Everyone who took a course in American History in high school learned that it was the railroads that tied the country together. We learned about President Abraham Lincoln’s campaign to build the first transcontinental railroad to the West Coast, how it was completed at Promontory Summit in what is now Utah in 1869, and how railroads helped settle the West, rebuild the South after the Civil War, and allow industries in the East to ship their products everywhere. Intercity passenger trains also took people everywhere until the decline that started in the mid-20th century. Amtrak’s founding in 1971, though its primary purpose was relieving freight railroads of their obligation as common carriers to operate passenger trains, kept at least a few of those trains going, but “America’s Railroad” appears to be focusing on the states, rather than on the historic vision of a network of passenger trains designed to link the nation.
Recent developments at Amtrak demonstrate that the railroad’s commitment to its skeletal network of long-distance trains is limited, while the network itself appears to be shrinking. There are state-supported corridors along with routes with a single daily round trip on them, but much of the decision-making about those routes is left to the states where they run. Amtrak’s proposed expansion plan, in semi-official conjunction with the FRA’s Corridor Identification and Development (Corridor ID) Program, proposes mostly corridor-length routes for development during the upcoming decade and possibly beyond. The other component of Amtrak is the Northeast Corridor (NEC), which has historically been treated separately from the rest of Amtrak, partly because most of the trains that run on it are not Amtrak trains, but local trains operated by the regional railroads owned by or affiliated with transit providers. Lately, though, governors have started to stress issues concerning their states and the services Amtrak offers there. We will look at New York and New Jersey as examples.
Long-Distance Trains
Amtrak is required by statute to maintain a network of long-distance trains. Nearly two thirds of the trains on long-distance or corridor-length routes that left their points of origin on April 30, 1971, did so for the final time that day. Fourteen long-distance routes survived, each with a single daily frequency. Some routes were added during the 1970s and early 1980s, the contraction in 1979 that resulted in the elimination of six routes, along with other route abandonments shrank it back to its 1971 level. Today there are only 13 long-distance routes on Amtrak that non-motorists as well as motorists can ride, the lowest total in Amtrak’s history. Non-motorists are not allowed to ride the Auto Train between Lorton, Virginia and Sanford, Florida, unless they accompany a “vehicle and driver,” the basic ticketing unit.
In response to a question posed at a presentation given by Amtrak officials in Seattle on Wednesday, Dec. 4, Board Chair Anthony Coscia reiterated that Amtrak is committed to the national network, but also stressed that the network is limited to existing trains, and that Amtrak does not plan to expand it, at least not now. Amtrak has applied for FRA Corridor ID grants for two routes: the former Texas Central high speed rail proposal for connecting Dallas with the Houston area and running between New York Penn Station and Ronkonkoma on the Long Island Rail Road main line. Amtrak has also applied for funds to upgrade the tri-weekly Sunset Limited and Cardinal routes to daily operation someday, but the FRA’s Long-Distance Study calls for a 15-year planning frontier for those projects. That same time frame holds for one project on the study that could result in the first expansion of the Amtrak long-distance network in what will have been more than a half-century. That would be restoring service on the historic Northern Pacific’s North Coast Limited route, which ran until 1971 and under Amtrak from 1972 until 1979. Any other proposed long-distance routes are on a 2060 timetable.
Mainly Up to States
At the Dec. 4 event, Amtrak stressed the importance of state officials in planning, implementing, and working with Amtrak to operate state-supported trains and corridors. Because the meeting was held in Seattle, Amtrak used the Cascade Corridor as an example. The route runs between Vancouver, B.C. and Eugene, Oregon, through Seattle and Portland, the two endpoints of its spine. When Amtrak started, it hosted only the tri-weekly Coast Starlight and two other daily round trips. Today, there are six round trips, plus the now-daily Starlight, a schedule that became effective on June 10, 2024. Two of those round trips, as well as the Starlight, run south of Portland to Eugene. One runs north of Seattle to Vancouver, and there is another Vancouver-Seattle train that does not go to Portland. With additional frequencies to Eugene and Vancouver served by buses connecting with other trains, the corridor is busy.
