All aboard! Amtrak revs up Northeast and long-distance service ahead of summer rush

Ahead of what’s predicted to be one of the busiest summer travel seasons in recent memory — not to mention a time of rising gas prices and airline staff shortages — Amtrak has stepped up to the plate with an updated schedule. The new offerings both increase capacity on its popular Northeastern itineraries and reinstate a number of long-distance routes, giving travelers another option to navigate the summer travel rush.

“Thanks to our dedicated existing employees and newly-hired staff, we are thrilled to expand our scheduled service just in time to meet customers’ rising demand for travel this summer,” Stephen Gardner, CEO at Amtrak, said. “We are recruiting and training additional employees nationwide to accelerate our recovery from the pandemic and to support service growth.”

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Amtrak’s summer schedule will offer the most Acela service since the onset of the pandemic and will restore Northeast Regional departures to almost 80% of pre-pandemic service levels. The new summer schedule also includes the restoration of four long-distance trains to daily service.

The following services will be available in the Northeast effective immediately:

Northeast Regional expanded service between Washington, D.C., and Boston

• 13 round trips every weekday between Washington, D.C., and New York City.
• Nine round trips every Saturday between Washington, D.C., and New York City.
• 14 round trips every Sunday between Washington, D.C., and New York City.
• Eight round trips every weekday between Boston and New York City.
• Eight round trips every Saturday between Boston and New York City.
• Nine round trips every Sunday between Boston and New York City.

Keystone Service expanded service between Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and New York City

• 12 round trips every weekday between Philadelphia and Harrisburg.
• 10 round trips every weekday between Philadelphia and New York City, including a new early morning departure arriving in New York City by 7:15 a.m.

Amtrak Hartford Line between New Haven, Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts

• Seven round trips every weekday.

These additional services will be effective starting May 23:

Acela expanded service between Washington, D.C., and Boston

• 10 round trips per weekday between Washington, D.C., and New York City.
• Four round trips every Saturday between Washington, D.C., and New York City.
• Six round trips every Sunday between Washington, D.C., and New York City.
• Nine round trips every weekday between Boston and New York City.
• Three round trips every Saturday between Boston and New York City.
• Four round trips every Sunday between Boston and New York City.

Finally, these long-distance routes will also ramp up starting May 23:

Long-distance routes

• Daily service: Auto Train, California Zephyr*, Capitol Limited, Coast Starlight, Empire Builder*, Lake Shore Limited*, Palmetto, Silver Star, Southwest Chief*, Texas Eagle.
• Five departures every week: City of New Orleans, Crescent.
• Three departures every week: Cardinal, Sunset Limited.
• Silver Meteor: Interim service continues to be provided daily via Silver Star, Palmetto, Carolinian and Northeast Regional.
  * Represents restoration of daily service.

Stay tuned as Amtrak anticipates the announcement of additional service for summer travel later this spring.

Featured photo by Getty Images.