Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
10
When the second edition of this topic came out in the late 1990s,
Amtrak's ridership was about 20 million passengers a year. In
2008, that number reached nearly 29 million—a 45-percent
increase—and continues to hover at or near that level. People are
turning to trains due mostly to high gas prices, more and more
automobile congestion, the higher cost of flying (not to mention
the increase in delays, security hassles, and other aggravations),
and a greater awareness of the environmental benefits of rail
travel.
The Amtrak system includes a total of some 21,000 miles
stretching coast-to-coast. Amtrak itself owns only about 750
miles of that track, most of it along what is called the Northeast
Corridor, which is the route running between Boston and Wash-
ington, D.C., by way of New York City. Most everywhere else,
Amtrak trains are operating over track owned and maintained
by private freight railroads, usually referred to as “contract” or
“host” railroads.
Hauling that many people all over the country, not to men-
tion feeding and providing beds for many of them along the way,
is a complicated business, and it takes a lot of people and equip-
ment to make it happen.
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