List of major cities in U.S. lacking inter-city rail service
Several major cities and regional business centers in the continental United States lack Amtrak or some form of inter-city passenger rail service. Four of these metropolitan areas boast more than one million residents. However, some of these cities may be served by Thruway Motorcoach. Other than the service provided by the Alaska Railroad, there is no U.S. based passenger rail service outside of 46 of the contiguous states and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. There is no inter-city passenger rail service to the states of South Dakota or Wyoming. For purposes of this list, a city is considered served if it is within 30 miles of an Amtrak or other inter-city passenger rail station. A partial list of the cities with a population of over 100,000 that are not served by some form of inter-city rail service is as follows (in order by decreasing population of metropolitan area):[1][2]
- This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
City | Metropolitan area population (2012 est.) | Notes |
---|---|---|
Las Vegas, Nevada | 2,000,759 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the Desert Wind in 1997. |
Columbus, Ohio | 1,944,002 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the National Limited in 1979. |
Nashville, Tennessee | 1,726,793 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the Floridian in 1979. |
Louisville, Kentucky | 1,251,351 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the Floridian in 1979; service restored from Chicago in 1999, lost again with the discontinuance of the Kentucky Cardinal in 2003. |
Tulsa, Oklahoma | 951,880 | Largest metro that never had Amtrak service. |
Knoxville, Tennessee | 848,350 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Allentown–Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | 827,171 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Baton Rouge, Louisiana | 815,298 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the Southern Belle in 1969. New service from New Orleans has been studied and has support.[3] |
McAllen, Texas | 806,552 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Dayton, Ohio | 800,792 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the National Limited in 1979. |
Colorado Springs, Colorado | 668,353 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Boise, Idaho | 637,896 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the Pioneer in 1997. |
Des Moines, Iowa | 588,999 | Never had Amtrak service. There are plans for a new service from Chicago to Des Moines and Omaha in the near future but there are no funds yet to go ahead with works.[4] |
Augusta, Georgia | 575,898 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania | 563,631 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Youngstown, Ohio | 558,206 | Lost service in 2005 with the discontinuance of the Three Rivers |
Chattanooga, Tennessee | 537,889 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the The Georgian in 1971. |
Tri-Cities area (Kingsport/Johnson City/Bristol, Tennessee, Bristol, Virginia) | 509,690 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Lexington, Kentucky | 485,023 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Fayetteville, Arkansas | 482,200 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana | 447,193 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the Southern Belle in 1969. Planned Amtrak service from Birmingham to Dallas/Fort Worth via Shreveport never materialized, service from the city to Dallas being studied by DOT.[5] |
Springfield, Missouri | 444,617 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Corpus Christi, Texas | 437,109 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Asheville, North Carolina | 432,406 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Huntsville, Alabama | 430,734 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Brownsville, Texas | 415,557 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Mobile, Alabama | 413,936 | Service of the Sunset Limited has been suspended between New Orleans and Orlando since Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005. |
Manchester–Nashua, New Hampshire | 402,922 | Never had Amtrak service. Long distance service ended with 1965 termination of The Alouette. |
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina | 394,542 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Quad Cities area (Davenport/Bettendorf, Iowa, Rock Island/Moline, Illinois) | 382,630 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the Quad Cities Rocket in 1979. New service probable around 2016?.[6] |
Peoria, Illinois | 380,447 | Experimental service between 1980 and 1981, called Prairie Marksman. New service being studied by Illinois DOT.[7] |
Montgomery, Alabama | 377,149 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the Floridian in 1979; service restored between 1989 and 1995, when Gulf Breeze was discontinued. |
Tallahassee, Florida | 375,371 | Service of the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans has been suspended since Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005. |
Rockford, Illinois | 346,009 | Lost service in 1981 when the Black Hawk was discontinued. New service planned by 2016?.[8] |
Evansville, Indiana | 313,433 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Green Bay, Wisconsin | 311,098 | Lost service with the discontinuance of an unnamed remnant of the Peninsula 400 in 1971 |
Columbus, Georgia | 310,531 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the City of Miami in 1971. |
Roanoke, Virginia | 310,118 | Lost service in 1979 when the Hilltopper was discontinued. Currently there are plans to restore service from the Northeast Corridor to the city by 2016.[9] |
Lubbock, Texas | 297,669 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Fort Smith, Arkansas | 280,521 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Duluth, Minnesota | 279,452 | Lost service in 1985 when North Star was discontinued. There are plans to restore passenger service from St. Paul before 2020.[10] |
Clarksville, Tennessee | 274,342 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Gainesville, Florida | 264,275 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Wilmington, North Carolina | 263,429 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Cedar Rapids, Iowa | 261,761 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Laredo, Texas | 259,172 | Lost service in 1981 with the cancellation of the Inter-American. |
