The study is required by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Section 22214) which tasks FRA, under delegation from the Secretary of Transportation, with conducting an Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study to evaluate the restoration of daily intercity passenger rail service along:

• any Amtrak long-distance routes that were discontinued; and
• any Amtrak long-distance routes that occur on a nondaily basis.

In evaluating intercity passenger rail routes, FRA may evaluate potential new Amtrak long-distance routes, including with specific attention provided to routes in service as of April 1971 but not continued by Amtrak, taking into consideration whether those new routes would:

• link and serve large and small communities as part of a regional rail network;
• advance the economic and social well-being of rural areas of the United States;
• provide enhanced connectivity for the national long-distance passenger rail system; and
• reflect public engagement and local and regional support for restored passenger rail service.

This study focuses solely on the restoration or enhancement of Amtrak long-distance services. It does not include recommendations for restoration or enhancement of state-supported service, the Northeast Corridor (NEC), high-speed rail, or other types of passenger rail service (defined further below).

Amtrak provides passenger rail service across the nation, serving more than 500 destinations in 46 states. The current Amtrak network provides passenger rail service across three service lines:

• Northeast Corridor (NEC) provides service between Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC on the Northeast Regional and Acela routes; Amtrak owns most of the NEC main line, and provides high-speed service on Acela.
• State-Supported provides service on 30 routes of not more than 750 miles through cost-sharing agreements with state partners.
• Long-Distance provides service on 15 Amtrak routes over 750 miles. The federal government provides significant financial support to Amtrak for these routes.

Both state-supported and long-distance routes operate primarily on host railroad tracks, which are not owned by Amtrak. Long-distance routes are unique from other Amtrak services as they typically operate once per day in each direction, have end-to-end travel times of at least 12 hours, and include train consists that have accommodations for both sleeper and coach passengers, as well as dining or café cars. See this map for the Amtrak passenger rail network as of May 2024.

Although Amtrak provides most intercity passenger rail service in the United States, a privately owned and operated passenger rail company (Brightline) provides service between Miami, FL and Orlando, FL, and there are several other non-Amtrak passenger rail routes being planned or constructed in Nevada and California. This study is focused solely on Amtrak as a service provider.

Current Long-Distance Service, by the numbers:

• Amtrak operates 15 long-distance routes, ranging from approximately 760 to 2,500 miles.
• Most long-distance routes operate one time per day, in each direction, although two (the Cardinal and Sunset Limited) only operate three days per week. Due to the length of long-distance routes, some stations on long-distance routes are served at night.
• In 2023, long-distance routes carried more than four million passengers, and passengers on long-distance routes comprised over a third of all passenger miles traveled in the Amtrak system.
• On average, an Amtrak long-distance route serves 29 stations and 8 states.^[1] Some of these stations are in large cities or communities, but others are located in smaller, more rural areas. Long-distance routes are currently the only Amtrak service available in 22 states.
• In 2019, less than ten percent of passengers on long-distance routes traveled from one end of the route to the other; the vast majority of passengers get on or off the train at stations between the endpoints. Long-distance routes have many different station pairs where passengers can (and do) get on and off the train, connecting large and small communities along the way.

Background

Amtrak was established by the Rail Passenger Act of 1970, which removed the requirement for U.S. railroads to provide intercity passenger rail service and created Amtrak to fulfill that role instead. In 1971, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) designated city pairs between which intercity passenger trains should operate, and Amtrak began service between those cities later that year. At the request of Congress, several long-distance routes (routes over 750 miles) were added to Amtrak’s system in the 1970s, but long-distance service contracted in the following decades – especially after a 1978 US DOT report that recommended significant service reductions. Long-distance network service reductions over the past 50 years have resulted in some communities losing common carrier transportation options, as well as the economic and social benefits of those connections.

Study Outputs

As part of this study, FRA has identified over 20 long-distance routes that were either discontinued by Amtrak or were in service as of April 1971 but not continued when Amtrak began operations. This discontinued service – along with an analysis of current data related to travel demand, rural access, transportation-disadvantaged areas, connectivity, and stakeholder input – helped FRA to identify a network of preferred route options to restore or enhance long-distance service.

The FRA Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study will create a foundation for further planning of potential future long-distance services by developing:

• Preferred options (routes) for service restoration or enhancement.
• A prioritized inventory of certain capital project types and other actions required to restore or enhance long-distance service.
• Estimated costs and public benefits of restoring or enhancing long-distance service.
• Recommendations for methods by which Amtrak could work with local communities and organizations to develop activities and programs to continuously improve public use of intercity passenger rail service along each route.
• Potential federal and non-federal funding sources.

The study is a crucial early step in a comprehensive process to identify the actions that may be needed to enhance long-distance service. The results from the study will reflect FRA’s diligent work to meet Congressional requirements, as well as significant stakeholder input. The study will conclude with a report to Congress, which will be submitted later in 2024.

Developing new intercity passenger rail services takes time. This study’s preferred options to expand the long-distance network will require additional analysis, resources, and stakeholder collaboration after this study is completed to further identify and refine projects, costs, funding sources, and other key items needed for implementation.

