Amtrak Today and the Future of Passenger Railroading

Today, Amtrak (officially known as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) and passenger rail, as a whole, are stronger than ever and increasingly gaining support as oil prices soar and we look for cleaner and more efficient ways to travel. Since 2000 when the Amtrak introduced high-speed Acela service (and more trains/routes in general) along its Northeast Corridor growth for the carrier has become much more prominent. Since 2002 Amtrak has broken annual ridership records and just in July of 2007 it was reported that ridership was up 9% over the 2006 numbers up to that time.

Along with Amtrak, state passenger railroading operations are gaining support and receiving increased attention and funding, particularly as highways become increasingly congested. Perhaps the two most noted states that are giving passenger railroading serious attention include North Carolina and California. Both are doing a magnificent job developing passenger rail corridors in their respective states, particularly North Carolina. If you are interested in seeing how a passenger rail network should be properly implemented, planned, and carried out have a look at what the Tarheel State is doing.

However, North Carolina and California are not the only two states that have a well-developed network already in place. Other states including Washington, Florida, Virginia, Texas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Mexico and others all have commuter rail networks either in place or planned for the future. Amtrak also runs trains in conjunction with certain states like Washington’s Sounder service and North Carolina’s Piedmont.

When Amtrak began it used private equipment donated by the participating railroads (although, it should be noted, that not all of the major Class Is, at that time, elected to join Amtrak) and while it was originally setup to become financially self-supporting this was completely an illusion (passenger railroading, is, again, almost never profitable and requires some sort of subsidy to operate).

In its first year Amtrak earned $163 million with expenses of $310 million. By 1980 things were not much better as the carrier saw $454 million in revenues and $1.08 billion in expenses. Regardless of all of the problems during its early years and the claims by critics that it is a waste of taxpayer money and should be eliminated, travel by train is not only a very needed transportation artery but also continues to receive public support year after year. And, even though a statute expired in 2002 ensuring annual funding for Amtrak, public support has continued and Congress overwhelmingly continues to provide funding for the carrier.

Light rail (or LRT) is also making a splash in cities across the country. Compared to “heavy rail” operations these services are much cheaper and are very efficient by helping to reduce significant wear on city streets and highways (along with reducing traffic and emissions as well). Some cities are even using LRT in a nostalgic sense by bringing back the classic trolley, which has been a huge hit (such as in New Orleans). LRT services can now be found in dozens of cities which include Charlotte, NC; Denver, CO; aforementioned New Orleans; Seattle, WA; Minneapolis, MN; and others. A few cities with future plans to add LRT include Kansas City, KS; Norfolk, VA; and Austin, TX.

Today ridership numbers for Amtrak have broken 25 million and as transportation issues are becoming more of a discussion in our country passenger railroading is gaining more and more support and its future looks very good.

Also, in December 2007 a report was released that proposed giving $357 billion towards passenger rail (federally and state funded) over the next four decades. While it is likely that passenger rail will not receive such a staggering amount, at least for the moment, it is encouraging that such talk is underway to properly fund a more efficient and adequate rail system in this country (particularly as highways become every-more crowded).

If you do decide to become a member of the NARP you will receive discounts traveling Amtrak, their monthly newsletter, special website features, and more. Most importantly, however, your contribution(s) will go towards the continual support of passenger rail in general.

In closing, it is somewhat embarrassing that our country does not have a more properly developed passenger rail network, particularly when compared to other countries around the world such as France, Germany, Japan, and England. Critics like to point to Amtrak’s long distance, intercity, services as a money-losing, fruitless operation that should be scrapped in favor of a more streamlined, corridor operation (i.e., like the Northeast Corridor).

It is true that long-distance trains are very expensive to operate and maintain, however, many of these trains continue to be full, or nearly full, even though they operate with inadequate funding and are habitually late due to the fact that the run on private rail lines. And, likewise, over and over it is proven that if the service is offered, the passengers will come. For instance, ridership projections for new trains, whether they be LRT, commuter rail, or long-distance operations continually prove to be too low.

Above and beyond everything already said, as Don Phillips recently told in his monthly column in Trains magazine, either we as country decide to properly update our transportation network (including our Interstates), particularly passenger rail, or face complete gridlock as Interstate funding is barely able to keep up with the growing traffic volume. Along with the Interstate issue currently airline service is nothing but in shambles, and for the money invested passenger rail is the most cost-effective solution at reducing highway (and overall traffic) congestion. In all, however, the future of passenger railroading in this country looks very bright and here to stay.

For more information on Amtrak, the NARP, North Carolina commuter rail, and passenger railroading in general please click here to visit a page highlighting a few of the excellent resources out there on the Internet regarding such.

To learn more about Amtrak consider the one, or both, of the books below; Amtrak by Brian Solomon and Amtrak in the Heartland by Craig Sanders. Mr. Solomon's book gives an excellent general history of the carrier since its start up in 1971 while Mr. Sanders' book covers Amtrak mostly in Midwestern regionals. In any event, both books are filled with information and pictures so if you have an interest in Amtrak or are interested in learning more about the carrier you certainly won't be disappointed in one, or both books.