Before President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, Amtrak announced that it will restore 12 long-distance daily routes between May 24 and June 7.
The bill, which includes $1.7 billion in emergency funding for Amtrak, requires that Amtrak return daily service to long-distance routes within 90 days of the bill’s passage, as well as requiring Amtrak to bring back furloughed railroad workers.
“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 returning routes include the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco, the Capitol Limited from Washington DC to Chicago, the Coast Starlight from Seattle to Los Angeles, and the City of New Orleans from Chicago to New Orleans.
Amtrak said it would continue to operate the Auto Train daily, and the Cardinal and Sunset Limited trains tri-weekly.
Restoring the schedule will allow the company to invest in long-distance service, the company said, which will include things like new sleeping care, upgraded bedding, towels and linens in private rooms on the Auto Train, and fully refreshed Amfleet II cars for Coach class routes along the East Coast with new seating cushions, carpet, curtains and LED reading lights.
“This is a real win for America’s passengers and for the hundreds of communities served by Amtrak’s long-distance trains, communities which suffered economic pain when they lost their service last summer,” said Jim Mathews, President & CEO of Rail Passengers Association. “We extend our thanks to the many champions of passenger rail in Congress who helped make this happen. We worked tirelessly with executive agencies, congressional leaders, and, yes, Amtrak itself to create urgency around the need to restore daily service just as soon as possible. Whether in testimony before House lawmakers or in private meetings with congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle, this Association worked overtime to create the preconditions Amtrak needed to restore services and recall its workforce.”
Daily service schedules are already available on all Amtrak booking services, including Amtrak.com and the Amtrak app.