On May 1, 1971, there were 26 railroads in the United States that were eligible to participate in the formation of
Amtrak. Twenty chose to join Amtrak in 1971, and one more eventually joined in 1979. Of the remaining five, four ultimately discontinued their services, while one was taken over by a state agency.
Participating railroads
Twenty railroads opted to participate. Each contributed
rolling stock, equipment, and financial capital to the new government-sponsored entity. In return, the railroads received the right to discontinue intercity passenger rail services; most received tax breaks, while some received common stock in Amtrak. The four railroads that accepted stock were the
Burlington Northern Railroad, the
Grand Trunk Western Railroad, the
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("Milwaukee Road"), and
Penn Central.[1] Because Amtrak discontinued many passenger rail routes when it commenced operations, some of the participating railroads did not host successor passenger rail service. The twenty participating railroads were:[2]
There were six railroads eligible to participate in the formation of
Amtrak that declined to spin off their passenger rail services. The intercity passenger operations of those six railroads eventually were absorbed by Amtrak or another governmental entity, or discontinued. The six non-participating railroads and disposition of their routes were as follows:
The
Canadian Pacific's Atlantic, though it crossed northern Maine, was considered a Canada-centric service not relevant to Amtrak. It was taken over by
Via Rail in 1978 and ran until 1994. Until 1977, a
Canadian National Railway Winnipeg–Thunder Bay local service also crossed part of northern Minnesota.[14]
The
Florida East Coast discontinued its last passenger service in 1968, leaving the FEC ineligible to join Amtrak. Passenger services resumed under the purview of privately-owned
Brightline in 2018.
The
Soo Line Railroad was permitted to discontinue regular passenger services in the 1960s in exchange for allowing passengers to ride in cabooses on freights between
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan,
Rhinelander, Wisconsin, and
Neenah, Wisconsin. The mixed trains lasted until 1986, making the Soo Line the last Class I railroad in the continental United States with non-subsidized passenger service.[18]
^"Annual Report"(PDF). Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. December 31, 2010. p. 15. Archived from
the original(PDF) on February 3, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
^"Chapter 1: Purpose and Need"(PDF). Proposed Restoration of Passenger Rail Service on the West Trenton Line Draft Environmental Assessment. New Jersey Transit. November 2007. p. 1-1. Archived from
the original(PDF) on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
^Carter, Thad Hills (2009).
Kansas City Southern Railway. Images of Rail. (Reprint of an article by Philip Moseley originally published in the May 1986 issue of Arkansas Railroader). Charleston, SC; Chicago, IL; Portsmouth, NH; San Francisco, CA: Arcadia Publishing. p. 60.
ISBN978-0-7385-6001-4. Retrieved November 2, 2013. I was working that night November 3, 1969, when the last southbound run of the Southern Belle made its way into DeQueen.
Thoms, William E. (1973). Reprieve for the Iron Horse: The AMTRAK Experiment–Its Predecessors and Prospects. Baton Rouge, LA: Claitor's Publishing Division.
OCLC1094744.