Some of the content presented at the Dec. 4 meeting concerned state-level involvement by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Presenters explained that the states start the process of making many of the decisions regarding state-supported services, including future service expansions. How much those state “wishes” could be accommodated has often been the subject of negotiations with Amtrak and the host railroads. Since the corridor crosses into Canada on its way to Vancouver, VIA Rail is part of the picture, too, as a presenter from that railroad explained.
The states have a strong say in how Amtrak operates state-supported trains, sometimes extending to on-board services. The snack cars on the Cascade route do not serve the same items that are sold on most other Amtrak trains, whether long-distance routes or other corridors. They sell more products made in the Northwest instead. More broadly, the states have the authority to withdraw support from a train or corridor, which leads to its discontinuance. In 2019, Indiana withdrew its support for the Hoosier State, which ran between Chicago and Indianapolis on the four days each week that the Cardinal does not run there. There have customarily been two daily round trips between St. Louis and Kansas City, sponsored by the State of Missouri. At times, though, the state cut funding for the service, so there was only one round trip at those times.
Whether or not a state (or states) will continue to contribute the financial support to keep passenger trains going, especially during hard times, is always questionable. California and Illinois are among the leading states in supporting Amtrak corridors within their borders, with three such corridors in each state (including one in Illinois that crosses the Missouri line and terminates at St. Louis). Some of the states that are the most generous to their residents, including providing the money to run passenger trains and supporting some big-city transit networks that include rail services, are facing severe budget shortfalls, which could bring the continued operation of those trains into jeopardy soon. The situation those states face is not unlike that faced by transit providers throughout the nation as the COVID-19 relief money that Congress authorized during the pandemic kept transit alive through the ridership declines of the past few years, but that money is now running out.
The big question concerning proposed new or expanded state-supported routes is how they would be funded. The FRA Corridor ID program will help generate and refine a Service Development Plan (SDP), but it will not pay for capital improvements on host railroads or for equipment purchases or actual operation of the trains. Amtrak’s Connects US program for new corridor-length routes will help get those routes going, but the share Amtrak will contribute toward those expenses will decline through the first six years of operation and end as Year 6 concludes. After that, the states will be required to assume the full cost. At this writing we can be sure that one route will run: between New Orleans and Mobile, for at least three years. Beyond that, it remains to be seen how many other routes will operate.
Eastern Governors Intervene
Amtrak operates three types of service: the few remaining long-distance trains, the state-supported corridors and other routes, and the NEC. The latter is unique, not only because its main spine between Washington, D.C. and Boston hosts more Amtrak trains than any other line, but also because Amtrak owns most of it (although Metro-North and Massachusetts own parts of it), and most of the trains that run on it are operated by local railroads owned by states or transit authorities.
State governments in the Northeast have usually not been involved with overseeing Amtrak operations and infrastructure in the region, although the Northeast Corridor Commission and state transportation departments are involved and communicate with Amtrak on an ongoing basis. Governors have seldom taken an active role in pushing Amtrak to improve infrastructure or operations in their states, but new developments indicate that they might be starting to take a more active role. The two recent cases in point concern New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s intervention in postponing cuts to the Amtrak’s Empire Service and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s push for Amtrak to improve infrastructure along the NEC in the state, due to recent poor performance on New Jersey Transit (NJT) for which he blames Amtrak.
