-to-New York City "Keystone Service" and the Pittsburgh-to-New York City "Pennsylvanian". SEPTA operates daily Paoli/Thorndale commuter rail service between Philadelphia and Thorndale on the Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg main line. The towns along this stretch form a socio-cultural region called the "Philadelphia Main Line".


The tracks from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg are owned and maintained by Norfolk Southern, which acquired them from Conrail. They include the Horseshoe Curve west of Altoona. The tracks between Harrisburg and Philadelphia are owned and maintained by Amtrak, and are the only part of the Keystone Corridor that is electrified. The tracks join the Northeast Corridor at Zoo Interlocking near the Philadelphia Zoo and 30th Street Station.


The right-of-way that would become the Keystone Corridor was mainly laid by two railroads. The tracks east of Dillerville, just west of Lancaster, were originally the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, part of the state-owned Main Line of Public Works. From Lancaster west to Harrisburg, the tracks were laid by the Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mount Joy and Lancaster Railroad. Except for minor realignments, today's Keystone Corridor runs along the same path.


Both lines eventually became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) main line.


In 1915, the PRR electrified the line from Philadelphia's Broad Street Station to Paoli, then the west end of commuter service. Electrification west of Paoli to Harrisburg came in the 1930s, after the PRR completed electrifying its New York-Washington, D.C. section (the present-day Northeast Corridor). The total cost of electrification topped $200 million, which was financed by government-supported loans from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the Public Works Administration.


Passenger service remained unprofitable, returned to profitability during World War II, and then slumped again. The PRR overhauled much of the right-of-way in the 1950s, but chose to keep paying a stable dividend rather than reinvest in infrastructure. The result was dilapidated stations, slow, disjointed track conditions, and antiquated rolling stock which frequently broke down.


In 1968, the PRR merged with the New York Central to become Penn Central, which declared bankruptcy in 1970. In 1976, Amtrak took ownership of the line between Philadelphia and Harrisburg while Conrail (the merger of Penn Central, the Reading Company, and several other Class I railroads) took ownership of the remaining part of the line and the many branches, both electrified and non-electrified, that the Penn Central had owned. Amtrak took over the express Harrisburg-New York intercity rail service in 1971, while Conrail, under SEPTA auspices, continued Harrisburg-Philadelphia commuter services. In 1983, SEPTA took over all commuter services and extended operations to Parkesburg (later truncated in 1996 to Downingtown, but later extended to Thorndale).


The line between Philadelphia and Lancaster was four tracks until the 1960s, when the PRR removed two of the tracks west of Paoli. The line is now two tracks from Paoli to Harrisburg, save for a three-track section between the Glen and Park interlockings, and a four-track section between the Downs and Thorn interlockings.


As of 2004, most of the track was limited to a maximum speed of , except for a few 90 mile per hour (145 km/h)) sections between Downingtown and Lancaster. There are also curves which require slower speeds (especially in the section between Merion and Overbrook), and speed restrictions within interlocking limits.


In 1999, the Keystone Corridor was formally recognized as a "designated high speed corridor" by the FRA, as part of the TEA-21 transportation bill. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will fund half of the project's costs, and Amtrak will fund the other half.


A summary appears in an FRA report.


Construction on the USD $145 million project began on March 7, 2005 and was completed in Fall, 2006. Amtrak's press releases have summarized the improvements as:


The installation of concrete ties also included replacement of the old jointed rail with new continuous welded rail (136 RE), track surfacing, and alignment. Track surfacing is adjusting the vertical profile of the two rails, leveling the rails on straight track and introducing superelevation (banking) in curves. The are broken down as:


Amtrak replaced the signal and communications system and rebuilt the overhead catenary wire and upgraded electrical substations to provide the power needed to operate several electric trains simultaneously on this line. Since October, 2006, Amtrak, having sufficient "Acela" high-speed trainsets, started using electric push-pull trainsets for the first time since the mid-1990s. Using AEM7 locomotives and former Metroliner m.u. coaches modified into a push-pull cab-coach (with the locomotive "pulling" westbound trains and "pushing" eastbound), the electrified service is currently used on the Harrisburg-New York "Keystone" service, while the Genesis diesel locomotives are still used for the Pittsburgh-New York "Pennsylvanian" service. As on the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak trains between Paoli and Overbrook use the high-speed inner rails for normal operations.


In March 2011, Pennsylvania received a $750,000 grant from the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program to investigate extending high-speed electrified service from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh.


