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History •">old logo from 1971 to 2000, often called the "pointless arrow" or, less often but officially by Amtrak, the "inverted arrow." On July 6 2000 Amtrak unveiled "''...a new logo whose shape and suggestion of movement convey the comfort and uniqueness of the rail experience.''"• Passenger rail service before Amtrak Between 1870 and 1916, the total track mileage of U.S. railroads grew from 53,000 to 245,000 miles (85,000 to 394,000 km); during the same period, key technological innovations (including standard gauge track, more powerful locomotives, air brakes, signaling systems, and steel passenger cars) brought significant improvements in the safety and speed of rail travel. By 1910, railroads handled 95% of all intercity travel in the U.S. Peak volume of passenger rail travel was reached in 1920, when 1.2 billion passengers were carried. Even in the 1920s, railroads faced increasing competition for rail passengers from automobiles and buses, which used an expanding network of paved roads, many built with governmental funding. By 1929, intercity rail transportation had declined by 18%. A major casualty was passenger service on branch lines, which were increasingly subject to abandonment as total track mileage began a long, steady decline. As automobiles and buses took the place of passenger trains on short- and medium-haul trips, railroads lost the feeder services that had formerly brought throngs of passengers to their intercity services. Although passenger rail travel declined further during the Great Depression, new, diesel-powered streamliners, beginning with 1934's gleaming silver Pioneer Zephyr, brought many travelers back to the rails; in 1939, when 90 streamliners were in operation nationally, passenger travel had increased 38% from the 1932 level. During World War II, restrictions on automobile fuel use and troop movements led to explosive growth in passenger rail travel. The railroad companies had to scramble to find enough equipment to meet the demand. After the war, many railroad executives believed that — despite competition from automobiles and the then-nascent airline industry — a profitable market existed for intercity passenger rail travel. Thousands of gleaming, streamlined passenger cars were ordered, and a fleet of fast, beautiful, and often luxurious streamliners — epitomized by the Super Chief and California Zephyr — inspired an impressive resurgence in passenger rail travel. In 1948, Santa Fe CEO Fred G. Gurley reported a "complete reversal of our passenger traffic picture," with 1947 revenues exceeding those of 1936 by 220%. Inspired by America's technological leadership in passenger train design, railroads in Europe and Japan launched new, high-speed streamlined services expressly modeled on American innovations. The resurgence of passenger rail service in the U.S. proved to be short-lived. Although a few of the leading trains continued to generate modest profits through the 1950s and early 1960s, passengers disappeared in droves, and so did the trains. Between 1946 and 1964, the number of passengers carried per year declined from 770 to 298 million. In 1954, U.S. railroads operated more than 2,500 intercity (non-commuter) passenger trains; by 1969, there were fewer than 500. By 1970, with only a few exceptions, U.S. passenger rail service had declined to what can only be described as a miserable state: decrepit equipment, cavernous and nearly empty stations in dangerous urban centers, and management that seemed intent on driving away their few remaining customers. Even some of the most highly efficient private-sector railroads such as the Norfolk and Western Railway could not earn a profit or even recover the direct operating expenses for passenger service. The rise of commercial aviation and the Interstate Highway System beginning in the 1950s, the former heavily subsidized by taxpayers and the latter funded by gas taxes, drew would-be passengers away. However, intercity bus services also saw declines in ridership despite the efficiencies of the new Interstate Highway System. For ground transportation, more and more Americans chose the flexibility, convenience and privacy of personal transportation by automobile over public transportation by rail or bus. The 1960s also saw the end of railway post office revenues, which had helped some of the remaining trains break even despite the dearth of passengers. At the same time, the U.S. Federal government maintained regulatory policies that were unfavorable for passenger service: The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) was formed in 1967 to lobby for government funding to assure the continuation of passenger trains. Its lobbying efforts were hampered somewhat by opposition of the Democratic Party to any sort of subsidies to the privately-owned railroads, and Republican Party opposition to the nationalization of the railroad industry. The proponents were aided by the fact that few in the federal government wanted to be held responsible for the seemingly-inevitable extinction of the passenger train, which most regarded as tantamount to political suicide. The urgency of the need to solve the passenger train problem was heightened by the bankruptcy filing of the Penn Central, the dominant railroad in the Northeastern United States, on June 21 1970. Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 Under the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970, Congress created the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (NRPC) to subsidize and oversee the operation of intercity passenger trains. The Act provided that While it appeared for some time that President Richard M. Nixon would veto the legislation, ultimately it was signed into law on October 30 1970. The original working brand name for NRPC was Railpax, but shortly prior to the company's assumption of intercity rail passenger operations, the name was changed to Amtrak. At the time, many Washington insiders, including President Nixon and his aides, viewed the corporation as a face-saving way for the President and Congress to give passenger trains the one "last hurrah" demanded by the public, but expected that the NRPC would quietly disappear in a few years as public interest waned. However, while Amtrak's political and financial support have often been shaky, popular and political support for Amtrak has allowed it to survive long past its expected lifetime. Early days At Amtrak's startup, 20 out of the 26 eligible railroads had elected to join the Amtrak system: The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad, Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, Georgia Railroad, Reading Company and Southern Railway continued to run their own intercity trains after the Amtrak startup date. The Alaska Railroad provided long-distance service, but was already owned by the federal government. In addition, the Canadian Pacific Railway's Atlantic, taken over by VIA Rail in 1978, crossed northern Maine until 1994, and for a time another Canadian local service crossed part of northern Minnesota just south of the international border. Amtrak began operations May 1 1971 on a system about half the size of that operated the previous day. Several major corridors, including the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route across Ohio and the Grand Trunk Western Railroad's Chicago-Detroit line, became freight-only in favor of parallel lines. A 19-hour layover at Cincinnati was necessary for eastbound Chicago-Newport News travelers on the James Whitcomb Riley and George Washington. On the other hand, Amtrak's Coast Starlight (named November 14) was a first, running along the west coast from San Diego to Seattle, combining three separate trains operated by three railroads into one. The first timetable was compiled from former Official Guide of the Railways schedules with only minor changes. Former names were kept, and some trains were unnamed at first. By the July 12 timetable, service had returned to the Water Level Route with the Lake Shore (named November 14), and the Northeast Corridor received an Inland Route via Springfield, Massachusetts, thanks to money from New York, Ohio and Massachusetts. Due to pressure from Senator Mike Mansfield of Montana, the North Coast Hiawatha was implemented as a second route to the Pacific Northwest. The first all-new timetable was dated November 14 1971, and included several name changes and names for most of the formerly unnamed trains. New numbers were also assigned to all trains. Another barrier, at Chicago, was broken with the Milwaukee-St. Louis Abraham Lincoln and Prairie State. The Southern joined on February 1 1979, when its Southern Crescent became Amtrak's Crescent. The D&RGW last operated its Rio Grande Zephyr April 25 1983, and Amtrak's San Francisco Zephyr was renamed the California Zephyr. The Zephyr Except for the joining of routes through Oakland, California to create the continuous Coast Starlight, all Amtrak services on day one were continued from pre-Amtrak operations. The first all-new Amtrak route, in other words a route that had not been operated immediately prior to Amtrak, was the Montrealer/Washingtonian. That route was inaugurated September 29 1972 along Boston and Maine Railroad and Canadian National Railway track that had last seen passenger service in 1966. In its original conception, Amtrak did not actually own any track. Following the bankruptcy declaration of several northeastern railroads in the early 1970s — particularly that of Penn Central, which owned and operated the Northeast Corridor, Congress passed the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 to create a consolidated, federally-subsidized freight network called Conrail. As part of this legislation, the vital Northeast Corridor passenger route was transferred to Amtrak. In subsequent years, various short route segments needed for passenger operations but not for freight were transferred to Amtrak ownership. However, the majority of Amtrak's routes are hosted by private freight railroads, to which Amtrak pays the costs of adding its passenger trains. At the beginning in 1971, the host railroads supplied the rolling stock and operating crews. Amtrak soon purchased the best of the railroad equipment and subsequently has purchased new equipment. Today, Amtrak trains are staffed by Amtrak employees but, other than on the routes that Amtrak owns outright, are dispatched by the host railroads on whose tracks these trains operate. The fuel shortages of the mid-1970s discouraged travel on the nation's highways, and higher costs for aviation fuel increased air fares. Both these effects renewed interest in passenger rail travel. Given that railroads use fuel very efficiently, passenger rail travel no longer seemed quite so outmoded. Consequently, Amtrak's ridership began to increase. Another short-lived rebound in ridership occurred after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Conflicting goals
