United States
Country Details
See Wikipedia
National Railway System
The United States rail network has a complex mix of infrastructure ownership and passenger train operation. Most of the infrastructure is owned by private companies - principally BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific - which operate freight services only. Passenger services are provided by various public-sector bodies. The federal operator, Amtrak, runs long-distance and other inter-city trains, and local services are run by various state operators. Amtrak and some other operators also own parts of the infrastructure on which they run.
Infrastructure
There is a fairly consistent basic infrastructure standard for all main-line operators (i.e. not metros / light rail):
- gauge: standard
- electrification: none (but see Northeast Corridor below)
- rule of the road: right, but with extensive bi-directional operation
Variations are noted against individual operators.
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is the main line linking Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. Due to a complex ownership and construction history, the Northeast Corridor electrification has three different systems, all overhead:
- Boston - New Haven (Connecticut): 25kV 60Hz
- New Haven - New York: 12.5KV 60Hz (includes Metro-North branches in Connecticut)
- New York - Washington: 12kV 25Hz (includes Philadelphia - Harrisburg, and SEPTA lines around Philadelphia)
Some NJ Transit branch lines connecting with the Northeast Corridor have 25kV 60Hz electrification.
Maps
- Printed: Steam Powered Video publish a series of rail atlases covering the United States but a number are now out of print.
- Sonrisa publications currently (late 2024) have 19 books, mainly of the western states, of strip maps each covering one or more states.
Holidays
Holiday periods may see reduced passenger services, or even no passenger services at all, whereas heritage railways may have increased services. If visiting a country check [https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/ here for holiday dates.
Information
- The Man in Seat 61 site has a useful guide to train travel in the United States, including summary timetables and ticket details.
- Summary timetables for Amtrak and some other services are available in some editions of the European Rail Timetable.
- A real-time interactive map and other information for many "commuter rail" operators (and other transit services) is available at Pantograph. Note that this does not include Amtrak services.
Ticketing
Tickets are generally not interavailable between operators, even on shared routes. Exceptions may be identified in this Guide when known.
Amtrak
The main source of information is the website.
Map
Amtrak provide an interactive map, and also a PDF map: on the Routes & Destinations page, click the "National Route Map" button
Timetable
- Journey planner: on the website front page
- Online timetables: Amtrak no longer provides timetable PDFs but a complete calling point schedule per named service by direction is on line and can be located from the Amtrak home page by clicking on Schedules in the menu bar, and then on the train pictogram to choose by Route. The Rail Passengers Association publishes unofficial timetables in a similar format to the old PDFs, created from Amtrak data.
- Printed timetable: it is not known whether Amtrak still publishes a paper timetable. The compilers would welcome updates.
There is an archive of old Amtrak timetable PDFs, both official and unofficial, and other resources, at juckins.net.
Engineering Information
Real-time Information
- On the Amtrak website front page, click the "Train Status" button to check individual trains by origin/destination or by train number
- A real-time interactive map of Amtrak (and VIA Rail) trains is available on the TransitDocs website. Click on individual trains to view their details.
Ticketing
Amtrak offers several rail passes. Note that these do not provide unlimited travel within a particular period and area; there is a limit on the number of times any given route segment may be travelled, and the national "USA Rail Pass" permits only ten journey segments (point-to-point journeys on a single service). A rail pass is also not a travel document in its own right; for each journey on a rail pass, a conventional ticket must be issued, free of charge, with reservations as necessary.
Regional Routes
Various state-supported regional routes have their own websites, which may provide more information than is available from the Amtrak website.
- Capitol Corridor: Auburn-Conheim - Sacramento - Oakland - San Jose (California). The front page includes a PDF schedule.
- Cascades: Eugene, OR - Portland, OR - Seattle, WA - Vancouver, BC. Train Schedules includes a PDF schedule.
- Downeaster: Boston, MA - Brunswick, ME. Schedule and Fares includes a PDF schedule.
- Pacific Surfliner: San Luis Obispo - Los Angeles - San Diego (California). Schedules includes a PDF schedule.
- San Joaquins: Oakland / Sacramento - Stockton - Bakersfield (California). Schedules includes a PDF schedule.
