The ''Cardinal'' is a long distance
passenger train
A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self p ...
operated by
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
between
New York Penn Station
Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station, is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers ...
and
Chicago Union Station
Chicago Union Station is an intercity and commuter rail terminal located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The station is Amtrak's flagship station in the Midwest. While serving long-distance passenger trains, it is also ...
via
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
,
Washington, D.C.,
Charlottesville
Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen ...
,
Charleston,
Huntington,
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
, and
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
. Along with the ''
Capitol Limited
The ''Capitol Limited'' is a daily Amtrak train between Washington, D.C., and Chicago, running via Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Service began in 1981 and was named after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's ''Capitol Limited'' which ended in 197 ...
'' and ''
Lake Shore Limited
The ''Lake Shore Limited'' is an overnight Amtrak intercity rail, intercity passenger train that runs between Chicago and either New York City or Boston via two Section (rail transport), sections east of Albany, New York, Albany. The train bega ...
'', it is one of three trains linking the
Northeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
and Chicago''.'' Its trip between New York and Chicago takes 28 hours.
The ''Cardinal'' has three round trips each week, departing New York City on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and departing Chicago on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Prior to being discontinued in 2019, the ''
Hoosier State
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th st ...
'' provided service on the portion of the ''Cardinal's'' route between Indianapolis and Chicago on the other four days of the week.
The ''Cardinal's'' ridership was about 69,000 in FY2021, which is 37% off its pre-
Covid pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...
ridership of about 109,000 in FY2019. In the two fiscal years prior to the pandemic (FY2018 and FY2019), ridership had increased 12.5%. In FY2020, the Cardinal earned $7.1 million on expenses of $22.6M—a revenue-to-cost ratio of 31%, the second lowest among all Amtrak routes.
History
The ''Cardinal'' is the successor of several previous trains, primarily the
New York Central
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
(later
Penn Central
The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania Railroad ...
) ''James Whitcomb Riley'' and the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...
(C&O) ''George Washington''. The ''James Whitcomb Riley'' was a daytime all-coach train which operated between Chicago and Cincinnati (via Indianapolis). The ''George Washington,'' the C&O's flagship train, was a long-distance sleeper that ran between Cincinnati and–via a split in
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...
–Washington, D.C. and
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...
. Until the late 1950s, the ''Riley'' carried the ''Washington''s sleeper cars between Cincinnati and Chicago.
Both routes survived until the formation of
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
in 1971.
Amtrak kept service mostly identical through the spring and summer of 1971. It slowly began integrating the trains that summer. The two trains began exchanging through Washington–Chicago and Newport News–Chicago
coaches
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Coac ...
at Cincinnati on July 12, and a through
sleeping car
The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car.
...
began September 8.
On November 14, the ''Riley'' and ''George Washington'' merged into a single long-distance Chicago-Washington train, with the eastbound train (train 50) known as the ''George Washington'' and the westbound train (train 51) known as the ''Riley''.
The eastern terminus was briefly extended to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, giving the
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...
a one-seat ride to Chicago. However, it was truncated back to Washington in 1972. On May 19, 1974, Amtrak fully merged the ''George Washington'' into the ''Riley''.
During the early Amtrak era, the ''Riley'' was plagued by the poor condition of ex-New York Central track in Indiana. In 1973, it was moved to ex-
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
track through
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
.
By 1974, Amtrak rerouted it off Penn Central track altogether; by then, the trackage had deteriorated so badly that the ''Riley'' was limited to for much of its route through Indiana.
The Newport News section ended in 1976, replaced by the Boston–Newport News ''
Colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
''. A number of long-distance trains running along former Penn Central trackage in the Midwest were plagued by similar problems.
![Former C&O depot, Muncie, Indiana](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Former_C%26O_depot%2C_Muncie%2C_Indiana.jpg)
The ''James Whitcomb Riley'' was renamed the ''Cardinal'' on October 30, 1977, as the
cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
was the
state bird of all six states through which it ran. However, due to poor track conditions in Indiana, the train was rerouted numerous times, first over various Penn Central/
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
routings that had once been part of the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
, then ultimately over the former
Baltimore and Ohio
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
route via Cottage Grove by 1980.
