Amtrak is the largest passenger railroad service that provides medium and long-distance inter-city rail service in the contiguous United States and to nine cities in Canada. Amtrak is a blend of the words America and trak, the latter itself a sensational spelling of track.
History[]
Founded in 1971 as a quasi-public corporation to operate many U.S. passenger rail routes, Amtrak receives a combination of state and federal subsidies but is managed as a for-profit organization. The United States federal government through the Secretary of Transportation owns all the company's issued and outstanding preferred stock.
Amtrak serves more than 500 destinations in 46 states and three Canadian provinces, operating more than 300 trains daily over 21,400 miles (34,000 km) of track. Amtrak owns approximately 623 miles (1,003 km) of this track and operates an additional 132 miles of track. Some track sections allow trains to run as fast as 150 mph (240 km/h).
In fiscal year 2021, Amtrak served 12.2 million passengers and had $2.08 billion in revenue, with more than 17,500 employees as of fiscal year 2020. Nearly 87,000 passengers ride more than 300 Amtrak trains daily. Nearly two-thirds of passengers come from the 10 largest metropolitan areas; 83% of passengers travel on routes shorter than 400 miles (645 km).
Trivia[]
- Amtrak and Thomas & Friends have both made references to one another, these include:
- In Thomas and the Magic Railroad, 2 Amtrak trains made cameo appearances at the Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, PA where the movie was filmed at. The Two engines that made the cameo appearances are numbered No. 111, the other is unknown.
- In A Wonderful American Journey with Thomas and Connie, Connie rode Amtrak No. 610 her way to a Day Out with Thomas event at the Strasburg Rail Road. Later a model of an Amtrak passenger train pulled by an Amtrak F40 locomotive appeared at the Choo Choo Barn.
- An Amtrak promotion film appeared on PBS Kids, Funding Credits from Series 8 to Series 9 along with the Shining Time Station Family Specials in 1995, as well seen on some VHS and DVD videos. The Amtrak train that was featured in the Funding Credits of season 8-9 as well as PBS Kids was the Amtrak Acela Express. And the Amtrak train that was featured in the funding credits of the Shining Time Station Family Specials in 1995 are two Amtrak F40 locomotives which then transitioned over to funding credits by PenTrex. And the footage that was featured in the Shining Time Station Funding Credits is 1522 Galloping Through Texas.
- The Day Out Thomas "Celebration" theme was presented by Amtrak.
- In the United States, Day Out With Thomas was never presented by The Britt Allcroft Company, but instead by Amtrak. Genesis P42 and F40PH, which is mostly known in Caltrain, who appeared to support mostly because Amtrak presents this event.
- An Amtrak locomotive once coupled at the rear of the Rainbow Sun's train for protection while heading to the Harrisburg Transportation Center for the filming of Thomas and the Magic Railroad.