Amtrak
cities served
Tables
detail cities that Amtrak passenger trains serve. This
information graphically shows how many U.S. cities of significant
population do not have passenger train service.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following article,
originally published in 2000, examines Amtrak's strengths and
weaknesses in terms of serving the U.S. metropolitan areas. The
article attempts to answer how well the National Railroad
Passenger Corporation serves the country's major cities or travel
markets and which population areas receive service compared to
other regions. Also examined is the frequency of service as well
as favorable hours of train arrival and departure.
How
well does Amtrak, the nation’s intercity rail passenger
network, serve American cities? How is Amtrak’s service
spread throughout the population areas? The author
attempted to answer these and other questions in a numerical
analysis of Amtrak.
The
author analyzed data from the Census Bureau’s 273
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). Determining population
regions this way would be far easier and more fair than adding
the population of all cities and towns served by Amtrak trains.
State population was also analyzed. This information was placed
in a spreadsheet.
At
no. 261, Lawrence, Kansas, (population 91,000) is the smallest
MSA served by Amtrak. Enid, Oklahoma, at 56,6999 pop., is
the smallest U.S. MSA, at no. 273. Cumberland MD-WV, Grand Forks,
ND., Danville, VA., Hattisburg, MS, Grand Junction, CO, Anniston,
AL, Flagstaff, AZ, LaCrosse, WI, Texarkana, TX-AR, Florence, SC,
Yuma, AZ, Altoona, PA, Pittsfield, MA, Bloomington-Normal, IL,
and Rocky Mount, NC, in that order, increase from smaller to
larger MSAs in the 258 to 200 MSA rankings served by Amtrak.
But
numbers only tell part of the story. For example, a number of
cities are served by Amtrak trains in the overnight hours,
between 12:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Which travel markets and regions
receive such service? And what areas have as their primary Amtrak
train less than four times a week service?
Regional
Classification
Though
any classification of regions will be controversial, the author
divided the country into four regions: Northeast, Southeast,
Midwest, Southwest and Northwest. Northeast includes states north
and east of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and the District
of Columbia. Southeast includes states south of the Ohio River
plus Arkansas and Louisiana. The Midwest is bordered by Ohio on
the east, and Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri on the west. The
Southwest includes Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas west to
California. Northwest states include Nebraska and the Dakotas
west.
For
population, the leading regions are the Southwest, Southeast and
Northeast, which have similar percentages. The Southwest heads
the country with 25.8 percent or 63.7 million people (28.9
percent or 61.6 mill. MSA). Second is the Southeast, which has
23.9 percent of the population with 59.2 mill. (20.8 percent or
44.3 mill. MSA). Only third place is the Northeast, which
is often viewed as the most populous part of the country. Just
more than one fifth (23 percent or 56.8 million) of the
population resides there. For MSA population, it’s 25.4
percent or 54 mill.
The
Midwest, at 21.9 percent or 54.2 mill. (20.3 percent or 43.1
mill. MSA) is fourth with the Northwest, at 5 percent, with 12.8
mill.
California
comprises the biggest part of the Southwest. The state’s
29.7 mill. account for nearly half (46.6 percent) of the
Southwest population and 11.9 percent of the U.S. Put
another way, California has 87 percent of the Southwest
population.
New
York constitutes 31.5 percent of the Northeast region, Texas,
26.5 percent of the Southwest, Florida, 21.7 percent of the
Southeast, and Illinois, 21 percent of the Midwest. Each of these
states could be considered its own region in terms of rail
passenger service. The population breakdown is necessary to
determine how well Amtrak train service is balanced throughout
the country.
Direct
v. Indirect Service
This
study focuses on metropolitan areas or travel markets versus
cities. Reasoning that a traveler will spend up to an hour
driving from one end of a metropolitan area to an airport (i.e.
