Amtrak — Routes, Fleet & Capital Plan

About Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, branded Amtrak, is the operator of nearly all medium- and long-distance intercity passenger rail service in the United States. Created by an act of Congress in 1970, Amtrak began service on May 1, 1971, taking over passenger operations from the privately owned freight railroads. Today it operates a roughly 21,400-mile network reaching 46 states, the District of Columbia, and three Canadian provinces. Background context on the carrier's history is also catalogued in the North American Rail Atlas & Route Encyclopedia.

Operator Profile

Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
Founded: 1971
Routes catalogued: 25
Stations served: 336
Total route miles: 27,632 mi
States served: 43

Fleet

Amtrak operates a mixed fleet ranging from Acela trainsets and the new ALC-42 Charger diesel locomotives to long-distance Superliner bilevel and Viewliner II single-level cars. Heritage Amfleet I and II equipment continues in corridor and overnight service pending the Airo replacement program. Equipment assignments rotate as new orders are delivered and existing rolling stock is retired or rebuilt; consult individual route pages for current information.

Capital plan and modernization

Amtrak's capital plan, supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, funds Northeast Corridor renewal (the Frederick Douglass Tunnel, Hudson and Susquehanna river bridges), state-supported corridor expansion, and the new Airo trainset rollout starting in 2026. Quarterly capital-plan progress is tracked in the Passenger Rail Advocacy & Reform Quarterly.

Routes operated by Amtrak

The table below lists all Amtrak services catalogued in the RailRover index, sorted by distance. Each entry links to a full route page with stations, fares, and timetable references.

Route	Type	Endpoints	Distance	Frequency
California Zephyr	Long-Distance	Chicago ↔ Emeryville	2,438 mi	Daily
Southwest Chief	Long-Distance	Chicago ↔ Los Angeles	2,265 mi	Daily
Empire Builder	Long-Distance	Chicago ↔ Portland	2,257 mi	Daily
Sunset Limited	Long-Distance	New Orleans ↔ Los Angeles	1,995 mi	Tri-weekly
Floridian	Long-Distance	Chicago ↔ Hialeah	1,929 mi	Daily
Silver Star	Long-Distance	New York ↔ Hialeah	1,522 mi	Daily
Silver Meteor	Long-Distance	New York ↔ Hialeah	1,389 mi	Daily (status varies; check Amtrak)
Crescent	Long-Distance	New York ↔ New Orleans	1,377 mi	Daily
Coast Starlight	Long-Distance	Seattle ↔ Los Angeles	1,377 mi	Daily
Texas Eagle	Long-Distance	Chicago ↔ San Antonio	1,306 mi	Daily Chicago–San Antonio; tri-weekly through-cars to Los Angeles via Sunset Limited
Cardinal	Long-Distance	New York ↔ Chicago	1,147 mi	Three round trips per week
Lake Shore Limited	Long-Distance	Boston ↔ Hudson	959 mi	Daily
City of New Orleans	Long-Distance	Chicago ↔ New Orleans	934 mi	Daily
Auto Train	Long-Distance (Vehicle Carry)	Lorton ↔ Sanford	855 mi	Daily
Palmetto	Regional Intercity	New York ↔ Savannah	829 mi	Daily
Capitol Limited	Long-Distance	Washington ↔ Chicago	764 mi	Daily
Northeast Regional	Regional Intercity	Boston ↔ Culpeper	728 mi	Up to 50 daily round trips end-to-end and segment service
Carolinian	Regional Intercity	New York ↔ Charlotte	704 mi	Daily
Vermonter	Regional Intercity	Washington ↔ St. Albans	611 mi	Daily
Empire Service	Regional Intercity	New York ↔ Niagara Falls	460 mi	13 daily trains New York–Albany; multiple trains continue to Niagara Falls
Acela	Acela (High-Speed Rail)	Boston ↔ Washington	457 mi	Up to 20 weekday round trips
Pennsylvanian	Regional Intercity	New York ↔ Pittsburgh	444 mi	Daily
Adirondack	Regional Intercity	New York ↔ Plattsburgh	381 mi	Daily
Ethan Allen Express	State-Supported Corridor	New York ↔ Burlington	309 mi	Daily
Keystone Service	Regional Intercity	New York ↔ Harrisburg	195 mi	14 daily round trips Philadelphia–Harrisburg; most through-running to New York

States served

Amtrak service touches 43 states in the RailRover index. Each state hub aggregates every operator's service through that state on a single page.

Alabama Southeast Arizona Southwest Arkansas South Central California West Colorado Mountain Connecticut Northeast Delaware Mid-Atlantic District of Columbia Mid-Atlantic Florida Southeast Georgia Southeast Idaho Mountain Illinois Midwest Indiana Midwest Iowa Midwest Kentucky South Louisiana South Maryland Mid-Atlantic Massachusetts Northeast Minnesota Midwest Mississippi South Missouri Midwest Montana Mountain Nebraska Midwest Nevada West New Hampshire Northeast New Jersey Mid-Atlantic New Mexico Mountain New York Northeast North Carolina Southeast North Dakota Plains Ohio Midwest Oregon Pacific Northwest Pennsylvania Mid-Atlantic Rhode Island Northeast South Carolina Southeast Tennessee South Texas South Central Utah Mountain Vermont Northeast Virginia Mid-Atlantic Washington Pacific Northwest West Virginia Appalachian Wisconsin Midwest

Booking and ticketing

RailRover does not sell tickets. To book travel on Amtrak, visit the carrier's official booking site or app directly. Many of the same trip-planning principles that apply to Amtrak — advance purchase saves significantly, multi-ride passes are heavily discounted on commuter services, group sales unlock 60% off Saver coach for parties of 8 or more — apply across operators. For a deeper walkthrough, see the RailRover guide to buying tickets and saving on fares, the field guide to onboard Wi-Fi and power outlets, and the baggage rules reference. Independent fare-watch newsletters such as the Commuter Rail Operators Reform Brief publish current promotional fare summaries.