Passenger rail service in the United States is woefully lacking compared to other countries, particularly long-distance service that connects far-reaching cities. Amtrak currently operates 15 long-distance routes, which range from 750 to 2,500 miles. But they stretch over just 39 states and the District of Columbia, and a map of those routes reveals that large swaths of the country dont have any rail options.A new map, as part of a recent Federal Railroad Administration study, shows what the country could look like if 15 additional long-distance routes were added. With those rail lines, previously stranded regions of the country are suddenly connected with bright lines representing passenger rail. They would make the countrys rail network considerably fuller and would bring rail service to all of the lower 48 states.The existing Amtrak Passenger rail network. [Image: FRA]These 15 potential new Amtrak routes would add more than 23,000 rail miles to the system, serve more than 60 new metropolitan areas, and provide rail access to 39 million people that currently dont have it. The revealed preferred route options. [Image: FRA]The FRA study on the potential expansion of long-distance rail was delivered to Congress this week. As part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Congress directed the FRA, which oversees Amtrak, to conduct a study that evaluated the potential of restoring routes, adding new ones, and increasing existing service.The FRA has been working on the report for the past two years, conducting meetings in 21 cities across the country, from Boston to Boise to Dallas. The agency received more than 50,000 comments, from stakeholders like state transportation departments and Indian Tribes, as well as members of the public. Thats a sign, the FRA says, of the overwhelming support for long-distance services or passenger rail in general. In their comments, people across the country shared how they would use the new route options to do everything from visit family to see national parks to connect to job opportunities. Less than 10% of riders on Amtraks current long-distance routes ride from end-to-end, the study notes, but what these routes do is connect people to all the urban and rural places in between. Amtraks current Crescent route, for example, connects New York to New Orleansbut includes stops at more than 30 stations in between, from Trenton, New Jersey, to Greensboro, North Carolina, to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The studys findings underscore the growing interest in train travel thats been sweeping the U.S. in recent years. Amtrak itself saw record ridership in 2024, with new routes quickly surpassing expectations. Other rail companies have come into the fold, too, like Brightline, with its plans to develop high-speed rail options. [Images: FRA]But the potential new Amtrak routes are far from a sure thing. The options that the study outlines are conceptual, the FRA says, and more work is needed to refine the projects and determine their costs and funding sources, plus whatever else it would take to actually implement them. Some of the routes have existed previously, but were closed because of a lack of funding. Restoring them would surely be a funding challenge again. Currently, the study reads, there is no sustained financial support or program to construct or operate the selected preferred route options.Some of that funding could come from an FRA program, or from states and private stakeholders working with Amtrak. Its also not clear what this Congress, or the new administration, will think of the report. Though President Donald Trump, while on the campaign trail, lamented the fact that the U.S. didnt have bullet trains, experts say his presidency could reduce financial support for transit projects overall.
