List of major cities in U.S. lacking Amtrak service

Several major cities and regional business centers in the continental United States lack Amtrak service. Five cities boast more than one million residents. However, some of these cities may be served by Thruway Motorcoach. There is no Amtrak service outside of 46 of the contiguous states and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. There is no Amtrak service to the states of South Dakota or Wyoming. A partial list of the cities not directly served by Amtrak is as follows (in order by decreasing population):[1]

This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Other cities are not served directly due to inconvenient water barriers; they include Norfolk (#31) and Virginia Beach in the Hampton Roads area; San Francisco, where trains stop across the bay in Oakland and Emeryville; and St. Petersburg, Florida, where trains stop across the bay in Tampa. Trains had previously crossed some of the bays in question. Whereas trains once went from Oakland to San Francisco, they have been replaced by auto traffic (although the BART commuter heavy rail system operates a trans-bay tube underneath the bay and Amtrak-operated Caltrain connects to the Capitol Corridor and Coast Starlight in San Jose). St. Petersburg also lost service across the bay when CSX lacked adequate funds to maintain the bridge across the bay. This proves inconvenient because the only other method of transportation is private taxi. The TECO Line Streetcar System and HART buses both don't connect with the two areas, although express bus service exists between PSTA and HART.

Amtrak provides no service to Mexico. The closest Amtrak service to Mexico may be found at stations along the western portion of the Sunset Limited and southwestern portion of the Texas Eagle in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California; as well as the Pacific Surfliner service to Union Station in San Diego, California.

Phoenix, Arizona, is served via thruway motorcoach from the Southwest Chief at Flagstaff, Arizona. The Sunset Limited stops three times a week at Maricopa, roughly 30 miles south of the city; private taxis and the Maricopa MAX express bus are the only transportation from there to metro Phoenix, although the MAX bus schedules do not line up well with the Amtrak schedule, which runs late at night. Phoenix lost service in June 1996 after Southern Pacific (now a part of Union Pacific) threatened to abandon the line from Yuma.

Currently, Amtrak is studying rail lines formerly canceled that could renew service to some cities. Cities involved include Boise, Mobile, Tallahassee, Quad Cities,[3][6] Billings, and Wichita.[2] Proposals for high speed rail could also restore service for several cities. Both plans should reveal cities selected by 2010.

See also

References

  1. ^ Metzger, Bill; Van Hattem, Matt; Richards, Curstis W. (May 2010), "Map of the Month: Amtrak: Now, then, and before", Trains (Waukesha, WI USA: Kalmbach Publishing) 70 (5): 32–33, ISSN 0041-0934 
  2. ^ a b Wistrom, Brent D. (7 January 2010). "Study finds strong economic incentives for new Amtrak route through Kansas". KTKA. http://www.ktka.com/news/2010/jan/07/study-finds-strong-economic-incentives-new-amtrak-/. Retrieved 2010-07-05. 
  3. ^ a b Martyn, Chase (24 July 2009). "Amtrak could go to Quad Cities, Dubuque by 2011". The Iowa Independent. http://iowaindependent.com/17735/amtrak-could-go-to-quad-cities-dubuque-by-2011. Retrieved 2010-07-05. 
  4. ^ "Rockford could see Amtrak by 2011". WIFR. 7 July 2009. http://www.wifr.com/home/headlines/50163242.html. Retrieved 2010-07-05. 
  5. ^ "Rochester, MN Metro Area - ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2008". http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-context=adp&-qr_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_DP5&-ds_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_&-tree_id=308&-redoLog=true&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=31000US40340&-format=&-_lang=en. Retrieved 2010-08-18. 
  6. ^ a b Stephenson, Meg (18 April 2008). "Amtrak, DOT say 'yes' to rail service between Q-C, Iowa City". Quad-City Times. http://qctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/article_2058e388-97f1-58c8-9913-461543cebd13.html. Retrieved 2010-07-05. 

External links