The ''Cardinal'' was eventually extended to run along the Northeast Corridor again in an effort to improve the Cardinal's
cost recovery ratio, but this time with the eastern terminus moved to New York. Previously, the ''
Broadway Limited
The ''Broadway Limited'' was a passenger train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) between New York City and Chicago. It operated from 1912 to 1995. It was the Pennsylvania's premier train, competing directly with the New York Central R ...
'' ran from New York to Chicago along the Northeast Corridor, but only as far south as
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. The train was discontinued on September 30, 1981, but revived on January 8, 1982, per a mandate initiated by Senator
Robert C. Byrd
Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...
. While the Cardinal and its predecessors had run daily, the revived Cardinal ran only three times per week. The revived train followed another new route, via
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
and
Muncie, Indiana
Muncie ( ) is an incorporated city and the county seat, seat of Delaware County, Indiana, Delaware County, Indiana. Previously known as Buckongahelas Town, named after the legendary Delaware Chief.http://www.delawarecountyhistory.org/history/docs ...
. This arrangement lasted until April 27, 1986, when the train was finally moved to its current route via Indianapolis.
On October 29, 1995, the ''Cardinal'' was truncated to Washington, D.C. after the consist was updated with
Superliners. On October 27, 2002, after derailments on other routes depleted available Superliner cars, the Superliners were replaced with
Viewliner
The Viewliner is a single-level railroad car type operated by Amtrak on most long-distance routes operating east of Chicago. The first production cars, consisting of an order of 50 sleeping cars, entered service in 1994. From 2015-2016, 70 View ...
s. The ''Cardinal'' continued to operate the Chicago-Washington D.C. schedule. Service to New York was restored on Sunday's westbound ''Cardinal'' on October 27, 2003. Full service to New York resumed on April 26, 2004.
From March 29, 2018, to November 8, 2018, due to continuing construction at New York Penn Station, the ''Cardinal''s eastern terminus was temporarily moved to Washington. ''Cardinal'' passengers needing to travel to or from points north of Washington were transferred to a ''Northeast Regional''.
''Hoosier State''
With the Indianapolis routing, the ''Cardinal'' began operating jointly with the Chicago–Indianapolis ''Hoosier State''. The ''Hoosier State'' operated to Indianapolis on the days the ''Cardinal'' did not, assuring seven-day service between Chicago and Indianapolis. This pattern ceased on October 25, 1987, when the ''Hoosier State'' became a full-fledged daily train once again. The ''Hoosier State'' was dropped on September 8, 1995, but resumed again on July 19, 1998, again running on days that the ''Cardinal'' did not run.
On December 17, 1999, Amtrak extended the ''Hoosier State'' to
Jeffersonville, Indiana
Jeffersonville is a city and the county seat of Clark County, Indiana, Clark County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It lies directly across the Ohio River ...
, (and later to
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
) and renamed the train the ''Kentucky Cardinal''. This new train was a daily service; on days when the ''Cardinal'' operated, the two trains ran combined between Indianapolis and Chicago. Amtrak ultimately discontinued the ''Kentucky Cardinal'' on July 4, 2003, and brought back the ''Hoosier State'' on the pre-1999 schedule.
After Indiana discontinued its subsidy, Amtrak suspended the ''Hoosier State'' as of June 30, 2019. Passengers who booked trips after that date were compensated with ''Cardinal'' tickets.
Plans
In the July 2010 issue of ''
Trains
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...
'' magazine, the ''Cardinal'' was noted as being one of five routes under consideration for performance improvement. For the ''Cardinal'', the proposed changes included increasing service from thrice-weekly to daily operation, and changing the western terminus to
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
,
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
. ''Railfan and Railroad'' magazine also suggested that the train be rerouted to St. Louis, with a separate section bound for Chicago.
In early October 2010, Amtrak released a report detailing plans to increase the ''Cardinal''s service from thrice-weekly to daily service, as well as increasing the train's on-time performance and food service. The January 2011 issue of ''Trains'' later revealed that Amtrak would scrap re-routing and Superliner conversion and instead adopt not only daily service, but also purchasing dome cars to be used along the Chicago-Washington, D.C., portion of the trip. In addition, the routing into Chicago Union Station would be changed and station platforms along the route containing coal dust would be scrubbed and cleaned.