Kansas City International Airport is a 30 to 45 minutes north of
the popular city Plaza area), then cities located adjacent to
cities served by Amtrak should be considered “served”
as well. Thus, cities within 40 miles or an easy half-hour’s
interstate or freeway drive of Amtrak stops are considered
served.
Using
this definition of service, Sharon, PA (MSA 229, population
122,000) is considered indirectly served since it is but
16 miles from downtown Youngstown, OH, although Sharon is in a
separate MSA than Youngstown-Warren (no. 69, population 595,000).
If combined, the two MSAs would be nearly as large as Syracuse,
NY., or Tulsa, OK. Yet the sizeable Youngstown- Sharon
metropolitan areas only receive Amtrak trains at 1:05 a.m. and
6:03 a.m.
Unfortunately,
this definition would consider Dallas “served” if
Amtrak only served Fort Worth (35 miles west), as it did in the
early 1970s. The same for Wichita, Kansas, as this MSA of a half
a million is 21 miles south of Newton, Kan., which receives Chicago-
Los Angeles trains at 3:08 a.m. and 3:47 a.m. Few would consider
this “service.” One of rail’s selling points is
its ability to provide downtown to downtown service. But this is
a starting point. This is why the numbers reflect direct and
indirect service.
Basic
Numbers
.
Amtrak
directly serves 81.8 percent (174,037,416 pop.) of the
nation’s 212,744,066 MSA population. 84.02 percent of
the population is indirectly served (178,749,073). The difference
between direct and indirect service amounts to 4.7 million
people. Prior to the 1979 Carter Amtrak cuts, when Amtrak had
many more routes, the number was nearly 88.18 percent, or
189,030,351.
The
Northeast has the highest direct service, with 93 percent. The
Northwest is second, with 84 percent; Southwest is third with
83.4 percent (89 percent indirectly); 78.2 percent for the
Midwest; 68.7 percent of the Southeast MSAs. Differences of two
percent or less were omitted for brevity.
Amtrak
provides some service, indirectly at least, to every top 30 MSA.
Phoenix, MSA no. 15 at 2.8 million, is the lone top 30 market
that Amtrak does not serve directly. For this study, Phoenix is
considered indirectly served, as both proposed “stops”
are more than a half hour’s drive, plus taking Amtrak from
Phoenix requires a two hour thruway bus ride to/from Tucson.
Other
top 50 markets not served by Amtrak include Columbus OH (no. 31,
pop. 1.4 million), Las Vegas (no. 34, pop. 1.2 mill.), Nashville
(no. 38, 1.1 mill.), Louisville (no. 48, with 993, 369 pop.) and
Dayton-Springfield, OH (no. 49, with 944,934 pop.). Oklahoma
City, at no. 45 with 1 mill. pop.) during the late 1990s received
state-supported service to Fort Worth.
State
Supported Services
States
support 25.6 percent (10,136 miles) of Amtrak’s 39,666 mile
system. Long distance trains comprise half (50.4 percent or
19,995 miles). Short distance routes (under 700 miles in length)
funded by Amtrak comprise 24 percent or 9,535 miles.
Amtrak’s web site lists more than 22,000 route miles. The
author of this study added mileage for each train (not
necessarily route) listed in recent national and NEC timetables.
n
the 12 states supporting Amtrak service, the average percentage
of state-supported versus Amtrak-supported services is 57
percent. Oklahoma (109 miles) and Vermont (195 miles) increase
the national average as service in these two states are entirely
state-supported. Without those two states’ high percentages,
the number would be 49 percent.
Only
three Northeast states, Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont, have
state-supported service. New York’s 381 mile Ethan Allen
Express accounts for 11 percent of its Amtrak service, compared
to California’s 73 percent (4,216 train miles).
California, the most populous state, has the most state-supported
rail miles. Twenty of its 24 trains are state supported.