The Empire State Strikes Back
In 2012, Superstorm Sandy caused a great deal of damage in New York City and New Jersey, especially to low-lying infrastructure like the New York City subways and railroad tunnels. Amtrak is planning to rehabilitate the East River Tunnels into New York’s Penn Station over the next three years, which means that there will be less tunnel capacity between Penn Station and Sunnyside Yard in Queens, where Amtrak and New Jersey Transit store much of the equipment that turns at New York. It was announced in October that there would be service reductions between New York and Albany. The Empire State Passengers Association (ESPA), which advocates for better rail service in the state, reported on its web site on October 10 that three round trips would be cut from the schedule, with ten remaining: “Of particular concern to ESPA in the revised schedules is the excessive dwell time at Albany-Rensselaer for the northbound Adirondack (1:50) and for the southbound Maple Leaf (1:35). In addition, a popular early morning southbound trip is eliminated along with a later evening northbound weekday trip.” The new schedules were slated to take effect on Nov. 11. The last time the Maple Leaf and Adirondack were combined, the Adirondack left for Montreal shortly after the Maple Leaf left for Toronto, and ran on an earlier schedule by roughly 80 minutes. There was a similar arrangement going toward New York.
It was not only advocates who were upset, a long-time railroader expressed concerns of his own. Scott R. Spencer, Chief Operating Officer of AmeriStarRail, who suggested through-running, combining Empire Service trains with NEC trains running south from Penn Station. He wrote to Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner Oct.15. He also sent the letter to Hochul, other New York officials, members of Congress, and ESPA. He wrote: “This includes the opportunity to combine some Northeast Corridor and Empire Service trains to reduce East River Tunnel train movements and offer a one-seat ride from Albany and Hudson River towns to Washington, D.C. for the first time ever. If the Adirondack is combined with Northeast Corridor trains it will restore Amtrak service from Washington, Baltimore, Wilmington and Philadelphia to Montreal which was discontinued almost 30 years ago.” He also included other operating suggestions.
Amtrak ran a schedule for the Adirondack between Washington, DC and Montreal in 1995 that ran through, but that was the only time.
Hochul’s official request came in a letter to Amtrak dated Nov. 13 and released by her office. She stated her support for the tunnel rehabilitation project, and then wrote: “Empire Service trains are receiving a disproportionate share of impacts to schedules, and it is critical that you maximally restore service and protect New York’s riding public while the project progresses.” She later added: “The reduction in service, in addition to the operational changes to the Maple Leaf and Adirondack lines, will directly impact both and make it harder for New Yorkers to get around the State” and concluded by saying: “I urge you to … find a solution that immediately mitigates the impacts to this line, fully restores service and supports the millions of riders who depend on this critical mode of transportation.”
On Nov. 22, Hochul announced, along with Amtrak, that trains would be restored, saying: “Governor Kathy Hochul, Amtrak and the New York State Department of Transportation today announced a restoration of Amtrak’s Empire Service that will aid passengers during the upcoming holiday and winter travel seasons. Following a letter sent by Governor Hochul and others earlier this month urging Amtrak to act, the railroad—in consultation with the New York State Department of Transportation —has agreed to restore nearly all the trains that had been temporarily suspended in previously announced service modifications. Additionally, Amtrak has agreed to add additional cars to other Empire Service trains to further mitigate the disruption to passengers.” Two of the three round trips between New York and Albany-Rensselaer that had previously be discontinue came back on Dec. 2. The Maple Leaf and Adirondack are separate trains again, eliminating the standing time more than 90 minutes that passengers on the Adirondack to Montreal and the Maple Leaf from Toronto and Upstate points were forced to endure. The other trains that came back to the schedule were Train 235 from Albany at 11:15 AM (25 minutes behind Train 240) and returning from New York as Train 235 at 3:15 PM (25 minutes ahead of Train 49, the Lake Shore Limited). Three other trains in each direction would have a fifth coach added to their consists.
In reporting the development on Nov. 27, ESPA noted Hochul’s leadership, saying: “It is evident that the Nov. 13th letter from Governor Hochul to Amtrak’s senior leadership, calling on them “to reconsider the cuts and explore a series of viable alternatives to ease the disruption.” was a pivotal moment in this crisis.” The organization also claimed some of the credit: “Since the initial service reductions were released, ESPA lead the way on the informing the media, state legislators and federal representatives about the drastic cuts being planned. Extensive state-wide press coverage alerted the public to the plans, which placed pressure on elected officials to act on behalf of the state’s rail passengers.” AmeriStarRail’s Spencer claimed some of the credit, too, and expressed concern that government staffers are not railroaders, and said that his and other efforts “helped the governor have confidence to pause the project.”
