As part of its COVID-19 recovery efforts, Amtrak announces full restoration of daily service for 12 long distance routes following pandemic-related schedule reductions in 2020. Providing customers significantly more departures for the upcoming summer travel season, the new schedule has been updated on all Amtrak reservation systems, including Amtrak.com and the Amtrak app.
From New York City to the California coast; from Florida beaches to the Sierra Nevada; and from the Windy City to heart of the Big Easy, Amtrak’s world-famous long distance routes offer countless itineraries to over 500 destinations from coast to coast.
Due to COVID relief funding, Amtrak will sustain and restore operations and recall the more than 1,200 furloughed employees through the remainder of FY21 and into FY22.
“Offering daily long distance service represents a vital step in our road to recovery,” said Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn. “Recognizing the immense value of our employees, we’d like to thank Congress for enabling service restoration and helping us recall furloughed employees.”
The daily schedules will commence in May 2021 and be grouped into three phases:
| May 24 | May 31 | June 7 | |||
| California Zephyr
(Chicago – Omaha – Denver – Salt Lake City – San Francisco) |
Capitol Limited
(Washington DC – Pittsburgh – Cleveland – Chicago) |
Crescent
(New York – Washington DC – Atlanta – New Orleans) |
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| Coast Starlight
(Seattle – Portland – Sacramento – Oakland – Los Angeles |
City of New Orleans
(Chicago – Memphis – Jackson – New Orleans) |
Palmetto
(New York – Washington DC – Charleston – Savannah) |
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| Empire Builder
(Chicago – St. Paul-Minneapolis – Spokane – Portland/Seattle) |
Lake Shore Limited
(New York/Boston – Albany – Buffalo – Chicago) |
Silver Meteor
(New York – Savannah – Jacksonville – Orlando – Miami) |
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| Texas Eagle
(Chicago – St. Louis – Dallas – San Antonio – Los Angeles) |
Southwest Chief
(Chicago – Kansas City – Albuquerque – Los Angeles) |
Silver Star
(New York – Raleigh – Jacksonville – Orlando – Tampa – Miami) |
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| Destinations listed above do not represent an exhaustive list of all route stops | |||||
All destinations and scheduled departure/arrival times served by the long distance network will be maintained. Additionally, Amtrak will continue to operate the Auto Train daily and the Cardinal and Sunset Limited trains tri-weekly, as it has been done historically.
The schedule restoration is a critical part of Amtrak’s strategy for investing in long distance service. Other components include:
- The debut of the new Viewliner II sleeping cars on the Silver Service, the first addition to the Amtrak sleeper fleet in over two decades
- Upgraded bedding, towels and linens in private rooms aboard the Auto Train, with additional routes rolling out starting in summer
- Fully-refreshed Amfleet II cars for Coach class routes along East Coast, including new seating cushions, carpets, curtains and LED reading lights
- Multi-year interior refresh program for Superliner and Viewliner I equipment—including new seating cushions, carpet and curtains—beginning to enter service this summer
- New Amtrak ALC-42 diesel-electric locomotives with higher performance and lower emissions will begin to replace the current long distance engine fleet this year
- Improved lounge experience for all private room customers—including the debut of the Metropolitan Lounge in the Moynihan Train Hall at New York Penn Station
- Enhancements to the Auto Train customer experience
