{"id":4443,"date":"2019-05-01T10:34:09","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T15:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planesintheair.com\/?p=4443"},"modified":"2019-05-01T10:34:11","modified_gmt":"2019-05-01T15:34:11","slug":"amtrak-celebrates-48-years-looks-to-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/?p=4443","title":{"rendered":"Amtrak Celebrates 48 Years; Looks to the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2013 Continuing its FY18 success, Amtrak is on track for its best year as the company celebrates its 48th<\/sup> year of operations. Fiscal year ridership is up 1.3% through March over FY18, and Amtrak is heading toward breakeven on an operating earnings basis by FY21. Amtrak has committed to investing billions in modernizing infrastructure, fleet, and facilities to meet the growing needs and ensure a continued, bright future for passenger rail service across the nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the enactment of\nthe Rail Passenger Service Act in 1970, Amtrak began serving customers on May\n1, 1971, taking over the operation for most intercity passenger trains then\noperated by private railroads in exchange for access to their respective\nnetworks, thus preserving intercity passenger rail service across America. With\ndemonstrated success under new leadership and growing demand for passenger rail,\nit\u2019s a pivotal time for America\u2019s Railroad\u00ae<\/sup> to reinforce the\npromises made 48 years ago and to reassess Amtrak\u2019s network for the next 50\nyears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are changing intercity passenger\nrail to meet the needs of America \u2013 modernizing our trains and stations,\nimproving on-time performance, and adding contemporary amenities \u2013 making it\nthe preferred mode of travel for customers,\u201d said Amtrak President & CEO\nRichard Anderson. \u201cWe are experiencing record growth, and we look forward to\nworking with Congress to further invest in our rail infrastructure to better serve the\nchanging landscape of our nation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With much of Amtrak\u2019s infrastructure dating\nto the early 1900s and most of Amtrak\u2019s equipment nearing the end of its useful\nlife, considerable investments are needed to address increased highway\ncongestion, rapid urbanization, and the threats posed by our changing climate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, millennials and aging\npopulations are changing the overall travel landscape, forming new markets,\nwith many of the fastest growing markets having limited or no intercity\npassenger rail service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have been building a successful\ncompany over the last several years: best-ever operating performance, record\nridership and revenue, and the highest ever capital spend,\u201d said Amtrak Board\nChair Tony Coscia. \u201cWe have the potential to meaningfully enhance how this\ncountry moves in the future, to provide frequent and reliable, city-to-city\npassenger rail service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, Amtrak submitted its 5 Year Plans which provide a comprehensive strategic and financial view of the services that Amtrak provides its customers along with its General and Legislative Annual Report to Congress. Amtrak is preparing to transmit a comprehensive re-authorization proposal to Congress later this year as the Fixing America\u2019s Surface Transportation Act is set to expire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continuing its FY18 success, Amtrak is on track for its best year as the company celebrates its 48th year of operations. Fiscal year ridership is up 1.3% through March over FY18, and Amtrak is heading toward breakeven on an operating earnings basis by FY21. Amtrak has committed to investing billions in modernizing infrastructure, fleet, and facilities <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1210,4017,868,1103],"tags":[1011,1211,4418,4259,4419,4414,1483,3301,1659,4417,4416,412,1685,639,2902,2806,4415,1055,2718,1658,1916,1013],"class_list":["post-4443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-railroad-news","category-train-news","category-transportation-news","category-travel-news","tag-act","tag-amtrak","tag-anderson","tag-celebrates","tag-congress","tag-facilities","tag-fleet","tag-future","tag-infrastructure","tag-intercity","tag-modernizing","tag-news","tag-passenger","tag-president","tag-rail","tag-richard","tag-ridership","tag-service","tag-train","tag-transportation","tag-travel","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4449,"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4443\/revisions\/4449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}