Amtrak Celebrates 50 Years of Providing Transportation

Of all the Americans who’ve eschewed air travel in favor of the charms of the train, perhaps none has been more loyal than a man nicknamed Amtrak Joe. Having lost his wife and daughter in an auto accident in 1972, he began commuting to his job in Washington on Amtrak—a 250-mile round trip from his home in Wilmington, Del. He made the trip every working day for 36 years. By his own reckoning, he figured he’d logged over 2 million miles on the train. Today, of course, Amtrak Joe has a new moniker. He’s President Joe Biden. Not only is the election of the 46th president good fiscal news for America’s passenger railroad—Biden’s American Jobs Plan earmarks $80 million for rail—but he’s the sort of passenger that Amtrak no doubt wishes it had a few thousand more of: someone who views the nation’s passenger railroad as a viable, even enjoyable mode of intracity transportation that’s an essential complement to America’s airport and interstate grid. Indeed, that’s a perception Amtrak has been trying to get everyone to adopt for exactly half a century now—since the first Amtrak train rolled out of New York in the early morning hours of May 1, 1971. If you’re the sort of red-blooded American who equates driving your SUV to an inalienable right, odds are you don’t think much of Amtrak. But if so, CMO Roger Harris has news for you: As the population continues to grow, America needs Amtrak. “We’ve gotten to the point where we can’t add another lane to I-95,” he said. Cars are perfect for short drives, Harris argues, and planes make sense for trips over 400 miles. But for everything in between, Amtrak “is really efficient.” Given the fact that railroads literally built America, it’s a little bizarre that anyone has to make the case for a passenger rail network. But postwar economics put Amtrak into the position of doing it. In the late 1960s, when interstate highways and nascent airlines made passenger routes unprofitable, 20 of America’s private railroads struck a deal with Congress, turning over their rolling stock in exchange for letting the government run the passenger service. And it has ever since, with 300 trains a day to 525 stations in 46 states. And while the pandemic has hurt Amtrak as much as airlines, the train’s natural advantages of more space and private compartments prompted many to take the train when they otherwise wouldn’t. Amtrak welcomed them with special fares, touchless check-in, dog-friendly trains and other perks. Now, as the pandemic ebbs, Amtrak hopes they’ll stick around. “We’re putting our best foot forward, trying to attract these new customers,” Harris said. “We want them to come to us and go, ‘Wow, what a great experience.’” Just ask Amtrak Joe. The need for speed It’s no coincidence that all the world’s long-distance rail networks require government subsidies. Passenger trains generally don’t make money. The same is true for Amtrak, which cannot hope to operate a 21,400-mile system on revenues alone. But the railroad does have a bread-and-butter route: the 457-mile Boston-to-Washington Northeast Corridor. Business travelers on this run pay top dollar to avoid the airport, and the ride they prefer is the Acela, America’s only high-speed train. Introduced in 2000, the Acela can hit 160 mph and features amenities like wide seats and beer on tap. Next year, 28 new Acela train sets made by French manufacturer Avelia are set to debut. Shortly after government officials announced Amtrak’s creation (1) and tried to stoke the pubic with these pins (2), the railroad began operating the coaches surrendered by the struggling private carriers (3). Within a few years, Amtrak began ordering new passenger cars, including these double-decker Superliner cars for western routes (4) and the can-shaped Amfleet cars for the east (5). Earlier this year, Amtrak cut the ribbon on the Moynihan Train Hall in New York, fulfilling a 30-year-old promise to give the city a station it could be proud of.

Perspective

Amtrak Celebrates 50 Years of Providing Viable Intracity Transportation to the US

And as populations continue to grow, the country will need passenger railroads more than ever

Robert Klara

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Robert Klara