Cardinal (train)

Last updated

Cardinal
Amtrak P42DC 164 through Orange, Virginia.jpg
Cardinal passing through Orange, Virginia in 2021.
Overview
Service type Inter-city rail
Higher speed rail (Northeast Corridor only)
Locale Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern and Southeastern United States
Predecessor James Whitcomb Riley
First serviceOctober 30, 1977
Current operator(s) Amtrak
Annual ridership82,705 (FY23)Increase2.svg 3.0% [lower-alpha 1] [1]
Route
Termini Chicago, Illinois
New York
Stops36
Distance travelled1,146 miles (1,844 km)
Average journey time27 hours, 45 minutes [2]
Service frequencyThree round trips per week
Train number(s)50/51
On-board services
Class(es) Coach Class
Sleeper Service
Disabled accessAll train cars, most stations
Sleeping arrangements
  • Roomette (2 beds)
  • Bedroom (2 beds)
  • Bedroom Suite (4 beds)
  • Accessible Bedroom (2 beds)
Catering facilities Café/Dinette (combined car)
Baggage facilitiesOverhead racks, checked baggage available at selected stations
Technical
Rolling stock
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed41 mph (66 km/h) (avg.)
125 mph (201 km/h) (top)
Track owner(s) AMTK, BB, CN, CSX, METX, NS, UP
Route map
Cardinal (train)
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0mi
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10 mi
16 km
Newark Penn
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58 mi
93 km
Trenton
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91 mi
146 km
Philadelphia–30th Street
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PA
DE
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116 mi
187 km
Wilmington
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DE
MD
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185 mi
298 km
Baltimore
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MD
DC
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225 mi
362 km
Washington, D.C.
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233 mi
375 km
Alexandria
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258 mi
415 km
Manassas
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293 mi
472 km
Culpeper
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340 mi
547 km
Charlottesville
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379 mi
610 km
Staunton
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437 mi
703 km
Clifton Forge
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VA
WV
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472 mi
760 km
White Sulphur Springs
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496 mi
798 km
Alderson
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517 mi
832 km
Hinton
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540 mi
869 km
Prince
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551 mi
887 km
Thurmond
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592 mi
953 km
Montgomery
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619 mi
996 km
Charleston
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668 mi
1075 km
Huntington
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Tri-State
closed
1998
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683 mi
1099 km
Ashland
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712 mi
1146 km
South Portsmouth–
South Shore
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766 mi
1233 km
Maysville
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828 mi
1333 km
Cincinnati
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851 mi
1370 km
Hamilton
closed
2005
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pre-1986 route
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864 mi
1390 km
Oxford
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OH
IN
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893 mi
1437 km
Connersville
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951 mi
1530 km
Indianapolis
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998 mi
1606 km
Crawfordsville
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1025 mi
1650 km
Lafayette
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1072 mi
1725 km
Rensselaer
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1118 mi
1799 km
Dyer
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mi
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Muncie
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Marion
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Peru
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Gary
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IN
IL
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1147 mi
1846 km
Chicago
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The Cardinal is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York Penn Station and Chicago Union Station via Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Charlottesville, Charleston, Huntington, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis. Along with the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited , it is one of three trains linking the Northeast and Chicago. Its 1,146-mile (1,844 km) trip between New York and Chicago takes 2814 hours. [3]

Contents

The Cardinal has three round trips each week, departing New York City on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and departing Chicago on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Prior to being discontinued in 2019, the Hoosier State provided service on the portion of the Cardinal's route between Indianapolis and Chicago on the other four days of the week. [3] [4]

The Cardinal's ridership was 82,705 in fiscal year 2023, a 3.0% increase from FY2022, [5] but approximately 25% below its pre-COVID-19 pandemic ridership of about 109,000 in FY2019. In the two fiscal years prior to the pandemic (FY2018 and FY2019), ridership had increased 12.5%. [6] [7] [8] In FY2020, the Cardinal earned $7.1 million on expenses of $22.6M—a revenue-to-cost ratio of 31%, the second lowest among all Amtrak routes. [9]

