Measuring the Benefits of Intercity Passenger Rail: A Study

took place almost immediately after Amtrak began operations, with the Lake Shore (New York-
Buffalo-Cleveland-Chicago) commencing service on May 10, 1971, after the states of New York
and Ohio agreed to subsidize the route’s operations. Other 403(b) service that was added in
Amtrak’s first year of operations included a route from New Haven to Springfield supported by
Massachusetts and the Illinois Zephyr, a route from Chicago to Quincy supported by Illinois
(14). By 1981 (the first decade of Amtrak’s existence), the number of routes with passenger rail
service fully supported or partially supported (i.e., additional frequencies over existing corridors)
through the provisions of Section 403(b) had increased to 17 (15). While these routes are
sometimes still referred to as “403(b) routes,” the 1997 Amtrak reform legislation repealed the
original RPSA language that defined the sharing of costs between Amtrak and the states and
provided Amtrak with the flexibility to negotiate these cost-sharing agreements as it wished.
Amtrak’s current policy is to charge all states for 100 percent of the direct operating costs of
state-supported trains that are not covered by passenger revenues. This policy has been adopted
to ensure equity among state contracts (11). Section 209 of PRIIA required Amtrak, in
consultation with its stakeholders, to develop a “nationwide standardized methodology for
establishing and allocating the operating and capital costs among the States and Amtrak” for
Amtrak’s state-supported routes (2).
Current Status of State-Supported Rail Services
At the end of FFY 2009, 14 states contracted with Amtrak to operate 19 intercity
passenger rail routes (11). Table 2-2 lists these routes and states, along with route length, service
frequency, and FFY 2009 service data. Total ridership on state-supported routes in FFY 2009
was 10,277,003 passengers, or about 38 percent of the total Amtrak ridership over that time
period. Total ticket revenue on state-supported routes exceeded $224 million in FFY 2009,
accounting for 14 percent of the total ticket revenue system-wide (13). In October 2009, new
state-supported passenger rail service was established through a partnership between Amtrak and
the Commonwealth of Virginia, providing new service extending Northeast Regional service to
Lynchburg and a fifth daily round-trip between Washington, D.C. and Richmond (5). Table 2-2
does not include the recently-established Virginia-supported services. Amtrak also expects to
add a state-supported third daily round-trip between Raleigh and Charlotte (North Carolina) in
early 2010 (5).
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