At-grade crossings with roads between Philadelphia and Harrisburg remained until 2014. In July 1999, PennDOT budgeted $9 million for this project to eliminate the three remaining crossings; however, these funds were later used for other projects. One of the crossings was in Elizabethtown and another in Mount Joy. The third, between Mount Joy and Lancaster, was blocked off using fencing and jersey barriers. Additional funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was used to complete the elimination of all at-grade crossings. The last was closed in 2014. Private crossings remain between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. There are still grade crossings between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.


There have been earlier studies by the USDOT and FRA of the Keystone Corridor, and these studies contain proposals or speculations which might not be in the currently funded projects. Some of these ideas are below.


Amtrak service to Suburban Station, which is in Center City Philadelphia, ended in 1988. An early study says that PennDOT used Suburban Station as the Philadelphia endpoint for the 90-minute service to Harrisburg. Restoring service to Suburban Station may increase ridership but would require using the upper level of 30th Street Station and either scheduling trains to turn at Suburban Station or to continue through the Center City Commuter Tunnel (with Amtrak trains turning around at Wayne Junction).


Bypassing 30th Street Station by using the New York-Pittsburgh Subway would allow trains to skip a time-consuming stop and reverse of directions at 30th St Station and allow fast service between New York and Harrisburg. Historically, the PRR fast trains going to NY from the west would bypass 30th St Station, and passengers for Philadelphia would change trains at North Philadelphia. One study suggested two daily electric-train round-trips between New York and Harrisburg with stops in North Philadelphia and Ardmore, a routing last used by Keystone trains in 1994.


The four-track section between Overbrook and Paoli is numbered sequentially from the southernmost track (number 1 track) to the northernmost track (number 4 track).


Between March 7 and June 27, 2005, Amtrak worked on the number 4 track between Lancaster and Parkesburg, and from June 27 to September 2, 2005, they worked on number 1 track. A work gang with a track laying system (TLS) installed concrete crossties, new continuous welded rail, and new ballast, allowing for . The track layout at Lancaster station was simplified so that trains no longer have to take a diverging route to access the station platforms. Because tracks 2 and 3 have been removed, tracks 1 and 4 are the only tracks in this section.


Between October 3, 2005 and mid-December, Amtrak worked on the number 2 track from Paoli to a point between Narberth and Merion stations. On March 20, 2006, Amtrak started working on the number 3 track, starting within Paoli interlocking and working east towards Overbrook. As of April 6, 2006, a track laying system (TLS) has completed work to approximately milepost 16.7. 110-mph service started on October 30, 2006 following completion of a $145 million upgrade of the 104-mile line. Push-pull express trains will cut journey time from the current two hours to 90 minutes. Local service will improve to 105 minutes. Three weekday and two weekend roundtrips will be added as well.


The busiest part of the Keystone Corridor is the segment between Harrisburg and New York City, which sees multiple trains per day.


The following Amtrak rail lines serve Keystone Corridor stations:


SEPTA Regional Rail operates commuter rail service on the Keystone Corridor between 30th Street Station and Thorndale as the Paoli/Thorndale Line service. Efforts to re-extend the line to Parkesburg and even to Atglen were under discussion by state Congressman Jim Gerlach, R-PA 6, and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. On March 7, 2019, it was announced that SEPTA service would be extended back to Coatesville "in the near future", with a new Coatesville station to be built.


The Cynwyd Line service also uses the line between 30th Street Station and the Valley interlocking. The proposed Schuylkill Valley Metro service to Reading would have also used this line. There is also a proposal to shift the line to eliminate a deteriorating truss bridge.


A project to bring commuter rail service between Harrisburg and Lancaster called CorridorOne is in the early stages of planning.


SEPTA's capital budget for fiscal year 2006 describes an $80.594 million project coordinated with the Amtrak project. SEPTA's effort to improve tracks 1 and 4 between Zoo and Paoli interlockings, will include:


The "Broadway Limited", a train that operated between Chicago and New York, used the Keystone Corridor between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and the Northeast Corridor between Philadelphia and New York. Originally a Pennsylvania Railroad train, this route was discontinued by Amtrak in 1995 but later restarted by the passenger rail company and renamed the "Three Rivers". The "Three Rivers" was discontinued in 2005, eliminating direct passenger rail service between Philadelphia and Chicago. (Amtrak's current Chicago-to-Washington, D.C. service, the Capitol Limited, uses the rail line west of Pittsburgh).


Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008


The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (orinally , passed as division B of ) is a law that reauthorized Amtrak and authorized the United States Department of Transportation to provide grants for operating costs and capital expenses and to repay Amtrak's long-term debt and capital leases. It required Amtrak to adopt cost and performance metrics with regard to its intercity trains and established the Northeast Corridor Commission to govern Amtrak’s shared services along the Northeast Corridor.


The law required Amtrak to develop a modern financial and accounting reporting system and to submit a five-year financial plan and budget to the Inspector General. It authorizes Amtrak to restructure its long-term debt and leases by negotiating with holders of that debt.


Amtrak must work with the Surface Transportation Board to develop metrics and standards for performance of intercity service. The STB is also authorized to award damages to Amtrak in cases where freight railroads, on whose tracks Amtrak operates, do not provide preference to Amtrak traffic which may result in significant delays. Under Section 212 of the law, the Surface Transportation Board was permitted to appoint an arbitrator to settle disputes in certain cases.


Amtrak is required to rank the performance of its long-distance routes and develop performance improvement plans for those routes that underperform.


Amtrak is required to develop a methodology for allocation of costs on such routes and allocate costs appropriately to those states. States may select a different provider for those services and may agree with Amtrak on the usage of its facilities for those providers.


Section 212 created the Northeast Corridor Commission and mandated the Commuter and Intercity Rail Cost Allocation Policy which provides for a methodology of allocating costs to all users along the Northeast Corridor including commuter rail service.


The DOT is authorized to make grants to states for the benefit of intercity passenger rail service. Funds may also be authorized to establish a program for development of high-speed rail corridors.


In 2011, the Association of American Railroads files a federal lawsuit seeking to invalidate the terms of Section 212 as unconstitutional. The AAR claimed that the law gave a private party the ability to regulate the conduct of another private party. In 2015, United States Supreme Court ruled that Amtrak was effectively a government entity and remanded the case back to the District Court. In 2016, the court voided the metrics published by Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration in May 2010. In 2017, the District Court ruled that the arbitration provision of the law was unconstitutional, but severed that provision from Section 212, allowing the remainder of the section to take effect.


Amtrak filed suit against the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to force an increase in rent of land adjacent to its tracks along the Northeast Corridor that SEPTA uses for SEPTA Regional Rail stations and parking lots.


In 2016, Amtrak, citing Section 212, demanded that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority pay $30 million for Amtrak’s costs in servicing the Attleboro Line, which is owned by MBTA. MBTA citing an existing agreement in which Amtrak was permitted to use the line for its trains and agreed to maintain the line at no cost. In a settlement, Amtrak and MBTA agreed to share costs along the Attleboro line and Amtrak would continue to allow the use South Station with cost sharing for use of the facility.


Amtrak has used a variety of liveries on its rolling stock since taking over intercity passenger rail service in the United States in 1971. A series of seven schemes termed "Phases", first introduced in 1972, have seen the widest use. Phases primarily use geometric arrangements of red, white, and blue—the national colors of the United States—part of Amtrak's patriotic visual identity.


Amtrak began operations in May 1971 with a mixture of equipment still painted in the distinct colored liveries of the freight railroads that relinquished their passenger service to Amtrak. Amtrak picked and chose equipment that it determined to be in the best condition, and elected not to keep the same rolling stock on the same routes. Since this resulted in trains with mismatched liveries, which contrasted with the previous coordinated liveries, that period was later known as the Rainbow Era.


To build the brand of Amtrak as a unified passenger railroad, the rolling stock was gradually repainted into a new system-wide livery starting around 1972. Successive liveries are known as Phases and are sequentially numbered using Roman numerals – a nomenclature that began with model railroaders and was later officially adopted by Amtrak. Most current locomotives use the 2000-introduced Phase V, while passenger cars use the 2002-introduced Phase VI. A modified Phase III scheme was introduced for some equipment in 2013. Non-revenue equipment uses bright lime green or a variation of Phase V.


Some routes financially supported by individual states use service-specific liveries to provide a more regionalized distinction. The three routes under the Amtrak California branch—the "Capitol Corridor", "Pacific Surfliner", and "San Joaquin"—use equipment painted in several custom schemes, as do the "Cascades" and "Piedmont". Locomotives for the eight Amtrak Midwest services also use a custom scheme, with a matching scheme planned for under-construction passenger cars.