At
1,469 miles, Pennsylvania is second (66 percent) in terms of
state-supported mileage. Illinois’ 849 miles accounts for 66
percent. Other states include Washington, 714 (45 percent), North
Carolina, 593 (41 percent), Missouri, 564 (59 percent),
Wisconsin, 516 (73 percent), Michigan, eighth, (41 percent), and
Oregon, 124 (28 percent).
Regions
and Trains
The
Northeast’s 10,451 system-funded long and short-distance
miles earn the third most populous region the honor of receiving
the most Amtrak service. This more than one-third (35.4 percent)
of the national system’s 29,530 miles is a higher percentage
of Amtrak service than its population size (23 percent).
The
Southeast’s 23.9 percent of the population receives 24.1
percent of Amtrak’s system-funded service or 7,119 miles.
The Northwest’s 2,371 miles is 8 percent national service
for the region’s 5.2 percent population.
The
biggest inequities appear to be the Midwest and Southwest, which
combined share 47.7 percent of the U.S. population (118 mill.
people). The Midwest’s 21.9 percent population receives only
13.3 percent Amtrak service (with a low 3,916 system
miles).
The Southwest’s 5,673 miles is 19.2 percent of
system-funded service for its 25.8 percent population. 27 percent
of this mileage is in California.
Amtrak
provides proportional system-funded service to only one of the
country’s top 10 most populated states. Florida’s 5.2
percent of the country’s population receives 5.9 percent of
Amtrak’s route miles.
But most of the other largest
populated states (six of the top 10) proportionally receive less
Amtrak service.
Virginia
receives the most system-funded service. Virginia’s 2.4
percent of the population receives 12.1 percent of Amtrak’s
service or 3,576 miles.
New York is third. The Empire State’s 3,163 miles of
system-funded long and short-distance services account for 10.7 percent for the
state’s 7.2 percent population. This does not count the long-hauls originating
at New York City (Crescent, Florida trains, etc.)
.
New
Jersey is technically third, since its 2,400 miles don’t
serve a large geographic part of the state, and serve only a
handful of cities (3.1 percent of population with 8.1 percent
service).
Similarly,
Maryland, fourth place, has 1.9 percent population with 7.9
percent service. The state’s 2,356 miles are served
primarily by through trains.
In
terms of route miles, Florida is fourth place in terms of
national-funded service, with 1,760 miles. This is 78 percent of
the state’s MSAs.
California’s
1,548 system miles, like Florida entirely long distance, make it
sixth. The state’s 5,764 total miles (adding state-funded
services) make it the top state in terms of total Amtrak
passenger miles. But this large state’s population (11.9
percent of the U.S.) accounts for only 5.2 percent of the system
funded trains.
Still,
Amtrak indirectly serves 100 percent of California’s MSAs
(98.3 percent directly). Only two California MSAs, Modesto (no.
94 with 421,818 pop.) and Visalia-Tulare- Porterville (no. 112
with 353,000) do not receive direct service. Riverbank, a San
Joaquin stop, is 11 miles from Modesto. Yuba City (no. 138 with
139,000) is considered direct service since it is less than three
miles from Marysville, a Coast Starlight stop. California’s
four national system trains directly or indirectly serve every
single California MSA, despite the large number of
state-supported trains. Unlike New York, Amtrak provides no
system-funded short distance trains.
Texas,
the third most populous state with 6.8 percent, receives only 5.1
percent (76 percent of the state’s population percentage) of
Amtrak service for the state’s 1,525 mile primarily
long-distance service . Illinois, with 4.6 percent of the
population, is provided 3.1 percent for its 933 system miles or
68.7 percent of its relative population.
Connecticut
and Washington round out the top 10, accounting for larger shares
than their state populations, 3.1 and 2.9 percent service for 1.3
and 1.9 percent respective populations.
North
Carolina also receives more system service, 2.8 percent, than its
2.6 percent population.
Pennsylvania,
Ohio and Michigan receive around half of system funded service
relative to those states’ proportional population.
