Intercity rail services in the United States – statistics & facts
Intercity rail services are typically express passenger train services covering much longer distances than commuter or regional trains. Rail passenger traffic in the United States had seen substantial growth between the early 2000s and the 2010s, with annual passenger numbers on heavy rail services reaching 3.8 billion in 2019. In early 2020, the number of rail passengers in the United States began to drop significantly due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. While trips began increasing again in the following years passenger traffic in 2022 remained around 40 percent below 2019 figures.
Amtrak’s position as the only intercity passenger rail operator in the contiguous United States ended in 2018, when Brightline launched its service between Miami and West Palm Beach in Florida. The private operator has since expanded to include Orlando and has further plans to extend the route to Tampa. In addition, Brightline is planning to operate the new Las Vegas – Southern California high-speed route, which received federal funding in December 2023.
U.S. passenger rail: then and now
Prior to the late 1900s, there was a dense system of intercity railways in the United States, which experienced a huge decrease after the decline of passenger rail in North America in the 1960s. However, in recent years passenger rail has gained increasing political and public support. Federal rail transportation expenditures nearly doubled between 2019 and 2020 and the country has committed to continued long-term investment in rail, including passenger rail, in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021. In December of 2023, the Biden Administration followed this by awarding 8.2 billion U.S. dollars to develop ten passenger rail projects across the country. This includes two high-speed rail projects, one in the Central Valley in California and the second connecting southern California to Las Vegas.Key players
The main intercity passenger rail operator in the U.S. is Amtrak. Founded in 1971, Amtrak is government-owned and funded but operated and managed as a for-profit corporation. The number of passengers who travel aboard Amtrak’s railcars typically amounted to over 30 million passengers per year pre-pandemic and totaled around 22 million in 2022. The number of passengers traveling aboard Amtrak’s long-distance railcars usually exceeds four million passengers, which was reduced to 3.5 million in 2022. Amtrak is currently headquartered at Union Station in Washington, D.C., although its leading passenger station is New York’s Penn Station. Amtrak operates across the United States with the exception of Alaska, where Alaska Railroad is in operation. Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad, owned by the state of Alaska, which carries both freight and passengers throughout its system. In 2022, around 462,000 passengers traveled aboard Alaska Railroad's railcars.Amtrak’s position as the only intercity passenger rail operator in the contiguous United States ended in 2018, when Brightline launched its service between Miami and West Palm Beach in Florida. The private operator has since expanded to include Orlando and has further plans to extend the route to Tampa. In addition, Brightline is planning to operate the new Las Vegas – Southern California high-speed route, which received federal funding in December 2023.