Amtrak has repainted equipment in unique livery for special uses, including its 40th anniversary in 2011 and to promote the Operation Lifesaver safety campaign. Equipment has also been wrapped for advertising promotions. When testing equipment from other railroads, Amtrak has mostly kept existing livery, though some longer-term tests used Phase schemes.


When Amtrak took over intercity passenger rail service on May 1, 1971, it inherited a collection of rolling stock from twenty different railroads, each with its own distinct colors and logos. Needing only to operate 184 of the 366 trains that had been run nationwide by the private railroads, Amtrak was able to pick the 1,200 best passenger cars to lease from the 3,000 that the private railroads had owned. This equipment was haphazardly mixed to form consists, resulting in trains with the mismatched colors of several predecessor railroads. This "Rainbow Era" was short-lived; Amtrak began purchasing some of the leased equipment in mid-1971, setting the stage for wholesale repainting from 1972 to 1974.


Introduced in 1972, Phase I was the first paint scheme to be implemented system-wide on Amtrak's trains. Except for a small number of locomotives that had been painted into experimental and promotional paint schemes, it was the first new paint for most equipment under Amtrak. The scheme was part of Amtrak's larger move to a visual identity featuring the national colors of red, white, and blue. Amtrak did not assign nomenclature for its livery; model railroaders began referring to this first paint scheme as Phase I and numbering all subsequent phases sequentially using Roman numerals. Amtrak later made the Phase numbering scheme the official terminology.


Locomotives were painted a light gray ("Platinum Mist") with a black roof, the Amtrak "Pointless Arrow" chevron logo on the side, and a red nose (which led to a "Bloody Nose" nickname). Passenger cars were silver (or left bare stainless steel), with a red and bright blue stripe (bracketed by thin white stripes) at window level and the chevron logo at one or both ends. A number of variants were made for non-revenue locomotives, GG1 locomotives, Turbotrain and Turboliner trainsets, and self-propelled RDC and Metroliner railcars.


The Phase II paint scheme was introduced in late 1974 with the arrival of the new GE E60 locomotives. The red nose and chevron logo on locomotives were replaced with stripes similar to passenger cars. Most passenger cars were essentially unchanged from Phase I, except for the removal of the chevron logo; new Sightseer lounges had a higher stripe with an angled transition on each end.


Phase III, introduced in 1976, is still used on some equipment. On both passenger cars and locomotives, the outer white pinstripes were removed while the inner stripe was widened, resulting in red, white, and blue stripes of equal width. Turboliners and the LRC test train were painted in white, with the stripes at the bottom of the train. This scheme was introduced "for safety, graphic aid and saving money", as the white band was highly reflective and provided a place for car information, and the standard widths made better use of raw material.


Several types of locomotives that were acquired later were given variations on Phase III. AEM-7 locomotives had the blue stripe expanded to cover the entire lower part of the body. On Dash 8-32BWH locomotives, a deeper blue and red was used; the stripes had additional pinstripes and angled upward across the middle of the body. The similarity to the Pepsi logo led to the units being nicknamed "Pepsi Cans". Genesis locomotives had a lighter roof and narrower white stripe; the stripes angled downward on the sloped nose, and faded towards the rear. That variant was created by industrial designer Cesar Vergara, who also designed the angular bodies of the locomotives.


In October 2013, Amtrak introduced a new variant of Phase III with the production of the new Viewliner II cars, the first of which entered service in 2015. The Viewliner cars have some changes from previous Phase III passenger cars, including a red reflective stripe at the bottom and a newer ("Travelmark") logo. In January 2016, Amtrak revealed a P32AC-DM that was repainted into Phase III, similar to that of the heritage units 145 and 822, but featuring modern logos and "Empire Service" emblems on the sides. All P32AC-DMs will eventually be repainted into this scheme, with costs shared between Amtrak and the state of New York.


Beginning in 1993, Phase IV was introduced as a striking departure from the traditional red, white, and blue style seen previously. Brought into service with the delivery of the newer Superliner II cars, Phase IV has two thin red stripes and a thick dark blue stripe. In 1997, Amtrak extended the scheme to locomotives, initially GE P42DC diesel locomotives on Northeast Corridor services.


Phase V was introduced with the arrival of the "Acela Express" high-speed train sets in 2000 and is currently used on most locomotives. Locomotives are painted light gray, with a blue stripe (darker than Phases I–III, but lighter than IV) at the top and a thin red reflective sill stripe at the bottom. The blue stripe has a wavy bottom on Genesis locomotives and "Acela Express" power cars, and a flat bottom on other locomotives and ex-F40PH non-powered control units (NPCUs). The Amtrak "Travelmark" logo is painted near the front or rear of the unit.


