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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.