The Nov. 22 statement from Hochul’s office also said: “These measures will be effective through Sunday, Mar. 2, 2025. Amtrak will continue to evaluate the service plan, including additional capacity, to see if there are any new possibilities for making improvements, restoring service or modifying it based on future development.” That means the service restorations will only last for 90 days, far from the amount of time it will take to complete the tunnel project.
It will certainly be helpful to riders on Trains 68 and 64 not to endure standing time more than 90 minutes at the station in Rensselaer, where there is little to do. That constitutes a major improvement, but New York passengers on Train 48, the Lake Shore Limited, must endure it as part of that train’s regular schedule. With the short-term duration of the current schedule, along with the fact that the Albany round trip that was restored to the schedule runs only 25 minutes away from another train on the line, call into question the actual improvement that passengers on the Empire trains will receive. Nonetheless, a governor’s action, backed up by appropriate state officials, convinced Amtrak to do the right thing for the state’s riders. That’s a good start. We will find out later how long that schedule lasts.
Murphy Keeps NEC Under Microscope
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has been making news about transportation lately, especially over his staunch opposition to the Congestion Pricing toll to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street, which is now scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 5. He has also been complaining about Amtrak’s poor performance and how it affects New Jersey Transit (NJT) trains that originate or terminate at New York Penn Station. Some NJT trains run part way on the NEC, while Trenton trains never run elsewhere.
Occasionally, riders gripe about a change in riding patterns due to track work or other planned service changes. In July and August 2017, trains on the Morris & Essex (M&E) line that normally originate from or terminate at New York Penn Station were diverted to the historic Hoboken Terminal for eight weeks. To compensate riders, NJT cut fares in half and provided free transfers provided to Manhattan on PATH trains or ferries. Riders called it the “Summer from Hell” while it was going on, but many later modified their descriptions to call it merely the “Summer from Heck.”
This year has been much worse, though, not only on the M&E, but all over the system in North and Central Jersey. Trains have been delayed, canceled, or annulled for several reasons, including “equipment availability” (actually, the lack of same), “crew availability” (again, the lack of same), “mechanical issues” and others. Some had to do with Amtrak’s infrastructure, including the rails and the catenary. In those instances, delays caused by problems on Amtrak often have a direct negative impact on six different NJT lines that serve Penn Station, along with four others that originate or terminate at Hoboken, because of difficulties making connections at Secaucus when trains are delayed.
New Jersey advocate Gary R. Kazin posts a list of advisories from NJT essentially every day on a blog list that includes advocates from the Lackawanna Coalition, as well as a few other readers. He calls his posts collectively the “De Javu department” and he has documented that problems on New Jersey’s rails continue. On Monday, Dec. 2, Kazin noted 27 advisories in a message posted at 2:06 PM. Throughout the service day on Friday, Nov. 29 (Black Friday), he documented 42 of them.
While Murphy appoints the NJT Board and the head of the agency (currently CEO Kevin S. Corbett), he does not usually become involved directly with the agency. This year, he did. He brought Corbett and Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner together to talk about Amtrak’s infrastructure on the New Jersey segment of the NEC and what Amtrak can do to improve its reliability.
On Nov. 21, Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono reported on these efforts in an article headlined Amtrak, NJT Report Progress on Fixing NEC Catenary Problems. Vantuono began his report this way: “Major New Jersey Transit summer 2024 service disruptions created by a crippling combination of Amtrak’s ‘questionable maintenance’ on its largely 1930s-designed Northeast Corridor variable tension catenary system (according to sources Railway Age spoke with) and excessive heat hopefully won’t repeat themselves now that the two agencies are cooperating on fixes.” He also reported: “Following several major service disruptions in May and June affecting tens of thousands of passengers, Murphy convened a June 27 meeting involving the CEOs of both agencies, NJT’s Kevin Corbett (who co-chairs the Northeast Corridor Commission) and Amtrak’s Stephen Gardner, to determine a joint action plan designed to address the problems. After issuing an initial Joint Report in August, Amtrak and NJT on Nov. 20 released a second Joint Report and discussed recently awarded grants for nearly $300 million in federal funding.” The story included links to both reports. A list of actions that Amtrak has taken so far was also reported. They included inspecting the catenary system (including with helicopters and hi-rail vehicles to inspect the track at Penn Station), replacing catenary and remediating electric traction components, and increasing inspections of equipment.