Pennsylvania’s 4.7 percent of the population receives 2.5
percent service (54 percent of its proportional population);
Ohio, 48.5 percent of its proportional population for its 4.3
percent; Michigan’s 3.7 percent population and 2 percent
service (53.9 percent).
These
states actually receive more Amtrak service than their population
percentages: Arizona (1.9 percent service for 1.4 percent of
population), New Mexico (1.9 percent service for .6 percent
pop.), Colorado (1.6 percent service for 1.3 percent pop.), Rhode
Island (1.6 percent service for .4 percent pop.), Montana (1.5
percent service for .3 percent pop.), Kansas (1.3 percent service
for 1 percent pop.) and North Dakota (1.3 percent service for .2
percent pop.). Other states with larger service to
population ratios include Mississippi, Nevada and Nebraska.
States with similar population-service ratios are South Carolina,
Oregon, Louisiana, Iowa, Arkansas and Utah.
The
top 10 states account for 54.8 percent of the U.S. population
(135 million) and receive 47.9 percent of Amtrak train miles
service (14,162 miles).
States
without service, in order of population, include Maine, Hawaii,
South Dakota, Alaska and Wyoming.
Service
Frequency
A
sizeable number, 26 percent, of the city markets (or 13 states)
have only one daily train (departures in each direction). These
75 of the 273 markets add up to 51.7 million people. A
majority of these one-train-only-a-day cities are in the
Southwest (47 percent), Southeast (32 percent) and Midwest (19
percent). Still 74 percent of the MSA population served by Amtrak
receives more than one train departure a day.
In
reality, only one national system train serves Texas, if you add
the four-days-a-week Texas Eagle and the thrice-weekly Sunset
Limited. Using this definition, the populous Southwest has only
1.5 trains. Arizona and New Mexico would therefore have slightly
more than 1.5 trains with daily and a quad-weekly service.
37
million people in the top 100 MSAs are served by only one Amtrak
train departure or less per day. These include Dallas-Fort Worth (MSA no. 9 with 4.7 million),
Houston (no. 10 with 4.3 mill.),
Atlanta (no. 11 with 3.6 mill.),
Phoenix (no. 15 with 2.8
mill.), Minneapolis (no. 16 with 2.8 mill.), Denver (no. 20 with
2.3 mill.), Cincinnati (no. 23 with 1.9 mill.), San Antonio
(no. 28 with 1.5 mill.), Indianapolis (no. 29 with 1.5
mill.). These MSAs each have more than a million in population:
Salt Lake City, Memphis, Austin and Oklahoma City. The remainder
have between 400,000 and 1 million: Birmingham, Tucson, El Paso,
Omaha, Albuquerque, Little Rock, Mobile, AL., Jackson, MS.,
Spokane, WA., Pensacola, FL., and Youngstown, OH.
Though
only 12.2 percent of cities served receive less than daily
trains, tri- to quad- weekly, 73 percent of the less than daily
schedules involve destinations in the growing sunbelt region. The
Southeast accounts for 17 percent; the Midwest 10 percent. Only
one non-daily train, the Cardinal, serves any portion of the
Northeast.
Three
percent (5.9 million) of the MSA population’s primary train
has to be boarded in the wee hours of the morning (Midnight
through 6:30 a.m.). The majority of these markets are in the
Midwest (32.8 percent) and the Southwest (32.5 percent). Nearly
16 percent of the travel markets either receive trains after
Midnight or only three to four times a week. This is concentrated
primarily in the Southwest (64 percent), Midwest (16 percent) and
Southeast (15 percent).
Percentage
of Population Served
The
Southeast, Midwest, and Southwest contain most of the 100 MSAs
which do not have the rail travel option. The Southeast has 13
million and represents 39 percent of the MSAs without Amtrak
service; the Midwest, 8.9 million; the Southwest, 6.6 million;
the Northeast, 3.6 million; and the Northwest, 1.4 million. This
is 33.8 million people, larger than the state of California, and
16 percent of the U.S. population.
