The National Railroad Passenger Corporation does business as Amtrak. The company is a publicly funded railroad service operated and managed as a for-profit corporation.
In the United States travelling by rail was extremely popular until the popularity of the automobile started to rise in the 1930s.
By the 1960s rail service had declined to the point that bankruptcy filings were rampant. In 1970 Congress created the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, a hybrid public-private entity that would receive government money to operate intercity passenger trains.
This was seen as a way to “save” American railroads. The experiment was a success and Amtrak continues to operate today. 
In March 2019, Amtrak had to temporarily suspend service between Kansas City and St. Louis due to flooding from recent storms.
Due to the coronavirus crisis, ridership has dropped considerably, so much so that Amtrak has asked the US government for $5 billion in federal aid in September 2020.
Today Amtrak operates 374 trains on over 31,000 miles of track in 46 states and three Canadian provinces. The most popular service is the North East Corridor (NEC) and accounts for 11.4 million of Amtrak’s 31.6 million yearly passengers. The company has 20,000 employees and had $2.88 billion in revenue in 2012.
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation does business as Amtrak. The company is a publicly funded railroad service operated and managed as a for-profit corporation.
In the United States travelling by rail was extremely popular until the popularity of the automobile started to rise in the 1930s.
History
By the 1960s rail service had declined to the point that bankruptcy filings were rampant. In 1970 Congress created the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, a hybrid public-private entity that would receive government money to operate intercity passenger trains.
This was seen as a way to “save” American railroads. The experiment was a success and Amtrak continues to operate today.
In March 2019, Amtrak had to temporarily suspend service between Kansas City and St. Louis due to flooding from recent storms.
Due to the coronavirus crisis, ridership has dropped considerably, so much so that Amtrak has asked the US government for $5 billion in federal aid in September 2020.
Today Amtrak operates 374 trains on over 31,000 miles of track in 46 states and three Canadian provinces. The most popular service is the North East Corridor (NEC) and accounts for 11.4 million of Amtrak’s 31.6 million yearly passengers. The company has 20,000 employees and had $2.88 billion in revenue in 2012.
