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

Melissa Klurman
Melissa Klurman
Contributor
Melissa Klurman is a freelance travel reporter. Combining her journalism background with her love of exploring, Melissa turned her passion for travel into a profession, venturing everywhere from the Arctic to Zimbabwe in search of stories. She has worked as an editor at both Frommer's and Fodor's travel guides, editor at large for Bonnier's Travel Group (Islands/CTL/Saveur) and was a media spokesperson for both Fodor's and Travelocity. At Fodor's she created the first Southern Africa and African Safari guidebooks, which in turn has led to more than a dozen trips to southern and eastern Africa, including gorilla trekking in Uganda and a comically unfortunate horseback ride in the Kalahari Desert.
May 10, 2022
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3 min read
Aerial view of Upper West Side and Riverside Park, with Amtrak train below, from George Washington Bridge, New York, NY, U.S.A.
All aboard! Amtrak revs up Northeast and long-distance service ahead of summer rush
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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."

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.
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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 image by BARRY WINIKER/GETTY IMAGES
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.