"Acela Express" trainsets have grey and stainless steel bodies with the lower red stripe, with the blue roof and Acela logo on the power cars only. The Acela passenger cars have no blue stripe; colored shapes called "mobiles", based on the shape of the Acela logo, are used to indicate the type of car (Business Class, Cafe Bistro, or First Class). A similar scheme was created for Amfleet coaches used on the "Acela Regional", with a window stripe (light blue for Coach Class and baggage cars, blue for Business Class and cafe cars) and mobiles to indicate the type of service. The rebuilt Turboliners also had a version of the Phase V livery, with similar window stripes and mobiles.


Non-passenger cars like "Auto Train" auto racks are all-gray except for the logo and red stripe; Express Box Cars had blue stripes on top and bottom.


Phase VI (also commonly referred to as Phase IVb) was introduced in 2002, and is currently used on most passenger cars. It retains the same stripe style as Phase IV: wide window stripes on single-level cars, and narrow stripes on Superliners. The red reflective sill stripe and mid-tone blue on Phase V are used. Single-level cars have white logos within the blue stripe, while Superliners have blue logos below the stripes.


Five of the first six Siemens Charger ALC-42 locomotives will have a "transitional" Phase VI scheme consisting of a mostly blue body with red and black around the windshield, and a red and silver chevrons at the rear.


Phase VII will be introduced in 2021 as the new livery for most Amtrak equipment, with the new Siemens Charger ALC-42 units being the first to wear the paint scheme. The scheme will retain the same red, blue, and dark blue colors seen on earlier liveries, separated by white lines curved like on the Amtrak "travelmark" logo.


Thirteen state-funded corridor routes — eight Midwest routes, three Amtrak California routes, and the "Cascades" and "Piedmont" — are operated by Amtrak using equipment that is largely owned by the states in which they operate, and painted in custom schemes that deviate from the national Amtrak livery. Several other route-specific paint schemes have been used in the past.


The "Pacific Surfliner" uses Charger SC-44 locomotives and Surfliner cars in a deep blue and gray paint scheme. The upper half of the passenger cars are deep blue with a white pinstriping, plus a white pinstripe on the bottom of the cars. The stripes continue onto locomotives, with the blue stripe narrowing and curving under the black-painted cab area. Lettering is white and placed in the blue stripe. The Charger locomotives are painted in the same shape as the Northern California units but using the "Pacific Surfliner" color scheme. Amtrak wrapped F59PHI 457 in a special scheme to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the "Pacific Surfliner" and the train's ridership surpassing 25 million. The locomotive's new scheme was released on May 8, 2010, for National Train Day.


The "Cascades" service uses seven Talgo trainsets, F59PHI and Charger SC-44 locomotives, and ex-F40PH NPCUs painted in a brown, light tan, and dark green scheme - the only revenue equipment not painted in a blue-and-gray-based palette. The five older Talgo VI trainsets have the passenger cars split evenly between tan on top, brown in middle, and dark green on bottom. The transition baggage cars at the end have the green curve above the other colors, where it matches with a green curve on the older locomotives and NPCUs. The scheme was created by industrial designer Cesar Vergara, who also styled the GE Genesis locomotive.


On the newer Charger SC-44 locomotives, the green stripe is narrower and runs along the top and over the cab. One trainset was originally painted in blue, silver, and white for a Los Angeles-Las Vegas service that was never implemented. In 2016, one NPCU, #90250, was wrapped in Seattle Seahawks livery for several months. The newer Series 8 trainsets are painted similarly to the older sets. One end has a cab car, where the brown and green stripes come to a point, with the top of the cab also painted green.


The Charger SC-44 locomotives used on the eight Amtrak Midwest routes (, , , , , , , and ) have a blue front with a halftone transition into the gray side, with a red sill stripe. Siemens Venture passenger cars under construction for the services will have a matching gray scheme with halftone blue transitions at the end of the window level, with a wider red sill stripe.


The state-owned equipment used on the "Piedmont" is painted in North Carolina state colors, with wide blue stripes on the passenger cars and blue fronts on the locomotives.


EMD E8 No. 4316 and coach 1589 were painted for display in New York when Amtrak began service in May 1971; they saw later use on the "Broadway Limited". The locomotive was painted black; the Chevron "pointless arrow" logo on each side wrapped around the front with blue and white safety stripes. Amtrak has retroactively referred to this paint scheme as the "Day 1" livery.


