Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is conducting an Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study to evaluate the restoration of daily long-distance intercity rail passenger service and the potential for new Amtrak long-distance routes. This study will ultimately create a long-term vision for long-distance passenger rail service and identify capital projects and funding needed to implement that vision.
History of Amtrak
Amtrak was established by the Rail Passenger Act of 1970, which removed the requirement for U.S. railroads to provide intercity passenger rail service and created Amtrak to fulfill that role instead. In 1971, the US Department of Transportation (US DOT) designated 21 city pairs between which intercity passenger trains should operate, and Amtrak began service between those cities later that year.
The new passenger rail system was about half the size (by route miles) of the pre-1971 U.S. passenger rail system, which had been operated by multiple railroads. At the request of Congress, several long-distance routes were added to Amtrak’s system in the 1970s, but long-distance service contracted in the following decades – especially after a 1978 US DOT report that recommended significant service reductions. Long-distance network service reductions over the past 50 years have resulted in some communities losing common carrier transportation options, as well as the economic and social benefits of those connections.
Study Outcomes
The Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study will:
- Evaluate options for restoring or enhancing to daily basis intercity passenger rail service along routes.
- Select preferred options for restoring or enhancing service.
- Develop a prioritized inventory of capital projects and other actions required to restore or enhance the service, including cost estimates for those projects and actions.
- Develop recommendations for methods by which Amtrak could work with local communities and organizations to develop activities and programs to continuously improve public use of intercity passenger rail service along each route.
- Identify Federal and non-Federal funding sources required to restore or enhance the service.
How You Can Help
Want to help bring Amtrak to Amarillo? Contact the Amtrak study team today: