125-553: The Desert Wind was an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that ran from 1979 to 1997. It operated from Chicago to Los Angeles as a section of the California Zephyr , serving Los Angeles via Salt Lake City ; Ogden, Utah ; and Las Vegas . In the late 1960s, prior to the creation of Amtrak, the Union Pacific Railroad combined its long-distance streamliners between Chicago, Kansas City, and
250-469: A "regional rail network", provide economic and social well-being for rural areas, provide "enhanced connectivity" for the existing long-distance passenger trains, and reflect the support and engagement of the locals and region for restored long-distance passenger service. These criteria include the Desert Wind , among other trains. The study will take place through 2023, and will engage with stakeholders,
375-718: A "transitional CEO" who would reorganize Amtrak before turning it over to new leadership. On November 17, 2016, the Gateway Program Development Corporation (GDC) was formed for the purpose of overseeing and effectuating the rail infrastructure improvements known as the Gateway Program. GDC is a partnership of the States of New York and New Jersey and Amtrak. The Gateway Program includes the Hudson Tunnel Project, to build
500-408: A carbody design that would reduce wind resistance at high speeds. A long series of tests was carried. In 1905, St. Louis Car Company built a railcar for the traction magnate Henry E. Huntington , capable of speeds approaching 160 km/h (100 mph). Once it ran 32 km (20 mi) between Los Angeles and Long Beach in 15 minutes, an average speed of 130 km/h (80 mph). However, it
625-593: A crisis in the 1960s. Passenger service route-miles fell from 107,000 miles (172,000 km) in 1958 to 49,000 miles (79,000 km) in 1970, the last full year of private operation. The diversion of most United States Post Office Department mail from passenger trains to trucks, airplanes, and freight trains in late 1967 deprived those trains of badly needed revenue. In direct response, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway filed to discontinue 33 of its remaining 39 trains, ending almost all passenger service on one of
750-766: A head on June 21, 1970, when the Penn Central , the largest railroad in the Northeastern United States and teetering on bankruptcy, filed to discontinue 34 of its passenger trains. In October 1970, Congress passed, and President Richard Nixon signed into law (against the objections of most of his advisors), the Rail Passenger Service Act. Proponents of the bill, led by the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP), sought government funding to ensure
875-578: A high-speed railway network in Russian gauge . There are no narrow gauge high-speed railways. Countries whose legacy network is entirely or mostly of a different gauge than 1435mm – including Japan and Spain – have however often opted to build their high speed lines to standard gauge instead of the legacy railway gauge. High-speed rail is the fastest and most efficient ground-based method of commercial transportation. However, due to requirements for large track curves, gentle gradients and grade separated track
1000-577: A large overhang of debt from years of underfunding. In the mid-1990s, Amtrak suffered through a serious cash crunch. Under Downs, Congress included a provision in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 that resulted in Amtrak receiving a $ 2.3 billion tax refund that resolved their cash crisis. However, Congress also instituted a "glide path" to financial self-sufficiency, excluding railroad retirement tax act payments. George Warrington became
1125-429: A massive 94 billion passenger-miles. After the war, railroads rejuvenated their overworked and neglected passenger fleets with fast and luxurious streamliners. These new trains brought only temporary relief to the overall decline. Even as postwar travel exploded, passenger travel percentages of the overall market share fell to 46% by 1950, and then 32% by 1957. The railroads had lost money on passenger service since
1250-546: A new top speed for a regular service, with a top speed of 160 km/h (99 mph). This train was a streamlined multi-powered unit, albeit diesel, and used Jakobs bogies . Following the success of the Hamburg line, the steam-powered Henschel-Wegmann Train was developed and introduced in June 1936 for service from Berlin to Dresden , with a regular top speed of 160 km/h (99 mph). Incidentally no train service since
1375-634: A new tunnel under the Hudson River and rehabilitate the existing century-old tunnel, and the Portal North Bridge, to replace a century-old moveable bridge with a modern structure that is less prone to failure. Later projects of the Gateway Program, including the expansion of track and platforms at Penn Station New York, construction of the Bergen Loop and other improvements will roughly double capacity for Amtrak and NJ Transit trains in
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#17327760588231500-555: A some other interurban rail cars reached about 145 km/h (90 mph) in commercial traffic. The Red Devils weighed only 22 tons though they could seat 44 passengers. Extensive wind tunnel research – the first in the railway industry – was done before J. G. Brill in 1931 built the Bullet cars for Philadelphia and Western Railroad (P&W). They were capable of running at 148 km/h (92 mph). Some of them were almost 60 years in service. P&W's Norristown High Speed Line
1625-569: A world record for narrow gauge trains at 145 km/h (90 mph), giving the Odakyu engineers confidence they could safely and reliably build even faster trains at standard gauge. Conventional Japanese railways up until that point had largely been built in the 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ) Cape gauge , however widening the tracks to standard gauge ( 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in )) would make very high-speed rail much simpler due to improved stability of
1750-567: A year, its highest number since its founding in 1970. Politico noted a key problem: "the rail system chronically operates in the red. A pattern has emerged: Congress overrides cutbacks demanded by the White House and appropriates enough funds to keep Amtrak from plunging into insolvency. But, Amtrak advocates say, that is not enough to fix the system's woes." Joseph H. Boardman replaced Kummant as president and CEO in late 2008. In 2011, Amtrak announced its intention to improve and expand
1875-467: Is a portmanteau of the words America and track. Founded in 1971 as a quasi-public corporation to operate many U.S. passenger rail routes, Amtrak receives a combination of state and federal subsidies but is managed as a for-profit organization . The company's headquarters is located one block west of Union Station in Washington, D.C. Amtrak is headed by a Board of Directors, two of whom are
2000-476: Is a set of unique features, not merely a train travelling above a particular speed. Many conventionally hauled trains are able to reach 200 km/h (124 mph) in commercial service but are not considered to be high-speed trains. These include the French SNCF Intercités and German DB IC . The criterion of 200 km/h (124 mph) is selected for several reasons; above this speed,
2125-584: Is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines built to handle speeds above 250 km/h (155 mph) or upgraded lines in excess of 200 km/h (125 mph) are widely considered to be high-speed. The first high-speed rail system, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen , began operations in Honshu , Japan, in 1964. Due to the streamlined spitzer -shaped nose cone of the trains , the system also became known by its English nickname bullet train . Japan's example
2250-616: Is owned by New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Connecticut Department of Transportation as the New Haven Line .) This mainline became Amtrak's "jewel" asset, and helped the railroad generate revenue. While the NEC ridership and revenues were higher than any other segment of the system, the cost of operating and maintaining the corridor proved to be overwhelming. As a result, Amtrak's federal subsidy
2375-590: Is powered by overhead lines ; for the rest of the system, diesel-fueled locomotives are used. Routes vary widely in the frequency of service, from three-days-a-week trains on the Sunset Limited to several times per hour on the Northeast Corridor. For areas not served by trains, Amtrak Thruway routes provide guaranteed connections to trains via buses, vans, ferries and other modes. The most popular and heavily used services are those running on
2500-539: Is still in use, almost 110 years after P&W in 1907 opened their double-track Upper Darby–Strafford line without a single grade crossing with roads or other railways. The entire line was governed by an absolute block signal system. On 15 May 1933, the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft company introduced the diesel-powered " Fliegender Hamburger " in regular service between Hamburg and Berlin (286 km or 178 mi), thereby achieving
2625-606: Is the largest host to Amtrak routes, with 6.3 million train-miles. Freight rail operators are required under federal law to give dispatching preference to Amtrak trains. However, Amtrak has accused freight railroads of violating or skirting these regulations, resulting in passenger trains waiting for freight traffic to clear the track. High-speed rail High-speed rail ( HSR ) is a type of rail transport network utilizing trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialized rolling stock and dedicated tracks . While there
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#17327760588232750-697: The California Zephyr between Oakland and Chicago via Denver and revived the Auto Train , a unique service that carries both passengers and their vehicles. Amtrak advertised it as a great way to avoid traffic along the I-95 running between Lorton, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.) and Sanford, Florida (near Orlando) on the Silver Star alignment. In 1980s and 1990s, stations in Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. received major rehabilitation and
2875-619: The Chicago-New York Electric Air Line Railroad project to reduce the running time between the two big cities to ten hours by using electric 160 km/h (99 mph) locomotives. After seven years of effort, however, less than 50 km (31 mi) of arrow-straight track was finished. A part of the line is still used as one of the last interurbans in the US. In the US, some of the interurbans (i.e. trams or streetcars which run from city to city) of
3000-566: The Pioneer Zephyr were popular with the traveling public but could not reverse the trend. By 1940, railroads held 67 percent of commercial passenger-miles in the United States. In real terms, passenger-miles had fallen by 40% since 1916, from 42 billion to 25 billion. Traffic surged during World War II , which was aided by troop movement and gasoline rationing . The railroad's market share surged to 74% in 1945, with
3125-653: The Southwest Limited , its existing Chicago – Los Angeles train, with such a service. In the end, the Southwest Limited remained and Amtrak introduced the Desert Wind , which made its first run on October 28, 1979. The original Desert Wind was a day train with Amfleet equipment. The northbound train left Los Angeles mid-day and arrived in Ogden the following morning to connect with the eastbound San Francisco Zephyr . The southbound departed Ogden in
3250-553: The 0 Series Shinkansen , built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries – in English often called "Bullet Trains", after the original Japanese name Dangan Ressha ( 弾丸列車 ) – outclassed the earlier fast trains in commercial service. They traversed the 515 km (320 mi) distance in 3 hours 10 minutes, reaching a top speed of 210 km/h (130 mph) and sustaining an average speed of 162.8 km/h (101.2 mph) with stops at Nagoya and Kyoto. Speed
3375-681: The Aérotrain , a French hovercraft monorail train prototype, reached 200 km/h (120 mph) within days of operation. After the successful introduction of the Japanese Shinkansen in 1964, at 210 km/h (130 mph), the German demonstrations up to 200 km/h (120 mph) in 1965, and the proof-of-concept jet-powered Aérotrain , SNCF ran its fastest trains at 160 km/h (99 mph). In 1966, French Infrastructure Minister Edgard Pisani consulted engineers and gave
3500-1018: The COVID-19 pandemic , Amtrak continued operating as an essential service. It started requiring face coverings the week of May 17, and limited sales to 50% of capacity. Most long-distance routes were reduced to three weekly round trips in October 2020. In March 2021, following President Joe Biden's American Jobs Plan announcement, Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn outlined a proposal called Amtrak Connects US that would expand state-supported intercity corridors with an infusion of upfront capital assistance. This would expand service to cities including Las Vegas , Phoenix , Baton Rouge , Nashville , Chattanooga , Louisville , Columbus (Ohio) , Wilmington (North Carolina) , Cheyenne , Montgomery , Concord , and Scranton . Also in March 2021, Amtrak announced plans to return 12 of its long-distance routes to daily schedules later in
3625-533: The City of Kansas City and the City of San Francisco for its Chicago – San Francisco service, which it named the San Francisco Zephyr . Regular service to Las Vegas ended in the early morning hours of May 2, 1971, when the westbound City of Los Angeles made its last station stop on its final trip to its namesake city. Throughout the 1970s, there were brief attempts to revive service to Las Vegas in
3750-411: The Desert Wind and Pioneer were discontinued as part of Amtrak's recurring budget cuts. Train service was replaced with a Los Angeles – Las Vegas Amtrak Thruway service. At that time, rail service between Los Angeles and Las Vegas took 7 hours 15 minutes. There are several private, competing plans to restore rail service from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, including the high-speed Brightline West and
3875-733: The FRA announced the beginning of the Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study as required by the IIJA. Its purpose is to evaluate the restoration and addition of discontinued and new long-distance passenger services, as well as the upgrading of tri-weekly long-distance services (the Sunset Limited and the Cardinal ) to daily operation. The criteria for either restoring or creating new long-distance routes are that they connect large and small communities as part of
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4000-483: The Great Depression , but deficits reached $ 723 million in 1957. For many railroads, these losses threatened financial viability. The causes of this decline were heavily debated. The National Highway System and airports , both funded by the government, competed directly with the railroads, which, unlike the airline, bus, and trucking companies, paid for their own infrastructure. American car culture
4125-634: The High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965 to fund pilot programs in the Northeast Corridor , but this did nothing to address passenger deficits. In late 1969, multiple proposals emerged in the United States Congress , including equipment subsidies, route subsidies, and, lastly, a "quasi-public corporation" to take over the operation of intercity passenger trains. Matters were brought to
4250-658: The Highway Trust Fund and Aviation Trust Fund paid for by user fees, highway fuel and road taxes, and, in the case of the General Fund, from general taxation. Gunn dropped most freight express business and worked to eliminate deferred maintenance. A plan by the Bush administration "to privatize parts of the national passenger rail system and spin off other parts to partial state ownership" provoked disagreement within Amtrak's board of directors. Late in 2005, Gunn
4375-590: The Marienfelde – Zossen line during 1902 and 1903 (see Experimental three-phase railcar ). On 23 October 1903, the S&;H-equipped railcar achieved a speed of 206.7 km/h (128.4 mph) and on 27 October the AEG-equipped railcar achieved 210.2 km/h (130.6 mph). These trains demonstrated the feasibility of electric high-speed rail; however, regularly scheduled electric high-speed rail travel
4500-682: The Metrolink San Bernardino Line . Lack of funding and congestion through the Cajon Pass remained significant obstacles. More recent proposals using high-speed rail have suggested routing through Victorville and connecting with California's high-speed rail project in Palmdale, assuming the California project can secure funding for a connection from Bakersfield to Los Angeles. The route has some merit for Amtrak, as
4625-647: The Morning Hiawatha service, hauled at 160 km/h (99 mph) by steam locomotives. In 1939, the largest railroad of the world, the Pennsylvania Railroad introduced a duplex steam engine Class S1 , which was designed to be capable of hauling 1200 tons passenger trains at 161 km/h (100 mph). The S1 engine was assigned to power the popular all-coach overnight premier train the Trail Blazer between New York and Chicago since
4750-511: The Northeast Corridor support top speeds of 160 mph (260 km/h). In fiscal year 2022, Amtrak served 22.9 million passengers and had $ 2.1 billion in revenue, with more than 17,100 employees as of fiscal year 2021. Nearly 87,000 passengers ride more than 300 Amtrak trains daily. Nearly two-thirds of passengers come from the 10 largest metropolitan areas and 83% of passengers travel on routes shorter than 400 miles (645 km). In 1916, 98% of all commercial intercity travelers in
4875-545: The Prussian state railway joined with ten electrical and engineering firms and electrified 72 km (45 mi) of military owned railway between Marienfelde and Zossen . The line used three-phase current at 10 kilovolts and 45 Hz . The Van der Zypen & Charlier company of Deutz, Cologne built two railcars, one fitted with electrical equipment from Siemens-Halske , the second with equipment from Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG), that were tested on
5000-636: The Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976. A large part of the legislation was directed to the creation of Conrail , but the law also enabled the transfer of the portions of the NEC not already owned by state authorities to Amtrak. Amtrak acquired the majority of the NEC on April 1, 1976. (The portion in Massachusetts is owned by the Commonwealth and managed by Amtrak. The route from New Haven to New Rochelle
5125-647: The Secretary of Transportation and CEO of Amtrak, while the other eight members are nominated to serve a term of five years. Amtrak's network includes over 500 stations along 21,400 miles (34,000 km) of track. It directly owns approximately 623 miles (1,003 km) of this track and operates an additional 132 miles of track; the remaining mileage is over rail lines owned by other railroad companies. While most track speeds are limited to 79 mph (127 km/h) or less, several lines have been upgraded to support top speeds of 110 mph (180 km/h), and parts of
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5250-474: The World Bank , whilst supporting the project, considered the design of the equipment as unproven for that speed, and set the maximum speed to 210 km/h (130 mph). After initial feasibility tests, the plan was fast-tracked and construction of the first section of the line started on 20 April 1959. In 1963, on the new track, test runs hit a top speed of 256 km/h (159 mph). Five years after
5375-561: The California corridor trains accounted for a combined 2.35 million passengers in fiscal year 2021. Other popular routes include the Empire Service between New York City and Niagara Falls , via Albany and Buffalo , which carried 613.2 thousand passengers in fiscal year 2021, and the Keystone Service between New York City and Harrisburg via Philadelphia that carried 394.3 thousand passengers that same year. Four of
5500-451: The DOT's analysis was far too optimistic, with director George Shultz arguing to cut the number of routes by around half. Nixon agreed with Shultz, and the public draft presented by Volpe on November 30 consisted of only 16 routes. The initial reaction to this heavily-cut-back proposed system from the public, the press, and congressmen was strongly negative. It made front-page headlines across
5625-467: The Empire Connection tunnel opened in 1991, allowing Amtrak to consolidate all New York services at Penn Station. Despite the improvements, Amtrak's ridership stagnated at roughly 20 million passengers per year, amid uncertain government aid from 1981 to about 2000. In the early 1990s, Amtrak tested several different high-speed trains from Europe on the Northeast Corridor. An X 2000 train
5750-642: The French National Railway started to receive their new powerful CC 7100 electric locomotives, and began to study and evaluate running at higher speeds. In 1954, the CC 7121 hauling a full train achieved a record 243 km/h (151 mph) during a test on standard track. The next year, two specially tuned electric locomotives, the CC 7107 and the prototype BB 9004, broke previous speed records, reaching respectively 320 km/h (200 mph) and 331 km/h (206 mph), again on standard track. For
5875-565: The French National Railways twelve months to raise speeds to 200 km/h (120 mph). The classic line Paris– Toulouse was chosen, and fitted, to support 200 km/h (120 mph) rather than 140 km/h (87 mph). Some improvements were set, notably the signals system, development of on board "in-cab" signalling system, and curve revision. The next year, in May 1967, a regular service at 200 km/h (120 mph)
6000-722: The July 2010 issue of Trains listed the route as one to be restored in conjunction with upgrading the equipment on the California Zephyr . In 2021, Amtrak announced a Los Angeles to Las Vegas train service as part of a new expansion proposal. In June 2021, Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) added an amendment to the Surface Transportation Investment Act of 2021 which requires the Department of Transportation (not Amtrak itself) to evaluate
6125-478: The NEC and rises in automobile fuel costs. The inauguration of the high-speed Acela in late 2000 generated considerable publicity and led to major ridership gains. However, through the late 1990s and very early 21st century, Amtrak could not add sufficient express freight revenue or cut sufficient other expenditures to break even. By 2002, it was clear that Amtrak could not achieve self-sufficiency, but Congress continued to authorize funding and released Amtrak from
6250-642: The NEC, including the Acela and Northeast Regional . The NEC runs between Boston and Washington, D.C. via New York City and Philadelphia. Some services continue into Virginia . The NEC services accounted for 4.4 million of Amtrak's 12.2 million passengers in fiscal year 2021. Outside the NEC the most popular services are the short-haul corridors in California, the Pacific Surfliner , Capitol Corridor , and San Joaquins , which are supplemented by an extensive network of connecting buses. Together
6375-472: The NRPC had hired Lippincott & Margulies to create a brand for it and replace its original working brand name of Railpax. On March 30, L&M's work was presented to the NRPC's board of incorporators, who unanimously agreed on the "headless arrow" logo and on the new brand name "Amtrak", a portmanteau of the words America and trak , the latter itself a sensational spelling of track . The name change
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#17327760588236500-601: The Navy and retired Southern Railway head William Graham Claytor Jr. came out of retirement to lead Amtrak. During his time at Southern, Claytor was a vocal critic of Amtrak's prior managers, who all came from non-railroading backgrounds. Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis cited this criticism as a reason why the Democrat Claytor was acceptable to the Reagan White House. Despite frequent clashes with
6625-697: The Northeast Corridor, some of which connect to it or are extensions from it. In addition to its inter-city services, Amtrak also operates commuter services under contract for three public agencies: the MARC Penn Line in Maryland, Shore Line East in Connecticut, and Metrolink in Southern California. Service on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), between Boston , and Washington, D.C. , as well as between Philadelphia and Harrisburg ,
6750-498: The Northeast Corridor, state-supported short-haul service outside the Northeast Corridor, and medium- and long-haul service known within Amtrak as the National Network. Amtrak receives federal funding for the vast majority of its operations including the central spine of the Northeast Corridor as well as for its National Network routes. In addition to the federally funded routes, Amtrak partners with transportation agencies in 18 states to operate other short and medium-haul routes outside of
6875-406: The November 30th draft. These required routes only had their endpoints specified; the selection of the actual routes to be taken between the endpoints was left to the NRPC, which had just three months to decide them before it was due to start service. Consultants from McKinsey & Company were hired to perform this task, and their results were publicly announced on March 22. At the same time,
7000-769: The President and Congress to give passenger trains a "last hurrah" as demanded by the public. They expected the NRPC to quietly disappear as public interest waned. After Fortune magazine exposed the manufactured mismanagement in 1974, Louis W. Menk , chairman of the Burlington Northern Railroad , remarked that the story was undermining the scheme to dismantle Amtrak. Proponents also hoped that government intervention would be brief and that Amtrak would soon be able to support itself. Neither view had proved to be correct; popular support allowed Amtrak to continue in operation longer than critics imagined, while financial results made passenger train service returning to private railroad operations infeasible. The Rail Passenger Service Act gave
7125-473: The Reagan administration over funding, Claytor enjoyed a good relationship with Lewis, John H. Riley , the head of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and with members of Congress. Limited funding led Claytor to use short-term debt to fund operations. Building on mechanical developments in the 1970s, high-speed Washington–New York Metroliner Service was improved with new equipment and faster schedules. Travel time between New York and Washington, D.C.
7250-401: The Secretary of Transportation, at that time John A. Volpe , thirty days to produce an initial draft of the endpoints of the routes the NRPC would be required by law to serve for four years. On November 24 Volpe presented his initial draft consisting of 27 routes to Nixon, which he believed would make a $ 24 million profit by 1975. The Office of Management and Budget , however, believed Volpe and
7375-413: The US, 160 km/h (99 mph) in Germany and 125 mph (201 km/h) in Britain. Above those speeds positive train control or the European Train Control System becomes necessary or legally mandatory. National domestic standards may vary from the international ones. Railways were the first form of rapid land transportation and had an effective monopoly on long-distance passenger traffic until
7500-438: The United States moved by rail, and the remaining 2% moved by inland waterways . Nearly 42 million passengers used railways as primary transportation. Passenger trains were owned and operated by the same privately owned companies that operated freight trains. As the 20th century progressed, patronage declined in the face of competition from buses , air travel , and the car . New streamlined diesel-powered trains such as
7625-450: The West Coast into a single massive train dubbed by critics the "City of Everywhere". This train included the Challenger , the City of Denver , the City of Kansas City , the City of Los Angeles , the City of Portland , and the City of San Francisco . At one point, it ran up to 27 cars. The City of Los Angeles separated from this behemoth at Ogden, Utah, to serve Los Angeles via Las Vegas. Of these, Amtrak retained portions of
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#17327760588237750-403: The White House and more conservative members of Congress to support the bill. There were several key provisions: Of the 26 railroads still offering intercity passenger service in 1970, only six declined to join the NRPC. Nearly everyone involved expected the experiment to be short-lived. The Nixon administration and many Washington insiders viewed the NRPC as a politically expedient way for
