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Amtrak routes should be extended, according to readers
About 96% of the 241 readers who responded said they think the Amtrak should be extended.
Anyone who’s been in either South Station or North Station has likely heard a track announcement for the Amtrak Northeast Regional or Downeaster, followed by dozens of people with their luggage making their way to board.
It’s a common scene across the country as well. With nearly 23 million passengers last year, Amtrak is a popular method of travel.
Amtrak currently has over 500 destinations across existing routes, and is looking to add more with “Amtrak Connects US,” a plan for railroad improvements and expansion.
According to the Amtrak Connects US website, Amtrak identified opportunities to add 39 new routes by 2035, as well as improve service on 25 existing routes.
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Jen Flanagan, lead public relations specialist at Amtrak, said in an e-mail to Boston.com that expanding their rail service will give more people the ability to choose more environmentally friendly transportation.
“Across Amtrak’s national system, traveling by Amtrak is 46 percent more energy efficient than driving and 34 percent more efficient than flying,” she said. “Filling our trains and shifting customers away from flights and driving alone are critical to a rapid modal shift, which will result in the fastest reduction of transportation emissions.”
According to Flanagan, Amtrak currently expects the Mardi Gras Service, which will connect Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, and the Great River Service, which will connect Chicago and the Twin Cities, to be among the first to launch.
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Flanagan said Amtrak identified opportunities for expansion in New England as well, such as service between Boston and Albany, New York and extending the Amtrak Downeaster in Maine.
We asked readers how they felt about extending the Amtrak to new destinations in the United States. About 96% of the 241 readers who responded said they think the Amtrak should be extended.
Should the Amtrak be expanded to more destinations in the U.S.?
Yes
96%
No
4%
Many reasons readers supported Amtrak’s expansion were environment-related. According to the International Energy Agency, trains are, on average, 12 times more energy efficient than planes, which some readers mentioned.
“In addition, train travel uses much less fuel than air travel or personal vehicles,” said reader Mike from Hopkinton. “Given the time for security and travel to and from airports, train travel is equivalent to flight in many instances.”
Additionally, readers who have traveled abroad discussed their experiences with widespread train service, such as reader Dianna S. from Cambridge who recently traveled to Sweden. There, she says, train travel is far more efficient than in the United States, such as contactless payment and faster service.
“I twice went up to Uppsala, about the distance from Boston to Providence, in 30-40 minutes,” she said. “Tickets? Why bother? You just install an app on your phone, buy the tickets there, and show your QR code to the conductor. On the subway, you just tap your credit card.”
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About 4% of readers, however, disagreed with extending the Amtrak, saying the company needs to prioritize improving its current routes, such as reader Mike from Boston. He says since existing rail service in the United States can be slow, the current routes need to be fixed before new ones are implemented.
We also asked readers where they’d like to see extended Amtrak routes, and they named 112 destinations across the U.S. and Canada.
One of the most popular destinations was Montreal, Canada. A daytime and overnight train from Boston to Montreal called the “Alouette” and the “Red Wing” existed in the first half of the 19th century, however it went out of service in 1959. Some readers said that since the tracks from this train still exist, a Boston to Montreal train could be reimplemented.
Some other popular destinations included Western Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.
Read below to see what readers had to say about extending the Amtrak, as well as a map of the destinations where readers would like to see extended service.
Some responses have been lightly edited for clarity.