History

The Cardinal is the successor of several previous trains, primarily the New York Central (later Penn Central) James Whitcomb Riley and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) George Washington. The James Whitcomb Riley was a daytime all-coach train which operated between Chicago and Cincinnati (via Indianapolis). The George Washington, the C&O's flagship train, was a long-distance sleeper that ran between Cincinnati and—via a split in Charlottesville, Virginia—Washington, D.C. and Newport News, Virginia. Until the late 1950s, the Riley carried the Washington's sleeper cars between Cincinnati and Chicago. [10] Both routes survived until the formation of Amtrak in 1971. [11] :51,93

Amtrak kept service mostly identical through the spring and summer of 1971. [12] It slowly began integrating the trains that summer. The two trains began exchanging through Washington—Chicago and Newport News—Chicago coaches at Cincinnati on July 12, and a through sleeping car began September 8. [13] On November 14, the Riley and George Washington merged into a single long-distance Chicago-Washington train, with the eastbound train (train 50) known as the George Washington and the westbound train (train 51) known as the Riley. [14] :38 The eastern terminus was briefly extended to Boston, giving the Northeast Corridor a one-seat ride to Chicago. However, it was truncated back to Washington in 1972. On May 19, 1974, Amtrak fully merged the George Washington into the Riley.

During the early Amtrak era, the Riley was plagued by the poor condition of ex-New York Central track in Indiana. In 1973, it was moved to ex-Pennsylvania Railroad track through Indianapolis. [14] :256 By 1974, Amtrak rerouted it off Penn Central track altogether; by then, the trackage had deteriorated so badly that the Riley was limited to 10 mph (16 km/h) for much of its route through Indiana. [13] The Newport News section ended in 1976, replaced by the BostonNewport News Colonial . [15] A number of long-distance trains running along former Penn Central trackage in the Midwest were plagued by similar problems.

The former station in Muncie, Indiana, before the realignment via Indianapolis Former C&O depot, Muncie, Indiana.jpg
The former station in Muncie, Indiana, before the realignment via Indianapolis

The James Whitcomb Riley was renamed the Cardinal on October 30, 1977, as the cardinal was the state bird of all six states through which it ran. However, due to poor track conditions in Indiana, the train was rerouted numerous times, first over various Penn Central/Conrail routings that had once been part of the Pennsylvania Railroad, then ultimately over the former Baltimore and Ohio route via Cottage Grove by 1980. [16] :121

The Cardinal was eventually extended to run along the Northeast Corridor again in an effort to improve the Cardinal's cost recovery ratio, but this time with the eastern terminus moved to New York. Previously, the Broadway Limited ran from New York to Chicago along the Northeast Corridor, but only as far south as Philadelphia. The train was discontinued on September 30, 1981, but revived on January 8, 1982, per a mandate initiated by Senator Robert C. Byrd. While the Cardinal and its predecessors had run daily, [17] the revived Cardinal ran only three times per week. [18] The revived train followed another new route, via Richmond and Muncie, Indiana. This arrangement lasted until April 27, 1986, when the train was finally moved to its current route via Indianapolis. [16] :121 [19] On October 29, 1995, the Cardinal was truncated to Washington, D.C. after the consist was updated with Superliners. On October 27, 2002, after derailments on other routes depleted available Superliner cars, the Superliners were replaced with Viewliners. The Cardinal continued to operate the Chicago-Washington D.C. schedule. Service to New York was restored on Sunday's westbound Cardinal on October 27, 2003. Full service to New York resumed on April 26, 2004.