The 40th Anniversary Exhibit Train consisted of P40DC locomotive No. 822, NPCU No. 406, modified Budd 10-6 heritage sleeper/Crew Dorm No. 10020 "Pacific Bend", three heritage baggage cars used to house exhibits, and Amfleet cafe car No. 85999, used as a gift shop. The whole train was painted in Phase III.


In June 2013, P42DC #42 was painted in a red, white, black, and dark blue scheme with a large logo on the side saying "America's Railroad Salutes our Veterans". A blue band near the wheelbase contains 50 white stars. ACS-64 No. 642 and NPCUs Nos. 90208 and 90221 received similar paint schemes in 2015 and 2016.


On March 16, 2021, Amtrak announced the release of six heritage paint schemes, all with an "Amtrak 50" logo on the side, to be applied to five Genesis locomotives and one Charger ALC-42 locomotive. The liveries include heritage versions of the black "Day 1" livery on ALC-42 No. 301, a Phase I livery, a Phase III "Pepsi Can" livery, a Phase V livery on P42 No. 46, and a Phase VI livery that will be similar to the first ALC-42 units. The sixth scheme was "Midnight Blue," a dark blue livery on P42 No. 100 celebrating employees who "keep passengers moving across the nation all throughout the night").


Beginning in 1976, Amtrak work train equipment was painted safety orange with black undersides. Light grey livery with a red bottom stripe, similar to Phase V non-passenger cars, was introduced for work train cars in 2004. Safety yellow livery was introduced for maintenance of way equipment and roadway vehicles in 2001; it was replaced with a pale lime around 2004, and a brighter lime around 2013. Non-revenue locomotives typically use variations of the Phase paint schemes to make them visually distinct from revenue locomotives while maintaining consistent styles.


In 1997, Amtrak bought 50 rebuilt boxcars to supplement its newly built Express Box Car fleet. The rebuilt cars arrived in their original Southern Pacific Olive Green paint scheme, rather than the Phase V scheme of the newer cars, though some were later repainted.


Since the late 1990s, Amtrak has occasionally rented advertising space on the exterior of its passenger equipment. The ads sometimes take the form of wraps rather than true paint schemes. Customers have included fast food restaurants, auto manufacturers, television networks, and politicians. In some cases, the advertisements were on equipment rented for private use, rather than on equipment in normal revenue service. Notable temporary advertisements have included:


Amtrak has tested a number of types of off-the-shelf equipment on the Northeast Corridor and short corridors. Some of these have been painted fully in Amtrak livery:


Other equipment largely retained their paint schemes from usage elsewhere:


The term drumhead refers to a type of removable sign that was prevalent on North American railroads of the first half of the 20th century. The sign was mounted at the rear of passenger trains, and consisted of a box with internal illumination that shone through a tinted panel bearing the logo of the railroad or specific train. Since the box and the sign were usually circular in shape and resembled small drums, they came to be known as drumheads.


Railroad drumheads were removable so that they could be mounted on different passenger cars (usually on the rear of observations), as needed for specific trains.


Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit (WVU PRT) is a personal rapid transit (PRT) system in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. The system connects the three Morgantown campuses of West Virginia University (WVU) and the city's downtown area.


Developed from the Alden staRRcar and built by a consortium led by Boeing Vertol, the driverless system was a government-funded experiment in PRT systems. Upon its opening in 1975 with three stations, it had a fitful start, being three years behind schedule and costing 3–4 times more than estimated. It was expanded in 1978 to its current five stations, two maintenance depots, and over 70 vehicles. Like all PRT systems, stations are built on sidings, which allows vehicles to bypass stations and permits express trips between any two station pairs.


While the system achieved reliability upwards of 98% for most of its life, its reliability declined in the 2000sdipping to 90% by 2015and it gained a reputation for unreliability. In response, a renewal project was approved in 2012, which has so far replaced the vehicle control and propulsion systems, replaced parts of the power supply, and repaired other infrastructure. A new vehicle control system is due to be commissioned by 2018, and the vehicle fleet will also be replaced.


Morgantown is a small city with about 30,000 permanent residents, with close to 140,000 in the metropolitan area. WVU adds 28,000 seasonal residents from August through May. As WVU expanded in the 1960s, geographic constraintsthe city is situated in a mountain valley along the Monongahela Riverforced WVU to build a second campus away in Evansdale. Free busing was offered to move students between the campuses, but all the roads led through the city center, creating gridlock more typical of a megacity.