Vantuono’s report was posted the day after Murphy’s office issued a statement about his activities geared to fostering cooperation between Amtrak and NJT to improve the state of repair on Amtrak’s catenary. The statement reported: “Amtrak and NJ Transit joined Governor Phil Murphy today to share the positive progress on their joint inspection, maintenance, and improvement program for Amtrak’s NEC infrastructure and NJ Transit’s trains, which has increased the service reliability for customers on the NEC over the last several months. Today’s meeting follows a June 27 convening led by Governor Murphy to determine a joint action plan designed to address several major service disruptions that occurred throughout the summer. After issuing a report in August, which included details of joint efforts and progress to date, Amtrak and NJ Transit released a new progress report today and discussed the recently awarded grants for nearly $300 million in federal funding to modernize critical rail infrastructure in New Jersey.”
Murphy’s statement also mentioned his leadership in taking the initiative toward solving the problem: “This summer, I brought Amtrak and NJ Transit together to address unacceptably long, disruptive rail delays on NJ Transit that were a consistent problem in the spring and early summer,” said Governor Murphy. “With today’s meeting, we are proud to announce that Amtrak has now completed its inspection of all 240 miles of catenary overhead wire systems between Trenton and New York City. And while the fundamental challenge facing our mass transit system continues to be aging infrastructure, we believe that these completed repairs, and the infrastructure investments to come, will make sure New Jerseyans have an easier time getting where they need to go when they need to get there.”
Governors Taking Harder Line with Amtrak?
In these examples, it appears that Hochul took a strong position with Amtrak to defend the interests of Empire Service riders, and Murphy exercised leadership by bringing the heads of Amtrak and NJT together in defense of appropriate service for most of New Jersey’s rail riders. Spencer, who had urged Hochul to take the action that she later took, sees a need for strong action on the part of the states, through the governors. He told Railway Age: “In both cases, they got involved after the public outcry got too vocal, and they had to respond in the best interests of their constituents. They had statewide authorities to deal with. Amtrak could not run the railroad as usual, but the governors had to stand up for their constituents after these problems were amplified in the press.” He added that New Jersey officials “extracted the information they needed” so they had the “confidence that they’re making the right call,” and Murphy carried out that call.
With elected officials, it’s never easy to tell what their motives are for taking strong stands like Hochul and Murphy took with Amtrak. They had essentially nothing to lose, because Amtrak service affecting both states had deteriorated in New Jersey and was beginning to do so in New York. All the governors from Maryland to Massachusetts are Democrats, but Republicans did well in the recent election. So maybe they need to increase their efforts to help their constituents, which include the voters who take the train. In any event, doing things that help the voters can’t hurt their party’s chances.
There are also Amtrak-related matters in other NEC states, including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. We’ll keep an eye out to see what the governors there and in the non-NEC states will do.
David Peter Alan is one of North America’s most experienced transit users and advocates, having ridden every rail transit line in the U.S., and most Canadian systems. He has also ridden the entire Amtrak and VIA Rail network. His advocacy on the national scene focuses on the Rail Users’ Network (RUN), where he has been a Board member since 2005. Locally in New Jersey, he served as Chair of the Lackawanna Coalition for 21 years and remains a member. He is also a member of NJ Transit’s Senior Citizens and Disabled Residents Transportation Advisory Committee (SCDRTAC). When not writing or traveling, he practices law in the fields of Intellectual Property (Patents, Trademarks and Copyright) and business law. Opinions expressed here are his own.
