This is meant to be a summary of the the routes previously run by Amtrak are
currently not in use. I have included the Sunset Limited route between New Orleans and Jacksonville which has been suspended since Hurricane Katrina. That route may see a return of service, and it would be removed from this summary.
Amtrak took over passenger train service from the railroads on May 1, 1971.
A summary of passenger trains operated by the freight railroads on April 30, 1971 can be found here.
The initial Amtrak system consisted of 19,233 route miles, and served 43 of the 50 States. I have a summary of that network which is Amtrak’s Original Routes.
At this time Amtrak has a system of 21,157 routes miles, serving 46 States. It is covered by Amtrak’s Current Routes.
Well over 100 route changes have been made over the past 36 years, adding 15,999 miles and bringing the all-time total to 35,232 route miles. A large number of these changes involved new routes, or the cancellation of routes. Others have involved detouring off of rail lines not required by the freight railroads. The first route change took place on May 10, 1971, by extending a New York to Buffalo run to Chicago and calling it the Lake Shore. The first line abandoned by Amtrak covered 11 miles between Mott Haven and New Rochelle, New York. This took place during 1971 when all service to New England was consolidated i
Hawaii
May 1971 routes…0 miles-
Current routes…0 miles-
Abandoned routes…0 miles-
Hawaii, along with Alaska and South Dakota, has never been served by Amtrak.
Idaho
May 1971 routes…102 miles-
The Empire Builder traveled across the State on 102 miles of Burlington Northern
through Sandpoint.
Current routes…102 miles-
The Empire Builder remains on the same 102 mile route, now owned by BNSF.
Abandoned routes…426 miles-
392 miles on Union Pacific from Oregon through Boise to Utah, by the
Seattle-Denver Pioneer cancellation on May 11, 1997, from June 7, 1977.
&n
Massachusetts
May 1971 routes…41 miles-
When Amtrak began, the only service in the Commonwealth was on Penn Central,
36 miles on the Northeast Corridor to Boston and an additional 5 miles to
Springfield from New Haven.
Current routes…282 miles-
The 36 miles of the Northeast Corridor in Massachusetts are now electrified,
allowing the Acelas into Boston. The Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited
travels 161 across the State, while the Vermonter travels another 65 on a
north-south route. Service between Boston and Maine is now handled by
the
New Mexico
May 1971 routes…600 miles-
The Super Chief was on the ATSF for 430 miles and the Sunset Limited rode
170 miles of Southern Pacific crossing New Mexico.
Current routes…600 miles-
The Super Chief is now the Southwest Chief, and the 430 miles are now part
of BNSF. The Sunset Limited 170 mile route is on Union Pacific’s Sunset Route.
Abandoned routes…0 miles-
New York
May 1971 routes…499 miles-
The Northeast Corridor stretched 31 miles between New Jersey and Connecticut
through New York City, and hosted numerous trains. Amtrak also used the
Lake Shore route for 457 miles between New York City and Buffalo.
Current routes…777 miles-
The Northeast Corridor remains busy on its 31 miles in the State. The
South Dakota
May 1971 routesi…0 miles-
Current routesi…0 miles-
Abandoned routes…0 miles-
South Dakota, along with Alaska and Hawaii, has never been served by Amtrak.
Tennessee
May 1971 routes…267 miles-
The City of New Orleans rode 134 miles of the Illinois Central through Memphis
while the South Wind used 133 miles of the L&N through Nashville.
The Chicago-Florida South Wind was renamed Floridian, which came to an
end during 1979.
Current routes…134 miles-
The City of New Orleans is on 134 miles of Canadian National’s former IC line.
Abandoned routes…180 miles-
9 miles on IC from Memphis to
Abandonment by Year
This section shows the lines previously used by Amtrak, listed under the year they last saw service. For lines which have been abandoned more than once, they are only listed for the most recent curtailment of service. An example of this is the Union Pacific line across Wyoming, listed under 1997 when the Pioneer was discontinued. I have not listed it a second time under 1983, caused by the California Zephyr reroute onto the D&RGW.
2005- 1,021 miles
411 miles on CSX from Pine Jct IN through Akron to New Brighton PA,
by the Chicago-New York Three Rivers cancellation on May 7, 2005,
from November 11, 1990.
Stations dropped- Nappanee IN, Fostoria OH
There is also a route in Minnesota, the Northern Star [or North Star, (dependeds on who you talk to)] between the Twin Cities and Duluth. It replaced the Gopher and Badger in Great Northern days. Amtrak ran it up to the 1980’s. There is going to be a new commuter service (in 2008), called the North Star Commuter Service between the Twin Cities and Big Lake (St. Cloud) that may soon connect to Duluth.[8D]
There is a commuter operation called the Hiawath run on the Twin Cities Western [formerly Milwaukee Road], and operated be the State of Minnesota westward to the N. Dakota State Line, has both a dinette, and a full diner car in operation!
Both the Alaska and Hawaii listings say those states and North Dakota has never had Amtrak service. As is apparent elsewhere in the listings it is South Dakota that has never had Amtrak.
I told Dave that I’d buy him a steak dinner, when DM&E starts running PRB coal trains. I figured he could ride Amtrak into Sioux Falls, as I believe the odds of either happening are about equal.[:P]
Altho the Sunset Limited has not operated east of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, the service is “suspended”, not “abandoned”. For New Orleans-Jacksonville to be truly in the latter category, it would have to be at the end of a 180-day service discontinuance notice. To date, such notice has not been issued.
I agree with that, but I feel Amtrak will not issue the notice because it would cost them the support of Trent Lott, the only Republican I would call a strong supporter of Amtrak. Hopefully I can get Indiana (and south Chicago) done and write a proper intro and summary mentioning that.
I would also like to see the proposed New Orleans-Florida day train come to fruition.