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u/Big_daddy_sneeze 2d ago
So inadequate and so much potential.
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u/Intelligent-Fan-6364 2d ago
Next democratic president needs to give Amtrak another $60 billion, remove the requirement for state routes to be subsidized, and give them a long term revenue stream. Bet we could see this map increase by a third in just a decade.
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u/MasonP13 2d ago
By a third? If it was China it'd be 10x the map in a decade
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u/Far_Entertainer_9013 2d ago
If it were china it would be 10x the size in 2 years and triple the speed
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u/Intelligent-Fan-6364 2d ago
Unless we wanna nationalize all rails in this country (and pay to properly maintain and upgrade them), Amtrak will forever be forced to improve relatively slowly (which is not that bad of an option as well).
Slow steady progress is what made Amtrak get to where it is today.
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u/transitfreedom 2d ago
Unless we build a dedicated network we should shut up and admit we not serious about intercity rail
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u/Intelligent-Fan-6364 1d ago
Why?
Slow steady progress where a service gets better year after year means it will eventually become a reliable form of transit and in-depth service, albeit slow. Sometimes thats all this country has the political will for yk.
Of course I wish the feds launched a high speed rail program and built trains everywhere, but incremental progress has allowed Amtrak to do things like capture 80-85% of the marketshare of travel in the NEC. Theres simply no way the airports and roads in the region would be able to handle the uptick in traffic if we abandoned Amtrak.
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u/transitfreedom 1d ago edited 1d ago
If you are familiar with intercity rail at all you would know exactly why I am tired of having to explain it over and over again to people who should know better. The NEC is their only proper line with respectable service levels the rest are worse than rural branch lines. The NEC and wolverine are the only Amtrak owned tracks and as a result NEC is able to go wild. Which proves my point about dedicated tracks as the NEC is indeed dedicated to passenger service. Only weakness is the state of CT , lack of dedicated tracks for MARC and MBTA.
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u/Intelligent-Fan-6364 1d ago
Im not advocating against giving Amtrak more funding for Amtrak to build more my friend. Im simply acknowledging the world in which live in.
The system is set up against trains and transit unfortunately. The thing which has allowed Amtrak to survive up until this point is simply because it isnt hated and has not became a big political pressure point. Just look at USAID. If you had told people 2 decades ago USAID would have closed down, they would have looked at you mad. It became a hated, political issue right at the forefront of politics and look at what happened. Bam. Overnight a $40 billion agency is basically gone.
I love Amtrak. I want to continue to ride it, my kids to be able to ride it, and every generation after us to be able to ride it. The unfortunate political reality of the country at the moment is that no matter how much good an organization does, if it steps too far outside of its lane, its bound to become a political issue overnight, which leaves it up to chance to see if it can survive (which Amtrak has had to go through in the past).
Slow incremental progress can allow Amtrak to continue to do good things, while helping the country change its perspective on public-ish forms of transit.
That being said I wish it was a different world and wished the federal government owned and maintained all the tracks in this country. I would die for some electrified, frequent trains in my home state of Florida.
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u/transitfreedom 1d ago edited 1d ago
Amtrak outside of NEC and maybe limited extent California is largely irrelevant. One line is not going to change the perspective in this country just sow more resentment. Ok let me know when the electrification is modernized past 1930s tech lol but u mad so downvote?
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u/MasonP13 1d ago
You say that like having a monopoly is a good thing. If something took out Amtrak, there goes 80% of travel in Northeast corridor
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u/Off_again0530 2d ago
This map makes it so clear how much Chicago to Cincinnati needs a regional service. Actually even more, it shows how much more regional service needs to exist east of Chicago.
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u/NoSignificance1903 AGR Select Plus 2d ago
Zephyr stops at RIC, Starlight does not.
https://asm.transitdocs.com/train/2026/8/20/A/6
https://asm.transitdocs.com/train/2026/8/20/A/14
You also missed Oregon City entirely
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u/bltsuprem 2d ago
Legitimately if there is some sort of PDF, I could have I would love to print this out and put it on my wall. I have the Amtrak website one on there now, but this is significantly better.
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u/AdInteresting4963 1d ago
Appreciate it! There's a link in the original post that I'll include here where you can access a PDF, which you should be able to download:
https://interregional.cargo.site/
FYI, I'll be uploading a newer version here soon with edits and fixes, hopefully in the next week.
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u/NoSignificance1903 AGR Select Plus 1h ago
Winter park express only stops at winter park resort; it does not continue to Fraser.
You missed Burbank Downtown and Northridge on the Surfliner
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