FRA Draws a New US Passenger Rail Map
Identifies 15 Potential Long-Distance Routes That Could Restore Trains Amtrak Discontinued
Like many other passenger train enthusiasts I have “designed” fantasy U.S. passenger rail networks that include routes not served by Amtrak. However, I never imagined people actually get paid to do just that. Perhaps I missed my calling.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is in the midst of a multi-year long-distance service study. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Law of 2021 (IIJA – aka Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) requires the agency to evaluate restoration of daily intercity passenger service along long-distance routes discontinued by Amtrak or that offer less-than-daily service. It also lets the agency evaluate potential new routes, including those that ran just prior to Amtrak’s debut in May 1971.
The study aims to establish a common long-term vision for long distance passenger service and the capital projects needed to implement that vision. To this end it has made 15 route recommendations that connect unserved, high-demand city pairs, increase rural accessibility, improve network connectivity, and have stakeholder support. FRA stresses these are a series of conceptual segments to evaluate for future route development and not a proposal for service.
This list does not include the Sunset Limited and Cardinal, tri-weekly runs that Amtrak would like to operate daily. Brief descriptions of the recommended routes follow.
Chicago – Miami Restores the link between the Midwest and Florida that ended with discontinuation of the Floridian in 1979. The route is one of the most sought long-distance lines travelers want, FRA’s preferred route runs via Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Macon, Waycross, Jacksonville, and Orlando. It goes through 16 unserved metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with a combined population of 6.96 million and would fill an important gap in Amtrak’s north-south network.
Dallas / Fort Worth – Miami Links the second and third most populous states while restoring service between Shreveport and New Orleans and between Mobile and Jacksonville. The preferred route runs through Mashall, Shreveport, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and Daytona Beach. It runs in six unserved MSAs with a combined population of 1.3 million.
Denver – Houston Replicates the service provided by the Burlington’s Texas Zephyr and Sam Houston Zephyr and connects the nation’s fourth largest city with a major gateway to the Far West and Pacific Northwest. The preferred route runs through Colorado Springs, Trinidad, Amarillo, Wichita Falls, Dallas / Fort Worth, and Bryan. There is only one unserved MSA on the route with a population of 270,000.
Los Angeles – Denver Brings back service over the route of Amtrak’s Desert Wind and Union Pacific’s City of Los Angeles. Key stops along the preferred routes include Barstow, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Rock Springs. Four currently unserved MSAs with a combined population of 510,000 would have passenger service once more. Given Wyoming’s low population, until there are more connections in Denver the train could terminate in Salt Lake City where passengers could transfer to the California Zephyr.
Phoenix – Minneapolis / St. Paul Runs over BNSF’s Southern Transcontinental as far as Kansas City where it heads north over Union Pacific tracks. Intermediate points on the preferred route include Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Wichita, Newton, Kansas City, Omaha, and Sioux Falls. The line runs through six unserved MSAs with a combined population of 980,000. Ideally, the schedule should enable transfers to and from the Southwest Chief at Kansas City and Flagstaff. Back in the “Golden Age” this trip could be made using two Rock Island trains, the Golden State and the Twin Star Rocket, with a transfer in Kansas City.
Dallas / Fort Worth – New York Provides through service between Texas and the Northeast. Santa Fe’s Texas Chief, Frisco’s Meteor, and the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Penn Texas and Spirit of St. Louis used segments of the preferred route. Intermediate stops would include Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Springfield, St. Louis, Terre Haute, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. The line runs through eight unserved MSAs with a combined population of 4.7 million.
Houston – New York Connects the first and fifth largest MSAs via line segments used by the Crescent Limited (New Orleans – Atlanta), Dixie Flyer (Atlanta – Chattanooga), and Pelican (Chattanooga – New York. Additional intermediate stops along the preferred route would include Mobile, Montgomery, Knoxville, Lynchburg, Washington, and Philadelphia. The train would run through 14 unserved MSAs with a combined population of 4.02 million. As an interim measure, Amtrak’s could serve the end points by extending the current Crescent from New Orleans to Houston as an overnight run.
Seattle – Denver Traces the line used by Amtrak’s Pioneer. Key intermediate points include Portland, Boise, Pocatello, Ogden, Salt Lake City, and Grand Junction. The train would go through five unserved MSAs with a combined population of 1.28 million. Since it shares the line between Salt Lake City and Denver, a connection could be made with the California Zephyr in Utah’s state capital.