However, obstacles to a daily ''Cardinal'' persist. Track capacity is limited on the
Buckingham Branch Railroad
Buckingham Branch Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad operating over 275 miles (443 km) of historic and strategic trackage in Central Virginia. Sharing overhead traffic with CSX and Amtrak, the company's headquarters are in Dill ...
, a short line railroad between
Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
and
Clifton Forge, Virginia
Clifton Forge is a town in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States which is part of the greater Roanoke Region. The population was 3,555 at the 2020 census. The Jackson River flows through the town, which as a result was once known as Jac ...
where the ''Cardinal'' operates along former C&O/CSX trackage, preventing frequent freight trains from passing a daily ''Cardinal''. This problem also applied to the planned-but-failed ''
Greenbrier Presidential Express
The ''Greenbrier Presidential Express'' was a proposed luxury passenger train that was planned to operate between Union Station in Washington, D.C., United States, and the train station at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Vi ...
'' train, which would also have traversed the Buckingham Branch on a weekly basis. The Buckingham Branch requires additional funding to expand several sidings before allowing additional service. Another obstacle is freight congestion in Chicago particularly at the 75th Street Corridor on Chicago's South Side.
The third obstacle is capacity at the
Long Bridge
Long may refer to:
Measurement
* Long, characteristic of something of great duration
* Long, characteristic of something of great length
* Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate
* Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...
in Washington, D.C..
Infrastructure improvements are being made at all three. The
Orange Branch
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
* Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum ...
between Orange and
Gordonsville raised train speed after the completion of a track and signal project in 2017. The
(CREATE) has received funding under a
public–private partnership
A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Administ ...
(P3) for the 75th Street Corridor with construction beginning in October 2018 and is scheduled to be finished by 2025.
A parallel span of the Long Bridge is full funded and moving towards engineering design and financing.
Starting on October 1, 2019, traditional dining car services were removed and replaced with a reduced menu of 'Flexible Dining' options. As a result, the changes to the consist of the train will have the dining car serve as a lounge car for the exclusive use of sleeping car passengers.
In June 2021, Senator
Jon Tester
Raymond Jon Tester (born August 21, 1956) is an American farmer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Montana, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, Tester is the dean of Montana's congressio ...
of
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
added an amendment to the Surface Transportation Investment Act of 2021 which would require the
Department of Transportation (not Amtrak itself) to evaluate daily service on all less frequent long-distance trains, meaning the ''Cardinal'' and ''
Sunset Limited
The ''Sunset Limited'' is an Amtrak passenger train that for most of its history has operated between New Orleans and Los Angeles, over the nation's second transcontinental route. However, up until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it operated betwe ...
''. The bill passed the
Senate Commerce Committee
The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate. Besides having broad jurisdiction over all matters concerning interstate commerce, science and technology policy, a ...
with bipartisan support, and was later rolled into
President Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and originally in the House as the INVEST in America ActH.R. 3684, is a United States federal statute enacted by the 117th United States Congress ...
, which Congress passed on November 5, 2021. The report must be delivered to Congress within two years.
Train consist
In the early 1990s, the ''Cardinal'' ran with the usual Amtrak long-distance consist of two F40s/E60 plus several material handling cars (MHC) and baggage cars, followed by several
Amfleet
Amfleet is a fleet of single-level intercity railroad passenger cars built by the Budd Company for American company Amtrak in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Budd based the Amfleet design on its earlier Metroliner electric multiple unit. An in ...
coaches, an Amfleet lounge, a Heritage diner, two or three Heritage 10-6 sleepers, a slumbercoach, and finally, a baggage dormitory car. Following the delivery of the
Superliner II fleet, however, the ''Cardinal'' was re-equipped with Superliner cars in 1995. As a result, its route was truncated to end in Washington D.C.; then, as now, Superliners could not operate north of Washington due to low clearances in Baltimore and New York City. With the Superliner equipment, the consist would usually be two Superliner sleeping cars, a diner, a
Sightseer Lounge, a baggage coach, and a coach.