Only
15 Northeast markets are absent service. And not one Northeast
top 60 MSA needs service. The other five top 60 MSAs missing
service are located outside of the Northeast. Only two Northeast
MSAs, Scranton-Wilkes Barre, PA. (No. 65 with 621,386 population)
and Allentown- Bethlehem, PA (no. 67 with 613,836) contain more
than a half million people. Five Southeastern MSAs needing
service contain more than a half million population. In the
Southwest, it’s four.
Other
major Northeast MSAs deficient of Amtrak include York, PA (no.
107, with 370,518), Reading, PA (no. 111, with 354,057) and
Binghampton, NY (no. 139 at 251,698).
Major
Southwest travel markets needing service include Tulsa, OK (no.
58 @ 764,396 pop.), Colorado Springs, CO (no. 80 @ 480,041),
Corpus Christi, TX (no. 101 @ 387,100), Brownsville-Harlingen, TX
(no. 118 @ 320,801), Odessa-Midland, TX (no. 142 @ 243,389),
Lubbock, TX (no. 148 @ 230,672), Fort Collins-Loveland, CO (no.
150 @ 226,021), Amarillo, TX (no. 156 @ 288,165), and Laredo, TX
(no. 169 @ 183,219).
Prominent
Southeastern missing markets include Knoxville, TN (MSA no. 63 @
654,181 pop.), Baton Rouge, LA (no. 71 @ 570,165), Sarasota, FL
(no. 74 with 538,783), Daytona Beach, FL (no. 82 with 465,925),
Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay, FL (no. 83 with 460,977), Johnson
City-Kingsport-Bristol TN/VA (no. 84 @ 460,147), Augusta, GA (no.
85 @ 457,228), Chattanooga, TN (no. 88 @ 447,488), Lexington, KY
(no. 91 @ 446,699), Fort Myers-Cape Coral, FL (no. 102 with
387,091), Huntsville, AL (no. 116 @ 332,933), Montgomery, AL (no.
119 @ 319,175), Macon, GA (no. 121 @ 316,077), Fort
Pierce-Port St. Lucie, FL (no. 128 with 295,646),
Fayetteville-Rogers-Springdale, AR (no. 134 @ 266,980),
Asheville, NC (no. 154 @ 211,284), Clarkesville-Hopkinsville,
TN/KY (no. 162 @ 197,481), Naples, FL (no. 164 with 195,731),
Fort Smith, AR (no. 166 @ 192,395), Myrtle Beach, SC (no. 177 @
169,178), Fort Walton Beach, FL (no. 180 with 167,580), Wheeling,
WV (no. 192 @ 154,153), Parkersburg-Marietta WV/OH (no. 193 @
150,641), and Monroe, LA (no. 197 @ 147,055).
Other
Midwestern cities without service include Wichita, KS (MSA no. 75
@ 530,508 pop.), Des Moines (no. 92 @ 429,717), Saginaw- Bay
City-Midland, MI (no. 96 @ 402,949), Canton-Massillion, OH (no.
97 @ 397,511), Madison, WI (no. 98 @ 397,511),
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA/IL (109 @ 357, 463), Rockford,
IL (no. 110 @ 354,774), Peoria, IL (no. 113 @ 345,954),
Appleton-Oshkosh, WI (no. 115 @ 342, 154), Springfield, MO (no.
125 @ 300,980), Evansville-Henderson, IN-KY (no. 129 @ 288,929),
Duluth, MN (no. 143 @ 238,134), Green Bay, WI (no. 152 @
214,244), Cedar Rapids, IA (no. 171 @ 181,704), Mansfield,
OH (no. 173 @ 174,851), Sioux Falls, SD (no. 188 @ 160,670),
Lima, OH (no. 190 @ 154,944), Janesville-Beloit, WI (no. 194 @
150,322), Terre Haute, IN (no. 195 @ 148,468) and Joplin, MO (no.