Amtrak was established by the Rail Passenger Act of 1970, which removed the requirement for U.S. railroads to provide intercity passenger rail service and created Amtrak to fulfill that role instead. Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail service to more than 500 stations in 46 states. It began service in 1971, and is operated and managed as a for-profit corporation – it is not a department or agency of the United States government. However, Amtrak’s mission and goals are detailed in United States Code, and Amtrak receives funds to operate and manage its services from a variety of sources, including passenger ticket revenue, cost-sharing agreements with state partners, and the federal government.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), created in 1966, is an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation. FRA’s mission is to enable the safe, reliable, and efficient movement of people and goods for a strong America, now and in the future. FRA accomplishes this mission primarily through: issuance, implementation, and enforcement of safety regulations; managing Federal investments in freight and passenger rail across the country, and research and technology development.

FRA’s Office of Railroad Development, which is conducting this study, is responsible for working with stakeholders to develop cohesive goals and policies for maintaining and improving the U.S. freight and passenger rail networks, as well as for managing a portfolio of grant investments that contribute to achieving these goals. This office also oversees grant agreements with Amtrak to administer federal funds appropriated by Congress to support Amtrak’s operations, infrastructure, and equipment.

FRA has previously conducted long-term vision plans for regional passenger rail service in the Southwest, Southeast, Midwest, and the Northeast Corridor.

The FRA Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study will create a foundation for further planning of potential future long-distance services. However, developing new intercity passenger rail services takes time. This study is a crucial early step in a comprehensive process to identify the actions that may be needed to enhance long-distance service.

The Corridor Identification and Development Program (Corridor ID) is a new comprehensive intercity passenger rail planning and development program that will help guide intercity passenger rail development throughout the country. The Corridor ID Program is intended to become the primary means for directing federal financial support and technical assistance toward the development of proposals for new or improved intercity passenger rail services throughout the United States. As part of the program, FRA will work with corridor sponsors to prepare a Service Development Plan for each selected corridor and advance capital projects identified in those plans to ready them for final design and construction. Projects that are identified and fully developed through the program will benefit from a selection preference for future Federal-State Partnership-National funding opportunities. Unlike the Corridor ID Program, there is currently no sustained support to further advance preferred routes options identified by FRA’s Amtrak Long-Distance Service Study.

In December 2023, FRA announced 69 corridor selections across 44 states through Corridor ID. Eligible corridors in this program include both short-distance (less than 750 miles) routes, along with increasing the service frequency of a long-distance passenger rail route, and restoring service over a route formerly operated by Amtrak. The only long-distance corridors eligible under Corridor ID are those that increase the frequency of long-distance services or restore service over a route formerly operated by Amtrak. Potential new Amtrak long-distance routes – including some of those identified by this study – may not be eligible corridor types under the Corridor ID program.

Three long-distance corridors were selected into Corridor ID program in December 2023: Increasing the service frequency on the existing Cardinal route; increasing service frequency on the existing Sunset Limited route; and restoration of service over the discontinued North Coast Hiawatha route.

More information on selected Corridor ID corridors is available on the FRA website. More information about other FRA programs, including discretionary grants, is also available on the FRA website.

FRA launched the study in October 2022. Since then, FRA has engaged with state DOTs, Amtrak, Class I Railroads, short line railroads, metropolitan planning organizations, regional passenger rail authorities, local officials, federally recognized tribes, and the broader stakeholder community, as required by Section 22214 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

As a key part of the study, FRA convened 24 regional working group meetings in locations across the country between January 2023 and June 2024, during which it reviewed study progress and facilitated discussions about study. The materials presented during these meetings, and more details about locations and participants, can be found here. The materials from the fourth and final round of working group meetings – occurring in June 2024 – will be publicly available on the study website the week of June 17, 2024.

The study will conclude with a report to Congress later in 2024. After the final report is submitted to Congress, it will be published on the study website, as well as the FRA website.

The study is a crucial early step in a comprehensive process to identify the actions needed to enhance long-distance service – but developing new intercity passenger rail services takes time, and requires a rigorous process.

FRA’s Guidance on Development and Implementation of Railroad Capital Projects defines the stages in the development and implementation of railroad capital projects, from inception to operation. The project lifecycle described in this guidance has six stages, beginning with the identification of a railroad capital project during systems planning, followed by project planning and project development in the development stages, and final design and construction in the implementation stage to project completion and operation. The Long-Distance Service Study encompasses the first two stages: systems planning and some project planning.

The results from the study will reflect FRA’s diligent work to meet Congressional requirements, as well as significant stakeholder input. Based on the scope and scale of this effort, and after feedback from stakeholders, the study will identify a subset of capital projects needed for passenger service on preferred routes (such as track upgrades to meet passenger service requirements, stations, and fleet) – but not the full range of capital projects that may be needed, including potentially significant projects related to track capacity and grade crossing improvements. These complex, time-intensive projects would be determined based on future studies and analysis after this study is complete.

Key project planning tasks subject to additional analysis after the study include:

• Refined route, service, and project recommendations
• Identifying potential capacity related improvements and operational issues associated with the preferred routes.
• Developing conceptual engineering concepts, with consideration of environmental factors.

Any preferred option from the study to expand the long-distance network would require significant additional time, resources, and analysis after this study is completed to further identify and refine projects, costs, funding sources, and other key items needed for implementation. This analysis would include coordination with host railroads and other stakeholders associated with any proposal for a new or restored route, as well as identifying significant funding for infrastructure improvements, fleet needs, and ongoing operating support. Currently, there is no sustained financial support to further advance the preferred route options identified by FRA’s Amtrak Long-Distance Service Study.

Please contact FRA Public Affairs at [email protected]