From March 29, 2018, to November 8, 2018, due to continuing construction at New York Penn Station, the Cardinal's eastern terminus was temporarily moved to Washington. Cardinal passengers needing to travel to or from points north of Washington were transferred to a Northeast Regional. [20]

Hoosier State

With the Indianapolis routing, the Cardinal began operating jointly with the Chicago–Indianapolis Hoosier State. The Hoosier State operated to Indianapolis on the days the Cardinal did not, assuring seven-day service between Chicago and Indianapolis. This pattern ceased on October 25, 1987, when the Hoosier State became a full-fledged daily train once again. The Hoosier State was dropped on September 8, 1995, but resumed again on July 19, 1998, again running on days that the Cardinal did not run.

On December 17, 1999, Amtrak extended the Hoosier State to Jeffersonville, Indiana, (and later to Louisville, Kentucky) and renamed the train the Kentucky Cardinal. This new train was a daily service; on days when the Cardinal operated, the two trains ran combined between Indianapolis and Chicago. Amtrak ultimately discontinued the Kentucky Cardinal on July 4, 2003, and brought back the Hoosier State on the pre-1999 schedule.

After Indiana discontinued its subsidy, Amtrak suspended the Hoosier State as of June 30, 2019. Passengers who booked trips after that date were compensated with Cardinal tickets.

Plans

In the July 2010 issue of Trains magazine, the Cardinal was noted as being one of five routes under consideration for performance improvement. For the Cardinal, the proposed changes included increasing service from thrice-weekly to daily operation, and changing the western terminus to St. Louis, Missouri. Railfan and Railroad magazine also suggested that the train be rerouted to St. Louis, with a separate section bound for Chicago. [21]

In early October 2010, Amtrak released a report detailing plans to increase the Cardinal's service from thrice-weekly to daily service, as well as increasing the train's on-time performance and food service. [22] The January 2011 issue of Trains later revealed that Amtrak would scrap re-routing and Superliner conversion and instead adopt not only daily service, but also purchasing dome cars to be used along the Chicago-Washington, D.C., portion of the trip. In addition, the routing into Chicago Union Station would be changed and station platforms along the route containing coal dust would be scrubbed and cleaned. [23]

However, obstacles to a daily Cardinal persist. Track capacity is limited on the Buckingham Branch Railroad, a short line railroad between Orange and Clifton Forge, Virginia where the Cardinal operates along former C&O/CSX trackage, preventing frequent freight trains from passing a daily Cardinal. This problem also applied to the planned-but-failed Greenbrier Presidential Express train, which would also have traversed the Buckingham Branch on a weekly basis. The Buckingham Branch requires additional funding to expand several sidings before allowing additional service. [24] Another obstacle is freight congestion in Chicago particularly at the 75th Street Corridor on Chicago's South Side. [25] The third obstacle is capacity at the Long Bridge in Washington, D.C.. [26] Infrastructure improvements are being made at all three. The Orange Branch between Orange and Gordonsville raised train speed after the completion of a track and signal project in 2017. [27] The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE) has received funding under a public–private partnership (P3) for the 75th Street Corridor with construction beginning in October 2018 and is scheduled to be finished by 2025. [25] [28] A parallel span of the Long Bridge is full funded and moving towards engineering design and financing. [26]

Starting on October 1, 2019, traditional dining car services were removed and replaced with a reduced menu of "Flexible Dining" options. As a result, the changes to the consist of the train will have the dining car serve as a lounge car for the exclusive use of sleeping car passengers. [29]

In June 2021, Senator Jon Tester of Montana added an amendment to the Surface Transportation Investment Act of 2021 which would require the Department of Transportation (not Amtrak itself) to evaluate daily service on all less frequent long-distance trains, meaning the Cardinal and Sunset Limited . [30] The bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee with bipartisan support, [31] [32] and was later rolled into President Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which Congress passed on November 5, 2021. [33] The report must be delivered to Congress within two years. [34] In mid-2023, Amtrak applied for a federal grant to operate the Cardinal daily and increase speeds between Indianapolis and Dyer. [35] In December 2023 the daily Cardinal project was granted $500,000 from the IIJA through the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor Identification and Development Program. [36]

