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Article |
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Amtrak Facts |
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Amtrak
System Map
General
Facts
Service
Train
Trips
Train
Equipment/Infrastructure
Commuter
Service
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Amtrak System Map |
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A portion of the Amtrak System Map showing
the Boston - Washington D.C. Acela Express route. To view
national routes select the national
route map PDF.
Source: Amtrak
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General Facts |
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- The name Amtrak is the blending of the words "American"
and "Track". The railroad's official name is the National
Railroad Passenger Corporation.
- Amtrak began service on May 1, 1971 when Clocker No. 235 departed
New York Penn Station at 12:05 a.m. bound for Philadelphia.
- In 1971, Amtrak announced a schedule of 184 trains, serving
314 destinations.
- When service began on May 1, 1971, Amtrak had 25 employees.
Today, the company employs 22,000 people.
- Since the beginning, even-numbered trains have traveled north
and east. Odd-numbered trains travel south and west. Among the
exceptions are Amtrak's Pacific Surfliners, which use the opposite
numbering system inherited from their former operator, the Santa
Fe Railroad, and some Empire Corridor Trains.
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Service |
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- Amtrak serves more than 500 stations in 46 states. Those not
included are Alaska, Hawaii, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Wyoming
is served by Amtrak Thruway Motorcoaches.
- Amtrak operates over more than 22,000 route miles. It owns
730 route miles, about 3 percent of the total nationwide, primarily
between Boston and Washington, DC, and in Michigan. In other parts
of the country, Amtrak trains use tracks owned by freight
railroads.
- On weekdays, Amtrak operates up to 265 trains per day, excluding
commuter trains.
- Amtrak trains operate every minute of the entire year.
- Amtrak's twenty busiest train stations in fiscal year 2003
were:
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Rank |
Code |
City/Station |
Boardings |
1 |
NYP |
New York, NY |
4,367,553 |
2 |
WAS |
Washington, DC |
1,888,459 |
3 |
PHL |
Philadelphia, PA |
1,844,887 |
4 |
CHI |
Chicago, IL |
1,179,955 |
5 |
NWK |
Newark, NJ |
684,050 |
6 |
LAX |
Los Angeles, CA |
644,845 |
7 |
TRE |
Trenton, NJ |
499,399 |
8 |
BOS |
Boston, MA |
488,912 |
9 |
BAL |
Baltimore, MD |
455,059 |
10 |
PJC |
Princeton Jct., NJ |
449,608 |
11 |
SAC |
Sacramento, CA |
443,827 |
12 |
SAN |
San Diego, CA |
398,720 |
13 |
WIL |
Wilmington, DE |
372,104 |
14 |
ALB |
Albany-Rensselaer, NY |
323,160 |
15 |
NHV |
New Haven, CT |
309,268 |
16 |
SEA |
Seattle, WA |
299,466 |
17 |
BWI |
BWI Airport, MD |
296,756 |
18 |
PRO |
Providence, RI |
239,209 |
19 |
EMY |
Emeryville, CA |
237,766 |
20 |
IRV |
Irvine, CA |
236,090 |
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Train Trips |
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- The Auto Train, which travels between Lorton, Virginia and Sanford,
Florida is the longest Amtrak passenger train with two engines
and 40-plus rail cars.
- At 1,480 feet, the platform at Amtrak's Auto Train station
in Lorton, Virginia is longer than the Sears Tower.
- At 2,768 miles, the Sunset Limited between Orlando and Los
Angeles is the longest Amtrak intercity passenger train route.
- At 86 miles, the Hiawatha, which travels between Chicago and
Milwaukee, is Amtrak's shortest intercity passenger train route.
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Source: Amtrak postcard
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Train Equipment/Infrastructure |
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- Passenger Cars: Amtrak operates 2,141 railroad cars including
168 sleeper cars, 760 coach cars, 126 first class/business class
cars, 66 dormitory/crew cars, 225 lounge/café/dinette cars,
and 92 dining cars. Baggage cars make up the remainder of the
fleet.
- Locomotives: Amtrak operates 425 locomotives -- 351 diesel
and 74 electric.
- 19 Acela Express trainsets currently provide high-speed rail
service along the Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston.
- Amtrak owns three heavy maintenance facilities in Wilmington,
and Bear, Delaware and Beech Grove, Indiana, as well as other
maintenance facilities in Boston, Chicago, Hialeah, FL., Los Angeles,
New Orleans, New York City, Niagara Falls, Oakland, Rensselaer,
NY, Seattle, and Washington, DC.
- Amtrak owns 17 tunnels consisting of 29.7 miles of track and
1,186 bridges consisting of 42.5 miles of track.
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Commuter Service |
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- Amtrak is the nation's largest provider of contract-commuter
service for state and regional authorities
- Through its commuter services, Amtrak serves an additional 61.1
million people per year.
- Amtrak currently provides commuter service for the following
state and regional authorities:
- Caltrain (California)
- Coasters (California)
- Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC)
- Metrolink (California)
- Shoreline East (Connecticut)
- Virginia Railway Express (VRE)
- Amtrak provides maintenance services for the Sounder Commuter
Rail system in the Seattle area.
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Adapted from Amtrak
Web site, August 2004, Amtrak
Facts. |
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