7875-403: The beginning of the construction work, in October 1964, just in time for the Olympic Games , the first modern high-speed rail, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen , was opened between the two cities; a 510 km (320 mi) line between Tokyo and Ōsaka. As a result of its speeds, the Shinkansen earned international publicity and praise, and it was dubbed the "bullet train." The first Shinkansen trains,
8000-433: The busiest, most complex section of the Northeast Corridor. In June 2017, it was announced that former Delta and Northwest Airlines CEO Richard Anderson would become Amtrak's next President & CEO. Anderson began the job on July 12, assuming the title of President immediately and serving alongside Moorman as "co-CEOs" until the end of the year. On April 15, 2020, Atlas Air Chairman, President and CEO William Flynn
8125-443: The cancelation of this express train in 1939 has traveled between the two cities in a faster time as of 2018 . In August 2019, the travel time between Dresden-Neustadt and Berlin-Südkreuz was 102 minutes. See Berlin–Dresden railway . Further development allowed the usage of these "Fliegenden Züge" (flying trains) on a rail network across Germany. The "Diesel-Schnelltriebwagen-Netz" (diesel high-speed-vehicle network) had been in
8250-562: The construction of high-speed rail is more costly than conventional rail and therefore does not always present an economical advantage over conventional speed rail. Multiple definitions for high-speed rail are in use worldwide. The European Union Directive 96/48/EC, Annex 1 (see also Trans-European high-speed rail network ) defines high-speed rail in terms of: The International Union of Railways (UIC) identifies three categories of high-speed rail: A third definition of high-speed and very high-speed rail requires simultaneous fulfilment of
8375-412: The continuation of passenger trains. They conceived the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (NRPC), a quasi-public corporation that would be managed as a for-profit organization , but which would receive taxpayer funding and assume operation of intercity passenger trains – while many involved in drafting the bill did not believe the NRPC would actually be profitable, this was necessary in order for
8500-434: The corridor to make it suitable for higher-speed electric trains. The Northend Electrification Project extended existing electrification from New Haven, Connecticut , to Boston to complete the overhead power supply along the 454-mile (731 km) route, and several grade crossings were improved or removed. Ridership increased during the first decade of the 21st century after the implementation of capital improvements in
8625-477: The country and it was quickly leaked that the DOT had wanted a far larger system than the White House would approve of. The ICC produced its own report on December 29, criticising the proposed draft and arguing for the inclusion of fifteen additional routes, giving further ammunition to the congressmen who wanted an expanded system. Further wrangling between the DOT and the White House produced the final list of routes on January 28, 1971, adding five additional routes to
8750-464: The curve radius should be quadrupled; the same was true for the acceleration and braking distances. In 1891 engineer Károly Zipernowsky proposed a high-speed line from Vienna to Budapest for electric railcars at 250 km/h (160 mph). In 1893 Wellington Adams proposed an air-line from Chicago to St. Louis of 252 miles (406 km), at a speed of only 160 km/h (99 mph). Alexander C. Miller had greater ambitions. In 1906, he launched
8875-432: The deputy director Marcel Tessier at the DETE ( SNCF Electric traction study department). JNR engineers returned to Japan with a number of ideas and technologies they would use on their future trains, including alternating current for rail traction, and international standard gauge. In 1957, the engineers at the private Odakyu Electric Railway in Greater Tokyo Area launched the Odakyu 3000 series SE EMU. This EMU set
9000-563: The development of the motor car and airliners in the early-mid 20th century. Speed had always been an important factor for railroads and they constantly tried to achieve higher speeds and decrease journey times. Rail transportation in the late 19th century was not much slower than non-high-speed trains today, and many railroads regularly operated relatively fast express trains which averaged speeds of around 100 km/h (62 mph). High-speed rail development began in Germany in 1899 when
9125-595: The early 20th century were very high-speed for their time (also Europe had and still does have some interurbans). Several high-speed rail technologies have their origin in the interurban field. In 1903 – 30 years before the conventional railways started to streamline their trains – the officials of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition organised the Electric Railway Test Commission to conduct a series of tests to develop
9250-480: The ex- New York Central Railroad 's Water Level Route from New York to Ohio and Grand Trunk Western Railroad 's Chicago to Detroit route. The reduced passenger train schedules created confusion amongst staff. At some stations, Amtrak service was available only late at night or early in the morning, prompting complaints from passengers. Disputes with freight railroads over track usage caused some services to be rerouted, temporarily cancelled, or replaced with buses. On
9375-438: The first time, 300 km/h (185 mph) was surpassed, allowing the idea of higher-speed services to be developed and further engineering studies commenced. Especially, during the 1955 records, a dangerous hunting oscillation , the swaying of the bogies which leads to dynamic instability and potential derailment was discovered. This problem was solved by yaw dampers which enabled safe running at high speeds today. Research
9500-575: The following two conditions: The UIC prefers to use "definitions" (plural) because they consider that there is no single standard definition of high-speed rail, nor even standard usage of the terms ("high speed", or "very high speed"). They make use of the European EC Directive 96/48, stating that high speed is a combination of all the elements which constitute the system: infrastructure, rolling stock and operating conditions. The International Union of Railways states that high-speed rail
9625-484: The form of charters and excursions, plus one regularly scheduled weekend-only train called the Las Vegas Limited , which ran for four months in 1976. Matters came to a head in 1979, as Amtrak faced significant political pressure to cut costs and reduce the size of its national network. Senator Howard Cannon (D-Nevada) pushed Amtrak hard to create a train which served Las Vegas, and Amtrak considered replacing
9750-624: The high-speed rail corridor from Penn Station in NYC, under the Hudson River in new tunnels, and double-tracking the line to Newark, NJ , called the Gateway Program , initially estimated to cost $ 13.5 billion (equal to $ 18 billion in 2023). From May 2011 to May 2012, Amtrak celebrated its 40th anniversary with festivities across the country that started on National Train Day (May 7, 2011). A commemorative book entitled Amtrak: An American Story