Train consist

In the early 1990s, the Cardinal ran with the usual Amtrak long-distance consist of two EMD F40PHs or one GE E60, plus several material handling cars (MHC) and baggage cars, followed by several Amfleet coaches, an Amfleet lounge, a Heritage diner, two or three Heritage 10-6 sleepers, a slumbercoach, and finally, a baggage dormitory car. Following the delivery of the Superliner II fleet, however, the Cardinal was re-equipped with Superliner cars in 1995. [37] As a result, its route was truncated to end in Washington D.C., as Superliners cannot operate on the Northeast Corridor due to low tunnel clearances in Baltimore and New York City. With the Superliner equipment, the consist would usually be two Superliner sleeping cars, a diner, a Sightseer Lounge, a baggage coach, and a coach.

In 2002, two derailments on other routes took numerous Superliner cars out of service. Because of this, insufficient Superliner equipment was available for use on the Cardinal. The Cardinal was re-equipped with a consist of single-level long-distance cars, including dining, lounge, sleeping, and dormitory cars, although service to New York was not restored until 2004. Subsequent fleet shortages shortened the Cardinal further, and at one point, the train was running with two or three Amfleet II coaches and a combined diner-lounge car. While the sleeping car was later restored, the Cardinal has not had a dormitory car or a diner since. Similarly, though the baggage car was also removed, it was restored in response to an upturn in patronage in mid-2010. In 2016, Amtrak added business class service to the Cardinal. [38]

Amtrak began replacing the older P40DC and P42DC locomotives with Siemens ALC-42 locomotives in 2023. [39] The Cardinal's typical consist includes a single locomotive, three Amfleet II long-distance coaches, a single Amfleet II Diner-Lite diner-lounge car, one or two Viewliner II sleeping cars, and a Viewliner II baggage-dorm car.

Route overview

Amtrak bills the Cardinal's route as one of the most scenic in its system. After an early morning departure from New York and traveling south down the Northeast Corridor, the train passes through Virginia's rolling horse country, across the Blue Ridge and the Shenandoah Valley. It then climbs the Allegheny Mountains and stops at the resort town of White Sulphur Springs, home to The Greenbrier, a famous luxury resort. The Cardinal descends on tracks through New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, a unit of the National Park Service protecting the longest deepest river gorge in the Eastern U.S. The river is popular for white water rafting, and the cliffs attract rock climbers. The forests blaze with autumn foliage and the train usually sells out during the peak season. The Cardinal will often add the only remaining full-length dome car in Amtrak service, car number 10031, to the consist in the autumn to try to accommodate the leaf peepers. [40]

Amtrak train 51 arriving at Thurmond

The schedules are timed to provide a daylight transit of the New River Gorge almost all year. So westbound, the train travels at night from Charleston, West Virginia, on to Indianapolis, where it arrives about dawn, reaching Chicago in mid-morning. Eastbound the Cardinal departs late afternoon, reaching Indianapolis before midnight, Charleston mid-morning, and NYC in the late evening. Unfortunately, Cincinnati is served both directions with stops after midnight, yet about 15,000 passengers a year arrive or depart from this station.

The Cardinal is one of only two of Amtrak's 15 long-distance trains to operate only three days a week, the other being the Sunset Limited . Like other long-distance trains, passengers are not allowed to travel only between stations on the Northeast Corridor on the Cardinal. Eastbound trains only stop to discharge passengers from Alexandria northward, and westbound trains only stop to receive passengers from Newark to Washington. This policy aims to keep seats available for passengers making longer trips; passengers traveling between Northeast Corridor stations can use the more frequent Acela Express or Northeast Regional services.

Route details

Cardinal route map Amtrak Cardinal.svg
Cardinal route map

The Cardinal operates over Amtrak, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, Buckingham Branch Railroad, Canadian National Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, and Metra trackage:

The Buckingham Branch trackage is one of the few Class III railroad used in the Amtrak system.