In 2002, two derailments on other routes took numerous Superliner cars out of service. Because of this, insufficient Superliner equipment was available for use on the ''Cardinal''. The ''Cardinal'' was re-equipped with a consist of single-level long-distance cars, including dining, lounge, sleeping, and dormitory cars, although service to New York was not restored until 2004. Subsequent fleet shortages shortened the ''Cardinal'' further, and at one point, the train was running with two or three Amfleet II coaches and a combined diner-lounge car. While the sleeping car was later restored, the ''Cardinal'' has not had a dormitory car or a diner since. Similarly, though the
baggage car
A passenger railroad car or passenger car (United States), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach (United Kingdom and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie (India) is a railroad car that is designed to carry passen ...
was also removed, it was restored in response to an upturn in patronage in mid-2010. In 2016, Amtrak added business class service to the ''Cardinal''.
The ''Cardinal's'' current typical consist includes a single locomotive, three
Amfleet
Amfleet is a fleet of single-level intercity railroad passenger cars built by the Budd Company for American company Amtrak in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Budd based the Amfleet design on its earlier Metroliner electric multiple unit. An in ...
II long-distance coaches, a single Amfleet II Diner-Lite diner-lounge car, one or two
Viewliner II sleeping cars, and a Viewliner II baggage-dorm car.
Route overview
Amtrak bills the ''Cardinal''s route as one of the most scenic in its system. After an early morning departure from New York and traveling south down the Northeast Corridor, the train passes through Virginia's rolling horse country, across the
Blue Ridge and the
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge- ...
. It then climbs the
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...
and stops at the resort town of White Sulphur Springs, home to
The Greenbrier
The Greenbrier is a luxury resort located in the Allegheny Mountains near White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, in the United States.
Since 1778, visitors have traveled to this part of the state to "take the waters" of the ...
, a famous luxury resort. The ''Cardinal'' descends on tracks through
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve
The New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is a unit of the United States National Park Service (NPS) designed to protect and maintain the New River Gorge in southern West Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains. Established in 1978 as a nat ...
, a unit of the National Park Service protecting the longest deepest river gorge in the Eastern U.S. The river is popular for white water rafting, and the cliffs attract rock climbers. The forests blaze with autumn foliage and the train usually sells out during the peak season. The ''Cardinal'' will often add the only remaining full-length dome car in Amtrak service, car number 10031, to the consist in the autumn to try to accommodate the leaf peepers.
The schedules are timed to provide a daylight transit of the New River Gorge almost all year. So westbound, the train travels at night from Charleston, West Virginia, on to Indianapolis, where it arrives about dawn, reaching Chicago in mid-morning. Eastbound the ''Cardinal'' departs late afternoon, reaching Indianapolis before midnight, Charleston mid-morning, and NYC in the late evening. Unfortunately, Cincinnati is served both directions with stops after midnight, yet about 15,000 passengers a year arrive or depart from this station.
The ''Cardinal'' is one of only two of Amtrak's 15 long-distance trains to operate only three days a week, the other being the ''
Sunset Limited
The ''Sunset Limited'' is an Amtrak passenger train that for most of its history has operated between New Orleans and Los Angeles, over the nation's second transcontinental route. However, up until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it operated betwe ...
''. Like other long-distance trains, passengers are not allowed to travel only between stations on the Northeast Corridor on the ''Cardinal''. Eastbound trains only stop to discharge passengers from Alexandria northward, and westbound trains only stop to receive passengers from Newark to Washington. This policy aims to keep seats available for passengers making longer trips; passengers traveling between Northeast Corridor stations can use the more frequent ''
Acela Express
The ''Acela'' ( ; originally the ''Acela Express'' until September 2019) is Amtrak's flagship service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in the Northeastern United States between Washington, D.C. and Boston via 13 intermediate stops, includ ...
'' or ''
Northeast Regional
The ''Northeast Regional'' is an intercity rail service operated by Amtrak in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. In the past it has been known as the ''NortheastDirect'', ''Acela Regional'', or ''Regional''. It is Amtrak's busies ...
'' services.
Route details
![Amtrak Cardinal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Amtrak_Cardinal.svg)
The ''Cardinal'' operates over
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
,
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
,
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
,
Buckingham Branch Railroad
Buckingham Branch Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad operating over 275 miles (443 km) of historic and strategic trackage in Central Virginia. Sharing overhead traffic with CSX and Amtrak, the company's headquarters are in Dill ...