Trains are more environmentally friendly than other transportation
“It is unfathomable that the U.S. does not have a system of trains that serve most of the country. The highway system is great, but not everyone has or wants a car. In addition, train travel uses much less fuel than air travel or personal vehicles. Given the time for security and travel to and from airports, train travel is equivalent to flight in many instances. It would be even better if Amtrak had high speed trains.” — Mike, Hopkinton
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“It makes sense as we steer clear of fossil fuels and limit air travel for short trips.” — Bambi G., Northampton
“More rail travel will take more cars off the road, which is better for the environment and better for traffic. Plus, trains rule. It’s nice not to have to drive sometimes.” — Anonymous, Norwood
“Trains are more ecological than personal cars and more comfortable than buses. The limited routes are part of the reason people don’t think of trains before other options.” — Wil, Andover
“Rail transportation is more comfortable than driving a vehicle; and more trains will contribute positively to more environmentally safe travel, than to drive. The overwhelming number of vehicles that I see are just like mine: one person to one vehicle. How sad!” — Carl S., Vestal, NY
More trains means less cars
“I think high density cities should be connected to avoid congestion and overuse of cars.” — Maria C., Belmont
“Because we need to move away from driving motor vehicles, and there’s very limited train service to and from Western Mass. Also it is better for the environment.” — Manuel F., Natick
“Would love to travel by a train, since road traffic is crazy and a plane is too expensive.” — Anna, Swampscott
“I often travel to smaller cities without good air service and are too far to drive. Taking Amtrak is easy, convenient and an enjoyable way to see more of America.” — Gorton, Boston
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“I don’t have a car so I use the Amtrak a lot when traveling between states. Having an extended line would be very helpful for my travels!” — Colleen, Quincy
Other countries have extensive train systems
“Transit by rail was a cornerstone of American success before the advent of the personal vehicle popularity, and would increase accessibility for a wide variety of people across the nation. It would also be more sustainable for the environment in the long term, potentially more economically accessible, and bring the U.S. back up to speed with other major passenger rail systems in other nations/regions (e.g. Eurail, EMU trains in China, Shinkansen in Japan). It’s long overdue.” — Melinda S., Providence, R.I.
“I just returned from a trip to Sweden. There, public transit is ubiquitous, fast, inexpensive, and reliable. Dedicated trains take you from Arlanda Airport to the heart of Stockholm. Commuter trains are fast and ridiculously easy to use. I twice went up to Uppsala, about the distance from Boston to Providence, in 30-40 minutes. Tickets? Why bother? You just install an app on your phone, buy the tickets there, and show your QR code to the conductor. On the subway, you just tap your credit card. And you can get to every major city and most minor cities in Sweden by rail. From there, buses take you virtually anywhere you want to go. I had a similar experience in Italy 25 years ago. Why on earth don’t we have this? Why wouldn’t we want this? I want it now. I want fast, reliable rail service throughout the Northeast. I want to visit my sister in Poughkeepsie, I want my daughter in Amherst to visit me in Boston. Rail travel should be faster and easier than driving.” — Dianna S., Cambridge
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“Heck yes!! Having lived for many years in Europe, I saw the light and it can be done. We need (and deserve) better rail systems than we currently have. It really shows when other countries invest in rail systems. Look at Europe, look at Japan. Fabulous rail systems (local, regional, national, and international) and safe and reasonably priced. Nothing like the 19th century system we have to deal with. However, the biggest difference between them and the U.S. is that their governments invest much more money in infrastructure than we do, and have or can get control of the rails. Here rail ownership is so splintered and fragmented that trying to get a cohesive system together is going to be like pulling teeth, which is sad. As an example, look at Rail Baltica, a new high speed rail link between Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia to Warsaw. An electric, dual track (passenger) system of approximately 1,500 kilometers with a possible tunnel to Helsinki. Now it’s a proposed ferry link. Also look at the Eurostar from London to Brussels, to Paris and Amsterdam. That is an amazing train (have taken it many times). It can be done!” — Amanda, Stoneham
I don’t want to extend the Amtrak
“Not until they improve their service and on time rate on their current routes.” — Frank, Detroit, MI
“Rail service in the U.S. is a joke. Why would anyone think of expanding a slow, expensive, unreliable service that fails just about everywhere? I rode the Green Line extension the other day. What a mess; slow, jerky, not a smooth ride at all and the stations really blow. Fix the system before expanding it.” — Mike, Boston
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“It’s unlikely they would create routes in a logical manner but influenced by some combination of congressional influence rather than by population and travel routes. More and faster trains from Boston to D.C. makes sense, East Coast to Chicago and onto LA, San Francisco, Seattle etc. but it wouldn’t make sense to have routes in sparsely populated areas.” — Anonymous
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