» Pre-Amtrak System Maps

May 1, 1971
Total route-miles = 19,366

At the advent of Amtrak, route-miles were slashed over half.  Hundreds of trains made their last runs on April 29 or 30.

December 31, 1970
Total route-miles = 44,020

This is the extent of the intercity passenger rail network on the eve of the creation of Amtrak. Legislation creating Amtrak was passed in October 1970, with a freeze on train discontinuations while Amtrak routes could be evaluated by the U.S. Department of Amtrak. Routes shown on the above link operated until April 30, 1971; the following day an Amtrak network less than half this size began operation.

Though the network has grown only slightly in the last 30 years, Amtrak’s creation did serve to halt the steeply accelerating decline in the network that took place up to 1971.

July 31, 1967
Total route-miles = 65,842

This is the extent of the intercity passenger rail network at the time of the removal of most mail contracts from passenger trains by the U.S. Postal Service, and at the time of the creation of NARP. Shrinkage of the national network—in the face of massive, government-run aviation and highway programs—had been steady for the 20 years up to 1967, but greatly accelerated thereafter. From mid-1967 to late 1970, 34% of the network disappeared, measured in route-miles (with many frequency reductions on remaining routes).

Compared to the mid-1967 network shown here, the first Amtrak network in 1971 represented a 70% reduction in route-miles.

January 1, 1962
Total route-miles = 88,717

This is the extent of the intercity passenger rail network at the time when construction of the interstate highway system was in full swing. The World War II ticket tax was eliminated this year, but unlike the case for highway “user fees,” none of those billions went to infrastructure for the mode that generated these tax revenues. Thus, this is a time of deep disinvestment in passenger rail infrastructure. From early 1962 to mid-1967, 26% of the network disappeared, measured in route-miles (with many frequency and service-quality reductions on remaining routes).

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