9875-414: The impacts of geometric defects are intensified, track adhesion is decreased, aerodynamic resistance is greatly increased, pressure fluctuations within tunnels cause passenger discomfort, and it becomes difficult for drivers to identify trackside signalling. Standard signaling equipment is often limited to speeds below 200 km/h (124 mph), with the traditional limits of 127 km/h (79 mph) in
10000-461: The initial ones despite greater speeds). After decades of research and successful testing on a 43 km (27 mi) test track, in 2014 JR Central began constructing a Maglev Shinkansen line, which is known as the Chūō Shinkansen . These Maglev trains still have the traditional underlying tracks and the cars have wheels. This serves a practical purpose at stations and a safety purpose out on
10125-701: The job, he is the second-longest serving head of Amtrak since it was formed more than 40 years ago. On December 9, 2015, Boardman announced in a letter to employees that he would be leaving Amtrak in September 2016. He had advised the Amtrak Board of Directors of his decision the previous week. On August 19, 2016, the Amtrak Board of Directors named former Norfolk Southern Railway President & CEO Charles "Wick" Moorman as Boardman's successor with an effective date of September 1, 2016. During his term, Moorman took no salary and said that he saw his role as one of
10250-449: The largest railroads in the country. The equipment the railroads had ordered after World War II was now 20 years old, worn out, and in need of replacement. As passenger service declined, various proposals were brought forward to rescue it. The 1961 Doyle Report proposed that the private railroads pool their services into a single body. Similar proposals were made in 1965 and 1968 but failed to attract support. The federal government passed
10375-542: The late 1940s and it consistently reached 161 km/h (100 mph) in its service life. These were the last "high-speed" trains to use steam power. In 1936, the Twin Cities Zephyr entered service, from Chicago to Minneapolis, with an average speed of 101 km/h (63 mph). Many of these streamliners posted travel times comparable to or even better than their modern Amtrak successors, which are limited to 127 km/h (79 mph) top speed on most of
10500-432: The lines in the event of a power failure. However, in normal operation, the wheels are raised up into the car as the train reaches certain speeds where the magnetic levitation effect takes over. It will link Tokyo and Osaka by 2037, with the section from Tokyo to Nagoya expected to be operational by 2027. Maximum speed is anticipated at 505 km/h (314 mph). The first generation train can be ridden by tourists visiting
10625-537: The middle of the night after the arrival of the westbound San Francisco Zephyr from Chicago and arrived in Los Angeles in late afternoon. The 811-mile (1,305 km) journey took eighteen hours. Beginning in 1980, the Desert Wind exchanged a Chicago – Los Angeles through coach with the San Francisco Zephyr at Ogden; this service expanded in 1982 to include a sleeping car. Caliente, Nevada ,
10750-482: The more conventional X Train and Z-Train. A Los Angeles – Las Vegas route run by Amtrak nearly entered service in 2000. A Talgo VII trainset was bought for the service in 1999; when it was not implemented, the trainset was later used on the Amtrak Cascades service. Also, as of 2011, new routes were being considered, including routes using the same track as the original Desert Wind , and routes using
10875-505: The network. The German high-speed service was followed in Italy in 1938 with an electric-multiple-unit ETR 200 , designed for 200 km/h (120 mph), between Bologna and Naples. It too reached 160 km/h (99 mph) in commercial service, and achieved a world mean speed record of 203 km/h (126 mph) between Florence and Milan in 1938. In Great Britain in the same year, the streamlined steam locomotive Mallard achieved
11000-469: The official world speed record for steam locomotives at 202.58 km/h (125.88 mph). The external combustion engines and boilers on steam locomotives were large, heavy and time and labor-intensive to maintain, and the days of steam for high speed were numbered. In 1945, a Spanish engineer, Alejandro Goicoechea , developed a streamlined, articulated train that was able to run on existing tracks at higher speeds than contemporary passenger trains. This
11125-607: The other hand, the creation of the Los Angeles–Seattle Coast Starlight from three formerly separate train routes was an immediate success, resulting in an increase to daily service by 1973. Needing to operate only half the train routes that had operated previously, Amtrak would lease around 1,200 of the best passenger cars from the 3,000 that the private railroads owned. All were air-conditioned, and 90% were easy-to-maintain stainless steel. When Amtrak took over, passenger cars and locomotives initially retained
11250-433: The paint schemes and logos of their former owners which resulted in Amtrak running trains with mismatched colors – the "Rainbow Era". In mid-1971, Amtrak began purchasing some of the equipment it had leased, including 286 EMD E and F unit diesel locomotives, 30 GG1 electric locomotives and 1,290 passenger cars. By 1975, the official Amtrak color scheme was painted on most Amtrak equipment and newly purchased locomotives and
11375-608: The planning since 1934 but it never reached its envisaged size. All high-speed service stopped in August 1939 shortly before the outbreak of World War II . On 26 May 1934, one year after Fliegender Hamburger introduction, the Burlington Railroad set an average speed record on long distance with their new streamlined train, the Zephyr , at 124 km/h (77 mph) with peaks at 185 km/h (115 mph). The Zephyr
11500-464: The rail companies, and communities as it evaluates "how to better connect people with long-distance rail services". Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation , doing business as Amtrak ( / ˈ æ m t r æ k / ; reporting marks AMTK , AMTZ ), is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. states and three Canadian provinces . Amtrak
11625-443: The requirement. In early 2002, David L. Gunn replaced Warrington as seventh president. In a departure from his predecessors' promises to make Amtrak self-sufficient in the short term, Gunn argued that no form of passenger transportation in the United States is self-sufficient as the economy is currently structured. Highways, airports, and air traffic control all require large government expenditures to build and operate, coming from
11750-602: The restoration of discontinued long-distance routes, such as the Desert Wind . The bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee with bipartisan support, and was later rolled into President Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which was passed into law in November 2021. The report must be delivered to Congress within two years. The law also provides $ 2.4 billion in new funds to Amtrak's long-distance route network. On October 28, 2022,