Amarillo, Texas | 257,578 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Binghamton, New York | 251,725 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Sioux Falls, South Dakota | 237,251 | South Dakota has never had Amtrak service. |
College Station–Bryan, Texas | 234,501 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the Dallas-Houston section of the Texas Eagle in 1995. |
Macon, Georgia | 232,723 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Rochester, Minnesota | 209,607 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Athens, Georgia | 196,425 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Elmira-Corning, New York | 187,820 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Joplin, Missouri | 174,327 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the Southern Belle in 1969. |
Terre Haute, Indiana | 170,943 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the National Limited in 1979. |
Monroe, Louisiana | 170,053 | Never had Amtrak service. |
East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania | 169,842 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Waterloo–Cedar Falls, Iowa | 168,747 | Lost service in 1971 when the Hawkeye was discontinued. |
Abilene, Texas | 166,963 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Billings, Montana | 162,848 | Lost service in 1979 when the North Coast Hiawatha was discontinued. |
Pueblo, Colorado | 160,852 | Never had Amtrak service. Preliminary studies to add Pueblo as stop on the Southwest Chief have been undertaken.[11] |
Janesville, Wisconsin | 160,418 | Lost service in 2001 when the Lake Country Limited was discontinued. |
Iowa City, Iowa | 158,231 | New service probable around 2016?.[12] |
Albany, Georgia | 157,308 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Williamsport, Pennsylvania | 155,349 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Alexandria, Louisiana | 153,922 | Lost service with the discontinuance of the Southern Belle in 1969. |
Bangor, Maine | 153,746 | Never had Amtrak service. Extension of Downeaster service studied. |
Midland, Texas | 151,662 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Ithaca - Cortland, New York | 150,900 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Florence–Muscle Shoals, Alabama | 146,988 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Wheeling, West Virginia | 146,420 | Never had Amtrak service. |
St. George, Utah | 144,809 | Although no line (nor any railroad tracks) runs through, the city is connected to Amtrak by Thruway Motorcoach. |
Traverse City, Michigan | 144,411 | Never had Amtrak service. New service under study. |
Sioux City, Iowa | 144,062 | Lost service in 1971 when the Hawkeye was discontinued. |
Rapid City, South Dakota | 138,738 | South Dakota has never been served by Amtrak. |
Bismarck, North Dakota | 120,060 | Lost service in 1979 when the North Coast Hiawatha was discontinued. |
Owensboro, Kentucky | 116,020 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Brunswick, Georgia | 112,370 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Waterbury, Connecticut | 110,366 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Lowell, Massachusetts | 108,335 | Never had Amtrak service. |
Bay City, Michigan | 107,771 | Never had Amtrak service. |
In addition, the following cities are not directly served by inter-city rail service, but have a rail station within 30 miles of the city.
- This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
City | Metropolitan area population (2012 est.) | Notes |
---|---|---|
Phoenix, Arizona | 4,329,534 | Direct service ended in June 1996 after reroute of Amtrak's Sunset Limited. Service 30 miles to the south in Maricopa, Arizona, a nearby suburb. |
Akron, Ohio | 702,262 | Direct service gained in 1998 with the rerouting of the Broadway Limited, then lost in 2005 with the discontinuance of the Three Rivers. Service 30 miles to the north at Cleveland, Ohio. |
Wichita, Kansas | 636,105 | Lost direct service with the discontinuance of Amtrak's Lone Star in 1979. Service 25 miles to the north at Newton, Kansas. New direct service being studied with extension of Heartland Flyer to Kansas City or Newton.[13] |
Madison, Wisconsin | 620,778 | Lost direct service in 1971 when the Milwaukee Road's Varsity and Sioux were discontinued. Service 28 miles to the northeast in Columbus, Wisconsin. New direct service between Madison and Chicago via Milwaukee was planned but Wisconsin governor Scott Walker rejected federal funding for the project.[14][15] |
Ogden, Utah | 612,441 | Lost direct service in 1997 with the discontinuance of the Pioneer. Service 30 miles to the south in Salt Lake City, Utah. |
Fort Wayne, Indiana | 421,406 | Lost direct service in 1990, when Broadway Limited rerouted. Service 25 miles to the north at Waterloo, Indiana. |
Reading, Pennsylvania | 413,491 | Service 27 miles to the southwest at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. |
Columbia, Missouri | 168,535 | Service 25 miles to the southeast in Jefferson City, Missouri. |
State College, Pennsylvania | 153,990 | Service 20 miles to the southeast in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. |
Other cities are not served directly due to inconvenient water barriers:
- San Francisco - trains stop across the bay in Oakland and Emeryville, California. Whereas trains once went from Oakland to San Francisco, they had been replaced by auto traffic by the 1950's. The BART commuter heavy rail system operates a trans-bay tube underneath the bay with California Zephyr and Capitol Corridor connections in Richmond, California and Oakland respectively, and Amtrak-operated Caltrain connects to the Capitol Corridor and Coast Starlight in San Jose. Amtrak has worked on plans to resume the Coast Daylight service (which once existed as an Amtrak service but was rerouted to continue north to Portland and renamed the Coast Starlight) from San Francisco to Los Angeles since the late 1990s, which would give San Francisco true Amtrak rail service.[16]
- St. Petersburg, Florida - trains stop across Tampa Bay in Tampa. Trains had previously crossed some of the bays in question. St. Petersburg lost service across the bay when CSX lacked adequate funds to maintain the bridge across the bay. The only other method of transportation is taxi. The TECO Line Streetcar System and HART buses both do not 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.