Station stops

State/ProvinceTown/CityStationConnections
Illinois Chicago Chicago Union Station BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak (long-distance): California Zephyr , Capitol Limited , City of New Orleans , Empire Builder , Lake Shore Limited , Southwest Chief , Texas Eagle
BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak (intercity): Blue Water , Hiawatha , Illini and Saluki, Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, Lincoln Service , Pere Marquette , Wolverine
Metramlogo.svg Metra:   BNSF,   Milwaukee District North,   Milwaukee District West,   North Central Service,   Heritage Corridor,   SouthWest Service
Chicago Transit Authority Logo.svg Chicago "L": Blue (at Clinton), Brown Orange Pink Purple (at Quincy)
Bus-logo.svg CTA Bus, Pace Bus
BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak Thruway to Madison, Rockford (Van Galder), Louisville (Greyhound)
Indiana Dyer Dyer
Rensselaer Rensselaer
Lafayette Lafayette Bus-logo.svg CityBus
Greyhound no dog.svg Greyhound Lines
Crawfordsville Crawfordsville
Indianapolis Indianapolis Bus-logo.svg IndyGo
BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak Thruway ( Burlington Trailways )

Greyhound no dog.svg Greyhound Lines

Connersville Connersville
Ohio Cincinnati Cincinnati Bus-logo.svg SORTA Metro
Kentucky Maysville Maysville Bus-logo.svg Maysville Transit
South Shore South Portsmouth–South Shore
Ashland Ashland Bus-logo.svg Ashland Bus System
Greyhound no dog.svg Greyhound Lines
West Virginia Huntington Huntington Bus-logo.svg Tri-State Transit Authority
Charleston Charleston BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak Thruway to Sutton/Flatwoods, Weston, Clarksburg, Fairmont, Morgantown ( Barons Bus Lines ) [41]
Bus-logo.svg Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority
Montgomery Montgomery Bus-logo.svg Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority
Thurmond Thurmond
Prince Prince
Hinton Hinton
Alderson Alderson
White Sulphur Springs White Sulphur Springs
Virginia Clifton Forge Clifton Forge
Staunton Staunton Bus-logo.svg Staunton Free Trolley, Coordinated Area Transportation Services (at Staunton Visitor Center)
Charlottesville Charlottesville BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak: Crescent , Northeast Regional
BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak Thruway to Richmond (James River Transportation), Washington, D.C.
Greyhound no dog.svg Greyhound Lines
Bus-logo.svg Charlottesville Area Transit
Culpeper Culpeper BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak: Crescent , Northeast Regional
Manassas Manassas BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak: Crescent , Northeast Regional
Virginia Railway Express.svg VRE:   Manassas Line
Bus-logo.svg PRTC: Manassas Metro Direct, OmniLink Manassas
Alexandria Alexandria BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak: Crescent , Northeast Regional , Silver Meteor , Silver Star
Virginia Railway Express.svg VRE:   Fredericksburg Line,   Manassas Line
WMATA Metro Logo small.svg Metro: WMATA Blue.svg Blue Line, WMATA Yellow.svg Yellow Line
Bus-logo.svg Metrobus, DASH
District of
Columbia
Washington Washington Union Station BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak: Acela , Capitol Limited , Carolinian , Crescent , Palmetto , Northeast Regional , Silver Meteor , Silver Star , Vermonter
MARC train.svg MARC:   Brunswick Line,   Camden Line,   Penn Line
Virginia Railway Express.svg VRE:   Manassas Line,   Fredericksburg Line
WMATA Metro Logo small.svg Metro: WMATA Red.svg Red Line
BSicon TRAM1.svg DC Streetcar: H Street/Benning Road Line
Bus-logo.svg Metrobus, DC Circulator, MTA Maryland, Loudoun County Transit, OmniRide
BSicon BUS2.svg Intercity bus: Greyhound no dog.svg Greyhound Lines, MegabusIcon.svg Megabus, BoltBus, BestBus, Peter Pan, OurBus
Maryland Baltimore Baltimore BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak: Acela , Carolinian , Crescent , Palmetto , Northeast Regional , Silver Meteor , Silver Star , Vermonter
MARC train.svg MARC:   Penn Line
Baltimore Light RailLink logo.svg Light RailLink
Bus-logo.svg MTA Maryland, Charm City Circulator
Delaware Wilmington Wilmington BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak: Acela , Carolinian , Crescent , Palmetto , Northeast Regional , Silver Meteor , Silver Star , Vermonter
Greyhound no dog.svg Greyhound Lines
SEPTA.svg SEPTA Regional Rail:   Wilmington/Newark Line
Bus-logo.svg DART First State
Pennsylvania Philadelphia 30th Street Station BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak: Acela , Carolinian , Crescent , Keystone Service , Northeast Regional , Palmetto , Pennsylvanian , Silver Meteor , Silver Star , Vermonter
SEPTA.svg SEPTA Regional Rail: all lines
NJT logo.svg NJ Transit:   Atlantic City Line
SEPTA.svg SEPTA City Transit: Market-Frankford Subway-Surface
Bus-logo.svg SEPTA City Bus, SEPTA Suburban Bus
New Jersey Trenton Trenton BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak: Carolinian , Crescent , Keystone Service , Northeast Regional , Pennsylvanian , Silver Meteor , Silver Star , Vermonter
NJT logo.svg NJ Transit:   Northeast Corridor Line,   River Line
SEPTA.svg SEPTA Regional Rail:   Trenton Line
Bus-logo.svg NJ Transit Bus, SEPTA Suburban Bus
Newark Newark Penn Station BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak: Acela , Carolinian , Crescent , Keystone Service , Northeast Regional , Palmetto , Pennsylvanian , Silver Meteor , Silver Star , Vermonter
NJT logo.svg NJ Transit:   North Jersey Coast Line,   Northeast Corridor Line,   Raritan Valley Line
PATH logo.svg PATH: NWK-WTC
NJT NJ Symbol.svg Newark Light Rail
Bus-logo.svg NJ Transit Bus
New York New York City New York Penn Station BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak (long-distance): Crescent , Lake Shore Limited , Palmetto , Silver Meteor , Silver Star
BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak (intercity): Acela , Adirondack , Berkshire Flyer , Carolinian , Empire Service , Ethan Allen Express , Keystone Service , Maple Leaf , Northeast Regional , Pennsylvanian , Vermonter
MTA NYC logo.svg LIRR:   Main Line,   Port Washington Branch
NJT logo.svg NJ Transit:   North Jersey Coast Line,   Northeast Corridor Line,   Gladstone Branch,   Montclair-Boonton Line,   Morristown Line
BSicon SUBWAY.svg NYC Subway: NYCS-bull-trans-1-Std.svg NYCS-bull-trans-2-Std.svg NYCS-bull-trans-3-Std.svg NYCS-bull-trans-A-Std.svg NYCS-bull-trans-C-Std.svg NYCS-bull-trans-E-Std.svg
PATH logo.svg PATH: HOB-33 JSQ-33 JSQ-33 (via HOB)
Bus-logo.svg NYC Transit Bus

Ridership

Traffic by Fiscal Year (October-September)
RidershipChange over previous yearTicket RevenueChange over previous year
2007 [42] 193,748-$14,877,428-
2008 [42] 216,350Increase2.svg11.66%$17,431,949Increase2.svg17.17%
2009 [42] 215,371Decrease2.svg0.45%$17,581,767Increase2.svg0.85%
2010 [43] 218,956Increase2.svg1.66%$18,578,926Increase2.svg5.67%
2011 [43] 226,597Increase2.svg3.48%$20,312,544Increase2.svg9.33%
2012 [44] 226,884Increase2.svg0.12%$20,480,182Increase2.svg0.82%
2013 [44] 229,668Increase2.svg1.22%$21,373,833Increase2.svg4.36%
2014 [45] 235,926Increase2.svg2.72%$20,591,711Decrease2.svg3.65%
2015 [45] 226,240Decrease2.svg4.1%$19,103,951Decrease2.svg7.22%
2016 [46] 228,444Increase2.svg0.97%$18,973,626Decrease2.svg0.68%
2017 [47] 231,000Increase2.svg1.11%--
2018 [48] 219,033Decrease2.svg5.18%--
2019 [48] 209,578Decrease2.svg4.31%--
2020 [49] 63,223Decrease2.svg69.83%--
2021 [50] 69,098Increase2.svg9.3%--
2022 [50] 80,322Increase2.svg16.2%--