11875-532: The rolling stock began appearing. Amtrak inherited problems with train stations (most notably deferred maintenance ) and redundant facilities from the competing railroads that once served the same communities. Chicago is a prime example; on the day prior to Amtrak's inception, intercity passenger trains used four different Chicago terminals: LaSalle , Dearborn , North Western Station , Central , and Union. The trains at LaSalle remained there, as their operator Rock Island could not afford to opt into Amtrak. Of all
12000-406: The schedule. Amtrak uses a sliding scale, with trips under 250 miles (400 km) considered late if they are more than 10 minutes behind schedule, up to 30 minutes for trips over 551 miles (887 km) in length. Outside the Northeast Corridor and stretches of track in Southern California and Michigan, most Amtrak trains run on tracks owned and operated by privately owned freight railroads. BNSF
12125-519: The six busiest stations by boardings are on the NEC: New York Penn Station (first), Washington Union Station (second), Philadelphia 30th Street Station (third), and Boston South Station (fifth). The other two are Chicago Union Station (fourth) and Los Angeles Union Station (sixth). On-time performance is calculated differently for airlines than for Amtrak. A plane is considered on-time if it arrives within 15 minutes of
12250-505: The sixth president in 1998, with a mandate to make Amtrak financially self-sufficient. Under Warrington, the company tried to expand into express freight shipping, placing Amtrak in competition with the "host" freight railroads and the trucking industry . On March 9, 1999, Amtrak unveiled its plan for the Acela Express, a high-speed train on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C. and Boston. Several changes were made to
12375-775: The spring. Most of these routes were restored to daily service in late-May 2021. However, a resurgence of the virus caused by the Omicron variant caused Amtrak to modify and/or suspend many of these routes again from January to March 2022. Amtrak is required by law to operate a national route system. Amtrak has presence in 46 of the 48 contiguous states, as well as the District of Columbia (with only thruway connecting services in Wyoming and no services in South Dakota ). Amtrak services fall into three groups: short-haul service on
12500-431: The system with an aim to reduce costs, speed construction, and improve its corporate image. However, the cash-strapped railroad would ultimately build relatively few of these standard stations. Amtrak soon had the opportunity to acquire rights-of-way. Following the bankruptcy of several northeastern railroads in the early 1970s, including Penn Central, which owned and operated the Northeast Corridor (NEC), Congress passed
12625-535: The test track. China is developing two separate high-speed maglev systems. In Europe, high-speed rail began during the International Transport Fair in Munich in June 1965, when Dr Öpfering, the director of Deutsche Bundesbahn (German Federal Railways), performed 347 demonstrations at 200 km/h (120 mph) between Munich and Augsburg by DB Class 103 hauled trains. The same year
12750-522: The trains separated. This created a train of 16 Superliner cars running from Chicago to Utah, the longest that Amtrak had ever operated aside from the Auto Train . With Amtrak needing at least four locomotives to pull this massive train through the Rockies, the Pioneer began splitting off at Denver in 1991, while the Desert Wind continued to split from the Zephyr at Salt Lake City. In May 1997,
12875-636: The trains serving Dearborn Station, Amtrak retained only a pair of Santa Fe trains, which relocated to Union Station beginning with the first Amtrak departures on May 1, 1971. Dearborn Station closed after the last pre-Amtrak trains on the Santa Fe arrived in Chicago on May 2. None of the intercity trains that had served North Western Station became part of the Amtrak system, and that terminal became commuter-only after May 1. The trains serving Central Station continued to use that station until an alternate routing
13000-540: The wider rail gauge, and thus standard gauge was adopted for high-speed service. With the sole exceptions of Russia, Finland, and Uzbekistan all high-speed rail lines in the world are still standard gauge, even in countries where the preferred gauge for legacy lines is different. The new service, named Shinkansen (meaning new main line ) would provide a new alignment, 25% wider standard gauge utilising continuously welded rails between Tokyo and Osaka with new rolling stock, designed for 250 km/h (160 mph). However,
13125-629: The world's population, without a single train passenger fatality. (Suicides, passengers falling off the platforms, and industrial accidents have resulted in fatalities.) Since their introduction, Japan's Shinkansen systems have been undergoing constant improvement, not only increasing line speeds. Over a dozen train models have been produced, addressing diverse issues such as tunnel boom noise, vibration, aerodynamic drag , lines with lower patronage ("Mini shinkansen"), earthquake and typhoon safety, braking distance , problems due to snow, and energy consumption (newer trains are twice as energy-efficient as
13250-962: The world's total. In addition to these, many other countries have developed high-speed rail infrastructure to connect major cities, including: Austria , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , Greece , Indonesia , Morocco , the Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Portugal , Russia , Saudi Arabia , Serbia , South Korea , Sweden , Switzerland , Taiwan , Turkey , the United Kingdom , the United States , and Uzbekistan . Only in continental Europe and Asia does high-speed rail cross international borders. High-speed trains mostly operate on standard gauge tracks of continuously welded rail on grade-separated rights of way with large radii . However, certain regions with wider legacy railways , including Russia and Uzbekistan, have sought to develop
13375-470: Was achieved by providing the locomotive and cars with a unique axle system that used one axle set per car end, connected by a Y-bar coupler. Amongst other advantages, the centre of mass was only half as high as usual. This system became famous under the name of Talgo ( Tren Articulado Ligero Goicoechea Oriol ), and for half a century was the main Spanish provider of high-speed trains. In the early 1950s,
13500-554: Was added to the timetable on October 25, 1981, while Delta, Utah , was added April 24, 1983. After the renamed and rerouted California Zephyr began using the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad main line in 1983, the Desert Wind began connecting with the Zephyr at Salt Lake City. Later, the Desert Wind and the Seattle -bound Pioneer would operate together with the California Zephyr from Chicago to Salt Lake City, where
13625-467: Was adopted in March 1972. In New York City , Amtrak had to maintain two stations ( Penn and Grand Central ) due to the lack of track connections to bring trains from upstate New York into Penn Station; a problem that was rectified once the Empire Connection was built in 1991. The Amtrak Standard Stations Program was launched in 1978 and proposed to build a standardized station design across