,
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN i ...
,
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
, and
Metra
Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines. I ...
trackage:
*Amtrak
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...
, New York to
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
*CSX
RF&P Subdivision
The RF&P Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation. It runs from Washington, D.C., to Richmond, Virginia, over lines previously owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. ...
, Washington to
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
*NS
Washington District
The Washington District is a Norfolk Southern Railway line in the U.S. state of Virginia that connects Alexandria, Virginia, Alexandria and Lynchburg, Virginia, Lynchburg. Most of the line was originally built from 1850 to 1860 by the Orange and ...
, Alexandria to Orange
*BB
Orange Subdivision and
North Mountain Subdivision
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
, Orange to
Clifton Forge
Clifton Forge is a town in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States which is part of the greater Roanoke Region. The population was 3,555 at the 2020 census. The Jackson River flows through the town, which as a result was once known as J ...
*CSX
Alleghany Subdivision
The Alleghany Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. It was formerly part of the CSX Huntington East Division.http://www.multimodalways.org/docs/railroads/companies/CSX/CSX%20ET ...
,
New River Subdivision
The New River Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It was formerly part of the CSX Huntington East Division. It became part of the CSX Florence Division on June 20, 2016.
The line runs ...
,
Kanawha Subdivision
The Kanawha Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of West Virginia and Kentucky. It was formerly part of the CSX Huntington East Division. It became part of the CSX Florence Division on June 20, 2016. The l ...
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Russell Subdivision
The Russell Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The line runs from Russell, Kentucky, to Greenup, Kentucky, for a total of . At its south end the line continues north from the Kanawha Subdivisi ...
,
Northern Subdivision,
Cincinnati Subdivision,
Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision
The Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Kentucky and Ohio the line is part of the CSX Transportation Louisville Division and the Northern Region. There are seven sections to the Ci ...
,
Indianapolis Subdivision
The Indianapolis Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Ohio and Indiana. The line runs from Hamilton, Ohio, (north of Cincinnati) west to Indianapolis, Indiana, along a former Baltimore an ...
,
Indianapolis Terminal Subdivision
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...
,
Crawfordsville Branch Subdivision,
Lafayette Subdivision
The Sunset Route is a main line of the Union Pacific Railroad running between Southern California and New Orleans, Louisiana.
The name traces its origins to the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, a Southern Pacific Railway subsidiar ...
, and
Monon Subdivision, Clifton Forge to
Munster
Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...
*CN
Elsdon Subdivision, Munster to
Thornton
*UP
Villa Grove Subdivision, Thornton to 81st Street
*BRC
Kenton Line Subdivision, 81st Street to 74th Street
*Metra
SouthWest Service
The Southwest Service (SWS) is a Metra commuter rail line, running southwest from Union Station in downtown Chicago, Illinois, to Manhattan, Illinois. Metra does not refer to its lines by color, but the timetable accents for the SouthWest Service ...
, 74th Street to Chicago
*NS
Chicago Line, CP 518 to Chicago (Depending on Dispatcher preference, The Cardinal often runs between CP 518 and 21st Street on NS)
The Buckingham Branch trackage is one of the few Class III railroad used in the Amtrak system.
Station stops
Ridership
References
Notes
Further reading
* Mike Schafer, Amtrak's atlas, ''
Trains
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...
'', June 1991
*
*
Amtrak October 2010 report on the ''Cardinal''
External links
*
*
{{Amtrak routes
Amtrak routes
Passenger rail transportation in New York (state)
Passenger rail transportation in New Jersey
Passenger rail transportation in Pennsylvania
Passenger rail transportation in Delaware
Passenger rail transportation in Maryland
Passenger rail transportation in Washington, D.C.
Passenger rail transportation in Virginia
Passenger rail transportation in West Virginia
Passenger rail transportation in Kentucky
Passenger rail transportation in Ohio
Passenger rail transportation in Indiana
Passenger rail transportation in Illinois
Night trains of the United States
Railway services introduced in 1977
Passenger rail transportation in Cincinnati
Long distance Amtrak routes