San Antonio – Minneapolis / St. Paul Runs parallel to busy Interstate 35 and follows the route of the Rock Island’s Twin Star Rocket, which ran to Houston rather than San Antonio. The line serves Austin, Dallas / Fort Worth, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Des Moines. It passes through six unserved MSAs with a combined population of 1.73 million. It also provides an additional north-south line roughly midway between Chicago and Denver.
San Francisco – Dallas / Fort Worth Links the fourth and 13th largest MSAs via line segments once part of the Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, and Texas & Pacific Railroads. The preferred route would run through Merced, Bakersfield, Barstow, Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso, and Midland. It would serve five currently unserved MSAs with a combined population of 960,000. Only the segment between El Paso and Fort Worth currently lacks passenger service, so alternate routes are available.
Detroit – New Orleans Creates a new north-south line between Amtrak’s City of New Orleans and Crescent routes. Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Louisville, Bowling Green, Nashville, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile are principal intermediate stops. The nine unserved MSAs along the line have a combined population of 6.68 million so it could greatly expand Amtrak’s reach.
Denver – Minneapolis / St. Paul Introduces the first through, long-distance service across the entire state of South Dakota. Trains would serve Rapid City, Pierre, and Sioux Falls. The line passes through five unserved MSAs with a combined population of 770,000. However, sparse population and the circuitous, restricted speed rail lines make this a likely non-starter. Other proposed routes would allow people to travel between the two end points, albeit with a transfer on route.
Seattle – Chicago Restores Amtrak’s North Coast Hiawatha, which was discontinued in 1979. The preferred route runs through Yakima, Kennewick, Spokane, Sandpoint, Missoula, Helena, Billings, Bismark, Fargo, Minneapolis / St. Paul, and Milwaukee. It passed through three unserved MSAs with a combined population of 400,000. Advocates have been working for decades to bring back this train, and the FRA awarded a $500,000 grant to the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority for a service development program, a first step toward additional federal grants.
Dallas / Fort Worth – Atlanta Connects the principal hub cities of the Southeast and Southwest. Connections at the endpoints would help build ridership. Intermediate stations along the preferred route would include Marshall, Shreveport, Jackson, Meridian, and Birmingham. The Southern Rail Commission received a $500,000 grant from FRA to create a service development plan for the Meridian – Fort Worth segment. The two unserved MSAs on the route have a combined 360,000 population.
El Paso – Billings Runs roughly parallel to Interstate 25 in a north-south direction. The preferred route serves Albuquerque, Trinidad, Denver, Cheyenne, and Casper. It would bring passenger rail to three unserved MSAs with a combined 360,000 population. In the past, the Burlington and Santa Fe provided service over segments of the route but through service was not offered.
If all 15 routes are activated, 45 million Americans, would gain access to passenger trains, roughly 54 percent of the currently unserved population. This includes 19 million people in the top 100 MSAs and nine million who reside in rural areas. The plan restores service to 36 MSAs. An additional 25 MSAs would have passenger trains for the first time since Amtrak began operations in 1971.
The US rail map would be entirely remade. Five new lines, roughly 500 miles apart, would run primarily north to south. Additionally, 12 of the 15 routes would serve Sunbelt states, more than double the current 10 long-distance lines that currently operate there.
Dallas / Fort Worth and Denver would function as hubs for an expanded network. In addition to connections at terminal cities, passengers would have connections at many intermediate stations. For example, travelers on the El Paso – Billings line would be able to make connections in Albuquerque for Flagstaff and Barstow, in Trinidad for Kansas City and Chicago, and in Denver for Omaha, Salt Lake City, Reno, Sacramento, and San Francisco.
Passenger train advocates know the gestation period for new rail services often stretches for decades. Each route map in FRA’s presentation contains a caveat: Further analysis after completion of this study would be necessary to advance the preferred routes through project planning and project development activities prior to implementation.
FRA anticipates the last train won’t begin running until 2060 or later. By then, most of us will no longer be around. However, with this list the agency could change the conversation about the future of long-distance passenger trains. Where that conversation will go is anyone’s guess.