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<i>Texas Eagle</i> Amtrak service between Chicago and Los Angeles via Texas

The Texas Eagle is a long-distance passenger train operated daily by Amtrak on a 1,306-mile (2,102 km) route between Chicago, Illinois, and San Antonio, Texas, with major stops in St. Louis, Little Rock, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin. Three days per week, the train joins the Sunset Limited in San Antonio and continues to Los Angeles via El Paso and Tucson. The combined 2,728-mile (4,390 km) route is the longest in the United States and the second-longest in the Americas, after the Canadian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superliner (railcar)</span> Class of American double-deck, long-distance passenger cars

The Superliner is a type of bilevel intercity railroad passenger car used by Amtrak, the national rail passenger carrier in the United States. Amtrak commissioned the cars to replace older single-level cars on its long-distance trains in the Western United States. The design was based on the Budd Hi-Level cars used by the Santa Fe Railway on its El Capitan trains. Pullman-Standard built 284 cars, known as Superliner I, from 1975 to 1981; Bombardier Transportation built 195, known as Superliner II, from 1991 to 1996. The Superliner I cars were the last passenger cars built by Pullman.

<i>Silver Meteor</i> Amtrak service between New York and Florida

The Silver Meteor is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Miami, Florida. Introduced in 1939 as the first diesel-powered streamliner between New York and Florida, it was the flagship train of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) and one of the flagship trains of its successor, the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL). The train was transferred to Amtrak when it took over intercity passenger rail service in 1971.

<i>Silver Star</i> (Amtrak train) Amtrak service between New York and Florida

The Silver Star is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a 1,522-mile (2,449 km) route between New York City and Miami via Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia, Raleigh, North Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida, and Tampa, Florida. The Silver Star and its sister train in the Silver Service brand, the Silver Meteor, are the descendants of numerous long-distance trains that operated between Florida and New York for most of the 20th century.

<i>Palmetto</i> (train) Amtrak service between New York City, NY and Savannah, GA

The Palmetto is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a 829-mile (1,334 km) route between New York City and Savannah, Georgia, via the Northeast Corridor, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia, Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina. The Palmetto is a shorter version of the Silver Meteor, which continues south to Miami, Florida. From 1996 to 2002 this service was called the Silver Palm. Although currently a day train, the Palmetto is considered a long-distance train by Amtrak and previously provided overnight sleeper service to Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amfleet</span> Class of American passenger railroad cars

Amfleet is a fleet of single-level intercity railroad passenger cars built by the Budd Company for American company Amtrak in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Budd based the Amfleet design on its earlier Metroliner electric multiple unit. An initial order for 57 cars in 1973 to supplement the Metroliners on the Northeast Corridor grew to two orders totaling 642 cars, sufficient to reequip all the services on the Northeast Corridor and many other routes around the United States. The first 492 cars, known as Amfleet I and completed between 1975 and 1977, were designed for short-distance service. A second order of 150 cars, known as Amfleet II and completed between 1980 and 1983, were designed for long-distance service. They were the last intercity passenger cars built by Budd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viewliner</span> Class of American passenger railroad cars

The Viewliner is a single-level railroad car type operated by Amtrak on most long-distance routes operating east of Chicago. The first production cars, consisting of an order of 50 sleeping cars, entered service in 1994. From 2015-2016, 70 Viewliner II baggage cars entered service. The new baggage cars are used on all Amtrak trains with full baggage cars, both single-level and bi-level, and replaced all of the Heritage Fleet baggage cars that Amtrak inherited from the freight railroads when it was established in 1971. From 2016-2019, 25 Viewliner II dining cars entered service, which replaced all of the Heritage Fleet dining cars. In 2019, 10 Viewliner II baggage-dormitory cars entered service. The last cars to enter service were 25 Viewliner II sleeping cars in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indianapolis Union Station</span> Historic train station in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.