Politically appointed leaders and congressional funding Without a dedicated source of capital equipment and operating funding (except for competitive passenger fares and even less express income), Amtrak's continued operation has always been dependent upon the Executive and Legislative branches of the U.S. government. Both congressional funding and appointments of Amtrak's leaders are subject to political considerations, which have varied widely during its existence through seven U.S. presidencies and major shifts of power in the U.S. Congress. Political pressures extend to Amtrak's very route structure. As with any federally supported activity, the more states and congressional districts served, the more political support in Congress. Because Amtrak's board and president are all political appointees, some have had little or no experience with railroads. However, Amtrak has also benefited from both highly skilled and politically oriented leaders. For example, in 1982, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy and retired Southern Railway head W. Graham Claytor Jr. brought his naval and railroad experience to the job. Claytor had served briefly as an acting U.S. Secretary of Transportation in the cabinet of President Jimmy Carter in 1979, and came out of retirement to lead Amtrak after the disastrous financial results during the Carter administration (1977-1981). He was recruited and strongly supported by John H. Riley, an attorney who was the highly skilled head of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) under the Reagan Administration from 1983-1989. Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole also tacitly supported Amtrak. Claytor seemed to enjoy a good relationship with the Congress for his 11 years in the position. Of course, politics aside, that may have also been because he did a good job. According to an article in Fortune magazine, through vigorous cost cutting and aggressive marketing, within seven years under Claytor, Amtrak was generating enough cash to cover 72% of its $1.7 billion operating budget by 1989, up from 48% in 1981.• Modern history (1980s to present)
Federal funding
Labor dispute One problem associated with the federal funding is Amtrak's labor disputes. Many of Amtrak's employees have been working without a contract for over five years; the last contract signed in 1999 was mainly retroactive. Amtrak routes and services As a general rule, even-numbered routes run north and east while odd numbered routes run south and west. However, some routes, such as the Pacific Surfliners, use the exact opposite numbering system, which they inherited from the previous operators of similar routes, such as the Santa Fe Railroad. Amtrak gives each of its train routes a name. These names often reflect the rich and complex history of the route itself, or of the area traversed by the route. The most popular and heavily-used routes in the Amtrak system are those on the Northeast Corridor, which include the Acela Express, and Regional. These routes serve Boston, New York city, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond (Regional only), and many other smaller cities and towns between Boston and Newport News. Shuttle trains operating betweenSpringfield, Hartford, and New Haven and connecting to the Northeast Corridor at New Haven are also classified as Northeast Corridor trains. Other popular routes throughout the country that operate many times per day include: Northeast West Coast Amtraks Busiest Stations in 2005 Source Gaps in service The only states that are not served by Amtrak are Hawaii, Alaska (which is served by the Alaska Railroad) and South Dakota. Wyoming lost service in the 1997 cuts, but is still served by Amtrak's Thruway Motorcoaches. It should be noted, while operating in 47 states, Amtrak serves many states only nominally through stations along borders and/or away from major population areas. Damage to railroad track caused by Hurricane Katrina took large portions of the Sunset Limited train out of service. Originally the train departed from Orlando, Florida – but the aftermath of the hurricane caused the train to now originate at New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal. In addition, several major cities and regional business centers (including four with more than a million residents) are not directly served by Amtrak, including: Other cities are not served directly due to inconvenient water barriers; they include Norfolk ( Phoenix, Arizona is served via thruway motorcoach from the Southwest Chief at Flagstaff, Arizona — or the nearby, yet remote due to a lack of any public transportation connection, Maricopa, Arizona, roughly thirty miles from the city. Phoenix lost service in June of 1996 when now-defunct Southern Pacific (now a part of Union Pacific) threatened to abandon the line from Phoenix to Yuma . Commuter services Through various