State Pages
Information for operators within individual states, including metro and light rail systems, is broken down by state:
| State | Status |
|---|---|
| Alabama | only Amtrak service |
| Alaska | see state page |
| Arizona (including Phoenix) | see state page |
| Arkansas | see state page |
| California (including Los Angeles and San Francisco) | see state page |
| Colorado (including Denver) | see state page |
| Connecticut | see state page |
| Delaware | see state page |
| District of Columbia (DC / Washington city) | see state page |
| Florida (including Miami) | see state page |
| Georgia (including Atlanta) | see state page |
| Hawaii (including Honolulu) | see state page |
| Idaho | only Amtrak service |
| Illinois (including Chicago) | see state page |
| Indiana | see state page |
| Iowa | only Amtrak service |
| Kansas | only Amtrak service |
| Kentucky | only Amtrak service |
| Louisiana (including New Orleans) | see state page |
| Maine | see state page |
| Maryland (including Baltimore) | see state page |
| Massachusetts (including Boston) | see state page |
| Michigan (including Detroit) | see state page |
| Minnesota (including Minneapolis) | see state page |
| Mississippi | only Amtrak service |
| Missouri | see state page |
| Montana | only Amtrak service |
| Nebraska | see state page |
| Nevada (including Las Vegas) | see state page |
| New Hampshire | see state page |
| New Jersey | see state page |
| New Mexico (including Albuquerque) | see state page |
| New York | see state page |
| North Carolina | see state page |
| North Dakota | only Amtrak service |
| Ohio | see state page |
| Oklahoma | see state page |
| Oregon | see state page |
| Pennsylvania (including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh) | see state page |
| Rhode Island | see state page |
| South Carolina | only Amtrak service |
| South Dakota | no rail passenger service |
| Tennessee (including Memphis and Nashville) | see state page |
| Texas (including Dallas and Houston) | see state page |
| Utah | see state page |
| Vermont | see state page |
| Virginia | see state page |
| Washington (state) | see state page |
| Washington D.C. | see state page |
| West Virginia | service provided only by Amtrak and MARC (see Maryland) |
| Wisconsin | see state page |
| Wyoming | no rail passenger service |
Note that some states do not have Amtrak service: Alaska, Hawaii, South Dakota, Wyoming.
Some state operators serve more than one state; the links in the table indicate the main entry for each operator:
| Operator | Service |
|---|---|
| MBTA | mainly Massachusetts; the Providence Line extends into Rhode Island, via Providence to Wickford Junction |
| CTrail Hartford Line | mainly Connecticut; extends to Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Metro-North | mainly New York; much of the New Haven Line and its branches are in Connecticut |
| PATH | metro-like service between New York city and nearby New Jersey |
| New Jersey Transit | services on many northern New Jersey routes operate to New York city; the Atlantic City Line runs to Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) |
| SEPTA | mainly Pennsylvania; the Trenton Line extends to Trenton, New Jersey; and the Wilmington / Newark Line to Newark, Delaware |
| PATCO | metro-like service between Philadelphia (PA) and Camden, New Jersey |
| MARC | mainly Maryland; all lines run to Washington DC; the Brunswick Line extends to Martinsburg, West Virginia |
| WMATA | Washington Metro lines extend into Maryland and Virginia |
| VRE | mainly Virginia; both lines run to Washington DC |
| NICTD (South Shore Line) | mainly Indiana; the line runs to Chicago (IL) |
| Metra | mainly Illinois; the Union Pacific North line extends to Kenosha, Wisconsin |
| St. Louis Metrolink | light rail service in Missouri and Illinois |
US Territories
There is a separate page for the US territory of Puerto Rico; the territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands have no railways.
Tourist Lines
See Wikipedia
Recent and Future Changes
Recent Changes
Chicago "L": The Brown Line towards Kimball has used a flyover north of Belmont since 19 November 2021.
From an unknown date after 2018, Amtrak services to/from New Orleans and Chicago or Houston use a new connecting line in New Orleans off their previous route from just north of Southport Junct to west of Carrollton Junct.
The daily Fort Worth to Oklahoma City Amtrak trains have run via a changed route in the northern Fort Worth suburbs since 2018 or 2019 when the previous some distance to the east of Haslet West Alliance yard line was severed by an extension of the runway at Fort Worth Alliance Airport. They now run via previously freight only lines south and north of the yard, plus a new alignment to the west of the yard and SPV Atlas shown yard wye. This is shown correctly on OpenRailwayMap and the Conductor timing sheets on October 2024 travellers train showed the new construction is from mp 362.4 to 366.5 but the changed route in total is 8.5 miles including the previous freight only lines either end of the yard. The service to Oklahoma City had resumed on 14.6.1999.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) began passenger service on the South Coast Rail on 24 March 2025. The Middleborough/Lakeview line which runs Braintree to Middleborough, is extended to Fall River (the Fall River line) with a branch to New Bedford (the New Bedford line). The Middleborough/Lakeview line will be renamed the Fall River/New Bedford line.
Future Changes
The Mardi Gras service between New Orleans and Mobile will commence 18 August 2025.
SMART will extend 3 miles from Sonoma County Airport to Windsor, Ca on 31 May 2025.
Amtrak services from New Orleans to Mobile had been hoped to start in June 2025, but the likely stock to be used has been diverted to Washington State.
The Chicago South Shore Lines' new West Lake Corridor passenger service on 8 miles from Gary to Dyer was hoped to commence by 31 October 2025, but has been delayed by issues concerning a bridge "to at least" the end of 2025. Elsewhere there is progress on a possible replacement line to South Bend Airport direct from the west as opposed to the current route approaching the Airport from the east but construction has yet to commence.
Orange County Transit Authority are building a 7km tram (streetcar) route between Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center and Harbor / Westminster. Testing is due to begin later in 2025 for public opening in Spring 2026. See OCTA streetcar website.
UTAH Transit Authority (UTA) has finalised plans for a new Trax light rail line connecting Salt Lake City International Airport with the University of Utah's Research Park. The new Orange Line is expected to open by 2032, ahead of the 2034 Winter Olympics.
Updated May 2025.
Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services
See USA - Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services.