The Indianapolis Union Station is an intercity train station in the Wholesale District of Indianapolis, Indiana. The terminal is served by Amtrak's Cardinal line, passing through Indianapolis three times weekly.

<i>Wolverine</i> (Amtrak train) Amtrak service between Chicago, IL, and Pontiac, MI

The Wolverine is a higher-speed passenger train service operated by Amtrak as part of its Michigan Services. The 304-mile (489 km) line provides three daily round-trips between Chicago and Pontiac, Michigan, via Ann Arbor and Detroit. It carries a heritage train name descended from the New York Central.

<i>Blue Water</i> (train) Amtrak service between Chicago, IL and Port Huron, MI

The Blue Water is a higher-speed passenger train service operated by Amtrak as part of its Michigan Services. The 319-mile (513 km) route runs from Chicago, Illinois, to Port Huron in Michigan's Blue Water Area, for which the train is named. Major stops are in Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, East Lansing, and Flint.

<i>Hoosier State</i> (train) Amtrak train route between Chicago, Illinois and Indianapolis, Indiana

The Hoosier State was a 196-mile (315 km) passenger train service operated by Amtrak between Chicago and Indianapolis. It ran on the four days each week that the Cardinal did not run, giving daily rail service to the Chicago–Indianapolis corridor.

<i>James Whitcomb Riley</i> (train) American named passenger train (1941–1977)

The James Whitcomb Riley was a passenger train that operated between Chicago, Illinois, and Cincinnati, Ohio, via Indianapolis, Indiana. Originally operated by the New York Central Railroad, it was taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Under Amtrak, it merged with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway's George Washington to become a Chicago-Washington/Newport News train. In 1977, it was renamed the Cardinal, which remains in operation.

<i>Shenandoah</i> (Amtrak train) Former Amtrak train between Washington, DC, and Cincinnati, OH

The Shenandoah was a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak between Washington and Cincinnati from 1976 until 1981.

<i>Mountaineer</i> (train) Former Amtrak passenger train in the eastern US

The Mountaineer was a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Norfolk, Virginia, and Chicago, Illinois, via Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the first train to use the Norfolk and Western Railway's tracks since the creation of Amtrak in 1971 and followed the route of the Pocahontas, the N&W's last passenger train. Service began in 1975 and ended in 1977. A new train, the Hilltopper, operated over much of the Mountaineer's route but was itself discontinued in 1979.

The Night Owl was a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., and Boston, Massachusetts, via New York City. It operated from 1972 to 1995 on an overnight schedule with sleeper service; it was the only such train on the Northeast Corridor. In 1995 Amtrak dropped most individual train names from its Northeast Corridor services and the Night Owl became another NortheastDirect service, but still on an overnight schedule. Amtrak replaced it with the Twilight Shoreliner in 1997.

<i>California Zephyr</i> Amtrak service between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area

The California Zephyr is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area, via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At 2,438 miles (3,924 km), it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall after the Texas Eagle's triweekly continuation from San Antonio to Los Angeles, with travel time between the termini taking approximately 5112 hours. Amtrak claims the route as one of its most scenic, with views of the upper Colorado River valley in the Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada. The modern train is the second iteration of a train named California Zephyr; the original train was privately operated and ran on a different route through Nevada and California.

References

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Notes

  1. Amtrak's Fiscal Year (FY) runs from October 1 of the prior year to September 30 of the named year.

Further reading

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