In the late 1960s, Samy Elias, who led WVU's industrial engineering department, learned of experiments with PRT in the U.S. after the HUD reports were published. A minor PRT craze was being set off by a combination of federal funding and estimates that showed a PRT system would be far less expensive to build and install than any other form of mass transit. Elias felt a PRT would be a perfect solution to the traffic problems in the city.


Gathering support from WVU, the City of Morgantown, and West Virginia's congressional delegation, Elias arranged a $50,000 development grant from the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) for a comparative study of three PRT systems: the Monocab, Dashaveyor, and the Alden staRRcar. The Alden staRRcar was found to be the most suitable system for Morgantown.


Political pressure by Senator Robert Byrd led Secretary John A. Volpe of the then-new United States Department of Transportation to propose that Morgantown be used as an experimental site for PRT development. President Richard Nixon had expressed strong support of the PRT concept, and Volpe was trying to arrange to have an experimental system well underway before the next presidential election, in November 1972.


Examining the proposals, the UMTA decided that Alden was far too small to be able to handle the job, and arranged for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to take over as systems management role, signing a contract with them in December 1970. Boeing Vertol was selected to build the vehicles, Bendix Corporation supplied the control systems, and F.R. Harris Engineering would design and build the guideway, stations, and other facilities.


The original estimates for the system were $15–20 million. But having set a deadline based on political considerations, rather than technical, the system had to be rushed through to completion as soon as possible. JPL, used to running large engineering projects with a stepped approach, had to abandon the study stage and move the project directly to engineering tests.


Numerous problems cropped up as a test system was set up at Boeing's plants, notably the requirement to heat the guideways to melt the snow that collected in the U-shaped guideways, resulting in costly changes to the design. By the time the original deadline passed, the system was already massively over-budget and nowhere near ready for buildout. Instead of a feather in Nixon's cap, the system became a political chess piece and was derided in the press as a white elephant.


There were large cost overruns during the development of the system, and it was not until 1974 that the system had matured technically. Construction of the first guideway in Morgantown started that year, and was completed the next. The Phase I system began operations in 1975, with a final cost of $62 million, four times the estimate. It consisted of of guideway, 45 vehicles, 3 stations, and a maintenance/control facility.


Service was interrupted during the 1978–1979 school year for a system expansion, dubbed Phase II, during which WVU provided bus service between the campuses. The system was extended from the "Engineering" station towards new stations at "Towers" (dormitories) and the WVU Medical Center/Mountaineer Field. Phase II cost $64 million, bringing the total for the entire system to $130 million. Upon its completion, the system had 71 vehicles, of guideway, and 5 stations. One existing station had also been expanded, and a second maintenance facility was added.


Although the system's construction ran far over budget, it still proved to be what its designers had claimed: a reliable system of automated transit that was inexpensive to operate. It has offered on-time service rates far better than the bus services it replaced, and eliminated the gridlock that had locked up the city center. Moreover, no injuries were reported for the first 42 years of operation, until the first reported accident in November 2016. From July 2005 to June 2006, about 2.25 million rides were taken on the PRT. As of November 2007, the PRT transports about 16,000 riders per day. The record for most riders in a day is 31,280, set on August 21, 2006. In 2003, about 60% of costs were covered by the 50-cent fares.


Morgantown's economy boomed in the 2000s and the city was noted for having the lowest municipal unemployment rate in the U.S. Mayor Ronald Justice said, "We're a small town with big traffic issues, and the PRT could be the reason we're able to continue our growth."


There are two proposals to extend the line from both ends: one would extend southward to the new commercial and shopping area being developed as part of a riverfront revitalization project, while a longer extension is being considered to the northwest to connect a new research park. If both extensions are completed, at an estimated $30–40 million a mile, the system would almost double in length.


On November 30, 2016, the system had its first reported accident when two PRT cars were involved in a crash between the Beechurst and Walnut stations. There were six passengers on board and two were treated for minor injuries. Service to Walnut station was suspended for several days while the incident was investigated.


On February 10, 2020, two PRT passengers, and WVU students, were taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital for injuries due to a boulder that dislodged from the nearby hillside striking a PRT car. One student on the PRT was seriously injured and suffered multiple pelvic fractures. A driver, on nearby Mon Boulevard, was also taken to the hospital after their vehicle collided with another boulder that was part of the same disturbance.