196 @ 147, 127).
The
Northwest has fewer major cities devoid of Amtrak service. The
biggest are Boise, ID (MSA no. 103 with 383,843 pop.) and Yakima,
WA (no. 151 with 218,318). Others include Billings, MT (no.
223 @ 125,771), Bismarck, ND (no. 262 @ 91,044), Great
Falls, MT (no. 268 @ 79,134), Cheyenne, WY (no. 269 @ 78,473) and
Pocatello, ID (no. 271 @73,850).
Population
Density
Population
per square mile is another way to view Amtrak service. Nine of
the top ten most population dense states are in the Northeast;
The other, Ohio, is no. 10. Texas, the third most populous state,
is at no. 30. The only other Southwest or mountain state
within the top 30 most people per mile states, Washington, is no.
29.
The
Northeast contains the most dense population, with 1,253 people
per square mile, versus the Midwest’s 132, the
Southeast’s 110, the Southwest’s 49, and the
Northwest’s 21. The national average population per square
mile is 313.
The country’s 10 most population-dense states, New
Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New York, Delaware,
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida, in that order, comprise 31 percent of the U.S.
population and 34.9 percent of Amtrak national system service
.
The
top 20 most population-dense states, which include Illinois,
California, Hawaii, Michigan, Virginia, Indiana, North Carolina,
New Hampshire, Tennessee, and South Carolina, contain 63.3
percent of the U.S. population (157 million) and 72.6 percent of
Amtrak service.
Seven
of the nation’s top 10 most populated states each possess
more than four percent of the country’s population. Michigan
and New Jersey each have three percent. North Carolina,
Southeast, at no. 10, has 2.6 percent. The remaining states all
contain under three percent with a vast majority (numbers 31
through 51) under one percent. The District of Columbia (at no.
48 with .02 percent) is ranked by the Census Bureau as a state in
terms of population.
Conclusions
On
paper, Amtrak seems to serve a significant part of the U.S.
population. And this, at first glance, appears to be balanced.
The 10 largest states accounting for 54.8 percent of the
population receive 47.9 percent of Amtrak train service. 29 of
the top 30 MSAs receive service.
The
country’s top 10 states containing the most population per
mile receive service slightly above their comparable population
percentage. (34.9 percent service for 31 percent population).
The most population-dense states do receive significant service,
but some of the major states receive less service than their
share of the national population (California, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Michigan).
Of
the dozen states supporting short and medium-distance service,
the average percentage of state-supported miles to national
system miles is 57. But the second largest state, New York, pays
only for 11 percent of its short, medium and long-distance
service.
A
sizeable part of the U.S. (26 percent) is served by only one
train a day. A number of key top 50 markets are not served,
including Phoenix, AZ, Columbus, OH, Las Vegas, NV,
Nashville,
TN, and Louisville, KY. Less than 20 percent of the travel
markets either receive trains after Midnight or has only three to
four times a week service.
Amtrak
provides the most service to the Northeast with 10,451 system
miles, which also has the highest direct service (93 percent).
This region’s 23 percent of the population receives 35.4
percent of the national funded system miles.
The
Midwest, a region with nearly equal the Northeast’s
population, is near the bottom, in terms of Amtrak system
service, with 3,916 miles. Just a little more than three-fourths
of the Midwest’s MSA population receives Amtrak service.
The
Southeast’s 7,119 miles is the second largest region in
terms of mileage but the smallest region receiving direct service
(68.7 percent). The Southwest’s relatively high direct
service, 89 percent, is third in terms of national system miles,
with 5,673. The Northwest has 2,371 miles, which with 8 percent
of the system miles, is a little higher than its relative
population percentage (5.2 percent).
The
disproportionate share of national system resources provided to
one region over other more populous regions demonstrates how
Amtrak service is not evenly spread among the four geographic
population regions.