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 (48 km) south of the city; private taxis and the Maricopa MAX express bus are the only transportation from there to metro Phoenix, although MAX bus schedules do not coincide with Amtrak, which arrives during the night. Phoenix lost direct service in June 1996 after Southern Pacific (now part of the Union Pacific) threatened to abandon the line from Yuma.
Amtrak is currently studying rail lines formerly canceled that could renew service to some cities. Cities involved include Boise, Mobile, Tallahassee, the Quad Cities,[12][17] Billings, and Wichita.[18] Proposals for high-speed rail could also restore service for several cities. Both plans should reveal cities selected by 2010. Other services Amtrak intends on restoring include the Pioneer (serving Chicago-Seattle via the California Zephyr), the Black Hawk, the North Coast Hiawatha (serving Chicago-Seattle via the Empire Builder), and the New Orleans-Orlando segment of the Sunset Limited.
See also
References
- ↑ Metzger, Bill; Van Hattem, Matt; Richards, Curstis W. (May 2010), "Map of the Month: Amtrak: Now, then, and before", Trains, Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing, 70 (5), pp. 32–33, ISSN 0041-0934
- ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012 (CBSA-EST2012-01)". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 22 Aug 2013.
- ↑ "Advocates for proposed regional passenger rail system renew efforts". FOX 8 WVUE New Orleans. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
- ↑ "Iowa City favored for proposed new Amtrak route". The Gazette. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 1 Nov 2012. Retrieved 23 Aug 2013.
- ↑ Richardson, Terri (2 Mar 2012). "TxDOT, AMTRAK kick off Dallas-to-Shreveport corridor study". The Marshall News Messenger. Marshall, Texas. Retrieved 23 Aug 2013.
- ↑ Ketz, Jonathan (8 Nov 2012). "Amtrak line supposed to be built by 2015". Moline, Illinois: WQAD-TV. Retrieved 23 Aug 2013.
- ↑ "Amtrak Considers Rail Service To Peoria". Chicago: WBBM-TV. 20 Apr 2011. Retrieved 23 Aug 2013.
- ↑ "$223 Million Announced to Restore Chicago to Rockford Amtrak Service". Retrieved 2014-06-11.
- ↑ Martin, Aaron. "Amtrak's success in Lynchburg paving the way for Roanoke". Roanoke, Virginia: WSLS-TV. Retrieved 23 Aug 2013.
- ↑ Kerr, Drew (18 Mar 2013). "High-speed train to Duluth clears hurdle". Finance & Commerce. Minneapolis. Retrieved 23 Aug 2013.
- ↑ "Southwest Chief could be rerouted from rural Colorado in two years". Retrieved 9-6-2014. Check date values in:
|access-date=
(help) - 1 2 Stephenson, Meg (18 April 2008). "Amtrak, DOT say 'yes' to rail service between Q-C, Iowa City". Quad-City Times. Davenport, Iowa. Retrieved 23 Aug 2013.
- ↑ Stearns, John (7 May 2013). "Wichita's Amtrak supporters plan announcement Friday". Wichata Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 23 Aug 2013.
- ↑ Sandler, Larry (15 Jan 2012). "Wisconsin, Minnesota ponder expanding Amtrak service". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
- ↑ "Walker wants Amtrak and road cuts". 30 Apr 2013. Retrieved 23 Aug 2013.
- ↑ "The Coast Daylight".
- ↑ Martyn, Chase (24 July 2009). "Amtrak could go to Quad Cities, Dubuque by 2011". The Iowa Independent. Retrieved 2010-07-05.
- ↑ Wistrom, Brent D. (7 Jan 2010). "Study finds strong economic incentives for new Amtrak route through Kansas". KTKA. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved 5 Jul 2010.
Further reading
- Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34705-X. OCLC 61499942.
External links
- Article on the missing markets that America's rail service doesn't serve (analysis and charts)
- Chart showing U.S. population centers and Amtrak service