The guideway is a dedicated roadway for rubber-tired vehicles that allows close separation between vehicles. It is a network that connects all stations and the maintenance facility. The guideway is used mostly by the PRT vehicles except in an emergency where maintenance workers can drive a car up to tow a non-functioning PRT vehicle off the guideway.


The guideway is a concrete structure with about half of its length elevated. It has three-phase 575 VAC, 60-Hz propulsion power rails on the sidewall that are equipped with electric heater for cold weather operations. Below the power rails is a steering rail that allows the guidewheel of PRT vehicles to be pressed against to steer along the guideway. Communication induction loops and guideway heating pipes are located on the road surface.


The system has 73 vehicles that resemble small buses. They are long, high and wide. Weighing , they are powered by a motor that allows them to reach .


The vehicles have automatic doors on both sides that open to the platform, and are accessible for people with mobility disabilities. The vehicles are designed for 20 passengers, with four seats arranged in a "U" on each end and four stanchions in the center of the vehicle for twelve standees. A yearly event called the PRT Cram takes place in which student organizations try to pack as many individuals as possible inside a modified PRT vehicle. The record of 97 was set in 2000.


The cars are powered by three-phase 575-volt alternating current rectified to drive a direct current motor. Electric pickups are fixed on both sides of each car, which connect to electrified rails on one, or both, sides of the guideway. The wheels of the vehicles steer slightly toward whichever side is powered to ensure that they stay in firm electrical contact with the rails. Each car has four-wheel steering to help negotiate the tight turns in the PRT guideways, especially around stations.


The system connects the university's campuses via five stations (Walnut, Beechurst, Engineering, Towers, Medical) along a route. All stations are on sidings, which allows vehicles to bypass stations.


The guideway consists of concrete pathways with magnetic induction loops that provide car location data. The system's concrete pathways have embedded pipes that circulate a glycol solution, which is heated at stations to help melt snow and ice prevalent in Morgantown's snowy winter climate.


Most of the system (65%) is built on elevated bridges and viaducts, while the remainder is at or below ground level. The viaduct spans are approximately long, and there are two styles of viaduct, with those constructed in Phase I being noticeably heavier-duty than those built in Phase II.


The system is fully automated and can operate in three modes: "demand", "schedule", and "circulation".


In demand mode, which is used during off-peak hours, the system reacts dynamically to rider requests. After pressing the button to call a car, a timer starts. If the timer reaches a predetermined limit, typically 5 minutes, a vehicle is activated to service the request even if no other passengers have requested the same destination. Also, if the number of passengers waiting to travel to the same destination exceeds a predetermined limit, usually 15, a vehicle is immediately activated. In this mode the system operates as a true PRT.


During peak hours, the system switches to schedule mode, which operates the cars on fixed routes of known demand. This lowers the waiting time for a car traveling to a given destination and is more efficient than demand mode. During low-demand periods, the system switches to circulation mode, operating a small number of vehicles that stop at every station, like a bus service. This reduces the number of vehicles traveling on the network.


In the 2006 fiscal year, the system broke down 259 times for a total of 65 hours and 42 minutes, out of a total of 3,640 hours and 15 minutes scheduled running time, which equates to about 98% availability. Of those 259 breakdowns, 159 were caused by vehicle-related problems. In 2007, the system received funding to improve efficiency by reducing this vehicle downtime.


Since the system's completion in 1975, technology for PRTs has advanced considerably, but the control equipment for the Morgantown system changed very little. The control room is said to resemble a NASA mission control room from the 1970s, though the underlying electronics are more modern.


, the system's cost per trip is $2.01, the third least expensive (after New York and Boston) for any fixed guideway system in the United States.


Morgantown PRT operates chiefly as transportation for WVU's students and, as such, runs primarily during class days. During the fall and spring semesters, it operates 6:30 am–10:15 pm weekdays and 9:30 am–5:00 pm on Saturdays. It is normally closed on Sundays. During the summer semester, it operates 6:30 am–6:15 pm weekdays and 9:30 am–5:00 pm on Saturdays, and is closed on Sundays. When major WVU eventsnotably football and men's basketball gamesare scheduled to end outside of normal operating hours, the system will run for at least an hour after the end of the event. The system is closed on holidays and during semester breaks.


When it opened, the PRT was controlled by DEC PDP-11 computers installed in 1971. Due to difficulty in procuring replacement parts, these older computers were replaced in 1997-1998 with Intel Pentium computers.