13750-530: Was also made about "current harnessing" at high-speed by the pantographs, which was solved 20 years later by the Zébulon TGV 's prototype. With some 45 million people living in the densely populated Tokyo– Osaka corridor, congestion on road and rail became a serious problem after World War II , and the Japanese government began thinking about ways to transport people in and between cities. Because Japan
13875-402: Was also on the rise in the post-World War II years. Progressive Era rate regulation limited the railroad's ability to turn a profit. Railroads also faced antiquated work rules and inflexible relationships with trade unions. To take one example, workers continued to receive a day's pay for 100-to-150-mile (160 to 240 km) workdays. Streamliners covered that in two hours. Matters approached
14000-403: Was extended a further 161 km (100 mi), and further construction has resulted in the network expanding to 2,951 km (1,834 mi) of high speed lines as of 2024, with a further 211 km (131 mi) of extensions currently under construction and due to open in 2031. The cumulative patronage on the entire system since 1964 is over 10 billion, the equivalent of approximately 140% of
14125-609: Was fired. Gunn's replacement, Alexander Kummant (2006–08), was committed to operating a national rail network, and like Gunn, opposed the notion of putting the Northeast Corridor under separate ownership. He said that shedding the system's long-distance routes would amount to selling national assets that are on par with national parks, and that Amtrak's abandonment of these routes would be irreversible. In late 2006, Amtrak unsuccessfully sought annual congressional funding of $ 1 billion for ten years. In early 2007, Amtrak employed 20,000 people in 46 states and served 25 million passengers
14250-535: Was followed by several European countries, initially in Italy with the Direttissima line, followed shortly thereafter by France , Germany , and Spain . Today, much of Europe has an extensive network with numerous international connections. More recent construction since the 21st century has led to China taking a leading role in high-speed rail. As of 2023 , China's HSR network accounted for over two-thirds of
14375-803: Was increased dramatically. In subsequent years, other short route segments not needed for freight operations were transferred to Amtrak. In its first decade, Amtrak fell far short of financial independence, which continues today, but it did find modest success rebuilding trade. Outside factors discouraged competing transport, such as fuel shortages which increased costs of automobile and airline travel, and strikes which disrupted airline operations. Investments in Amtrak's track, equipment and information also made Amtrak more relevant to America's transportation needs. Amtrak's ridership increased from 16.6 million in 1972 to 21 million in 1981. In February 1978, Amtrak moved its headquarters to 400 North Capitol Street NW, Washington D.C. In 1982, former Secretary of
14500-650: Was leased from Sweden for test runs from October 1992 to January 1993, followed by revenue service between Washington, D.C. and New York City from February to May and August to September 1993. Siemens showed the ICE 1 train from Germany, organizing the ICE Train North America Tour which started to operate on the Northeast Corridor on July 3, 1993. In 1993, Thomas Downs succeeded Claytor as Amtrak's fifth president. The stated goal remained "operational self-sufficiency". By this time, however, Amtrak had
14625-543: Was made of stainless steel and, like the Fliegender Hamburger, was diesel powered, articulated with Jacobs bogies , and could reach 160 km/h (99 mph) as commercial speed. The new service was inaugurated 11 November 1934, traveling between Kansas City and Lincoln , but at a lower speed than the record, on average speed 74 km/h (46 mph). In 1935, the Milwaukee Road introduced
14750-548: Was named Amtrak President and CEO. In addition to Atlas Air, Flynn has held senior roles at CSX Transportation , SeaLand Services and GeoLogistics Corp. Anderson would remain with Amtrak as a senior advisor until December 2020. As Amtrak approached profitability in 2020, the company undertook planning to expand and create new intermediate-distance corridors across the country. Included were several new services in Ohio, Tennessee, Colorado, and Minnesota, among other states. During
14875-466: Was not only a part of the Shinkansen revolution: the Shinkansen offered high-speed rail travel to the masses. The first Bullet trains had 12 cars and later versions had up to 16, and double-deck trains further increased the capacity. After three years, more than 100 million passengers had used the trains, and the milestone of the first one billion passengers was reached in 1976. In 1972, the line
15000-445: Was publicly announced less than two weeks before operations began. Amtrak began operations on May 1, 1971. Amtrak received no rail tracks or rights-of-way at its inception. All of Amtrak's routes were continuations of prior service, although Amtrak pruned about half the passenger rail network. Of the 366 train routes that operated previously, Amtrak continued only 184. Several major corridors became freight-only, including
15125-508: Was published, a documentary was created, six locomotives were painted in Amtrak's four prior paint schemes , and an Exhibit Train toured the country visiting 45 communities and welcoming more than 85,000 visitors. After years of almost revolving-door CEOs at Amtrak, in December 2013, Boardman was named "Railroader of the Year" by Railway Age magazine, which noted that with over five years in
15250-462: Was reduced to under 3 hours due to system improvements and limited stop service. This improvement was cited as a reason why Amtrak grew its share of intercity trips between the cities along the corridor. Elsewhere in the country, demand for passenger rail service resulted in the creation of five new state-supported routes in California, Illinois, Missouri, Oregon and Pennsylvania, for a total of 15 state-supported routes. Amtrak added two trains in 1983,
15375-525: Was resource limited and did not want to import petroleum for security reasons, energy-efficient high-speed rail was an attractive potential solution. Japanese National Railways (JNR) engineers began to study the development of a high-speed regular mass transit service. In 1955, they were present at the Lille 's Electrotechnology Congress in France, and during a 6-month visit, the head engineer of JNR accompanied
15500-402: Was still more than 30 years away. After the breakthrough of electric railroads, it was clearly the infrastructure – especially the cost of it – which hampered the introduction of high-speed rail. Several disasters happened – derailments, head-on collisions on single-track lines, collisions with road traffic at grade crossings, etc. The physical laws were well-known, i.e. if the speed was doubled,
15625-477: Was too heavy for much of the tracks, so Cincinnati Car Company , J. G. Brill and others pioneered lightweight constructions, use of aluminium alloys, and low-level bogies which could operate smoothly at extremely high speeds on rough interurban tracks. Westinghouse and General Electric designed motors compact enough to be mounted on the bogies. From 1930 on, the Red Devils from Cincinnati Car Company and
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