commuter services, Amtrak serves an additional 61.1 million passengers per year in conjunction with state and regional authorities in California, Washington, Maryland, Connecticut, and Virginia: In the past, Amtrak has operated Metrolink,• and MBTA Commuter Rail. Additionally, Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner (formerly San Diegan) train service is mostly funded by Caltrans and not the Federal Government. Intermodal connections Intermodal connections between Amtrak trains and other transportation are available at many stations. With few exceptions, Amtrak rail stations located in downtown areas have connections to local public transit. Amtrak also code shares with Continental Airlines providing service between Newark Liberty International Airport (via its Amtrak station and AirTrain Newark) and Philadelphia 30th St, Wilmington, Stamford, and New Haven. In addition, Amtrak serves airport stations at Milwaukee and Baltimore. Amtrak also coordinates Thruway Motorcoach service to extend many of its routes, particularly in California. Guest Rewards Amtrak operates a loyalty program called Guest Rewards, which is similar to the frequent flyer programs offered by many airlines. Guest Rewards members accumulate points by riding Amtrak and through other activities. Members can then redeem these points for free or discounted Amtrak tickets and other awards. Amtrak in comparison to other transportation Outside of the Northeast Corridor Amtrak originally was a minor player in transportation markets. It since has added frequent-interval service in a number of corridors in the East, Midwest, California, and the Pacific Northwest. In 2003, Amtrak accounted for 0.1% of US intercity passenger miles (5,680 million out of 5,280,860 million total, of which private automobile travel makes up the vast majority).*. In fiscal year 2004, Amtrak routes served over 25 million passengers, while in calendar year 2004 commercial airlines served over 712 million passengers*. Amtrak, however, serves many communities which have no air service or other public transportation. In 2003, Amtrak had an on-time performance of 74% * compared to 82% for major airlines (77% in 2005).*. Revenue (2003)[http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_03_16.html] Energy consumption Dept. of Transportation (Bureau of Transportation Statistics), 2004* Dept. of Energy (Oak Ridge National Labs), 2003* Safety Statistics (2000)[http://www.nsc.org/lrs/statfaq.htm] Freight services Amtrak Express provides small package and less-than-truckload shipping services between more than 100 cities. Amtrak Express also offers station-to-station shipment of human remains to many express cities. At smaller stations, funeral directors must load and unload the shipment onto and off the train. Amtrak also hauled mail for the United States Postal Service as well as time sensitive freight shipments, but discontinued these services in October of 2004. On most parts of the few lines that Amtrak owns, it has trackage rights agreements allowing freight railroads to use its trackage. Trains and tracks Most tracks are owned by freight railroads. Amtrak operates over all seven Class I railroads, as well as several short lines — the Guilford Rail System, New England Central Railroad and Vermont Railway. Other sections are owned by terminal railroads jointly controlled by freight companies or by commuter rail agencies. Tracks owned by the company Along the NEC and in several other areas, Amtrak owns 730 route-miles of track (1175 km), including 17 tunnels consisting of 29.7 miles of track (47.8 km), and 1,186 bridges (including the famous Hell Gate Bridge) consisting of 42.5 miles (68.4 km) of track. Amtrak owns and operates the following lines.• Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C. and Boston via Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark and New York is largely composed of Amtrak's own tracks. These are combined with those of several state and regional commuter agencies in what amounts to a cooperative arrangement. Amtrak's portion was acquired in 1976 as a result of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act. Keystone Corridor This line runs from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and is in the midst of a rehabilitation project that will eventually see 110 mph (about 175 km/h) service. Empire Corridor New Haven-Springfield Line Other tracks Amtrak also owns station and yard tracks in: Chicago, Hialeah (near Miami, Florida) (leased from the State of Florida), Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Oakland (Kirkham Street Yard), Orlando, Portland, Oregon, Saint Paul, Minnesota, Seattle, Washington, DC Amtrak wholly owns the Chicago Union Station Company (Chicago Union Station) and Penn Station Leasing (New York Penn Station). It has a 99.7% interest in the Washington Terminal Company (Washington Union Station) and 99% of 30th Street Limited (Philadelphia 30th Street Station). Also owned by Amtrak is Passenger Railroad Insurance.• Motive power and rolling stock
See also Corporate sites Passenger train support and advocacy (U.S. national) Passenger train support and advocacy (state and regional) Amtrak criticism History Miscellaneous | |||||||||||||||||
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