Amtrak map USA: Understand America's train routes

Understand Amtrak routes and thruway connecting services across the USA. This video explains Amtrak's train routes, how to plan journeys and buy tickets, and where you can and can't go.

0:00 Amtrak maps overview/introduction
0:17 Amtrak map basics
1:24 Amtrak routes on the East Coast
2:26 NYC ⇆ Virginia Amtrak maps
2:45 NYC ⇆ North Carolina Amtrak maps
2:56 Amtrak's website and maps
3:13 Amtrak maps in the Northeast
3:52 Coast to coast on Amtrak (change in Chicago)
4:19 Gaps in the Amtrak route map
5:02 Amtrak's thruway connecting services
5:58 The joys of riding Amtrak
6:25 Amtrak website's various maps
6:57 Amtrak's Track-A-Train feature
7:31 Using Google Maps for Amtrak routes
8:07 Using Amtrak's website to plan thruway connections
8:34 Wrap-up

So where exactly do Amtrak trains go in the United States? This video is an in-depth look at where Amtrak can take you, and how you can use Amtrak and its connecting services to get around America.

To get around America and travel between the cities on this map, sometimes it’s a single ride on one train and sometimes it isn’t. Most importantly, there’s no coast-to-coast service. So if you want to travel from, say, New York to Los Angeles, you’ll have to transfer. Most transfers between the east and the west part of the country are done in Chicago, which is a major Amtrak hub. You can also transfer in New Orleans.

The best way to figure out exactly how to get from place to place on Amtrak is to let them decide. When you buy tickets on the Amtrak website, you just put in your starting and ending points and it will give you whatever options there are. Often there aren’t really as many options as you’d think, assuming you want as few transfers as possible. For example, despite all the Amtrak lines in the northeast, there’s only one direct route between Boston and Chicago, and only two between New York and Chicago.

Speaking of the northeast, this is arguably the best-served area of the United States. Compared to other parts of the country, quite a few shorter and more specialized routes exist here. So you can take the Keystone Service between New York and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; or the Pennsylvanian between New York and Pittsburgh. The Downeaster goes between Boston and Brunswick, Maine. From New York, the Adirondack and Maple Leaf take you to Montreal and Toronto, respectively. So, if you’re traveling around the northeast on Amtrak, you’re fairly well covered.

What if you want to go from Washington DC to Denver? In this case you’ll need two trains, either the Cardinal or the Capitol Limited to Chicago, and then the California Zephyr to Denver.

Now, while there are a lot of major and some not-so-major cities on this map, and thus ways to travel between them on Amtrak, there are obviously some gaps. We already saw how Amtrak doesn’t even enter Wyoming or South Dakota at all, and other states like New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Delaware just barely. And what about major destinations Amtrak *does* go, like Atlanta? Only one route passes through Atlanta, the Crescent. That means there’s no easy way to get between Atlanta and… Chicago, or Florida, or Nashville. New Orleans and Washington DC, those are pretty much your only options from Atlanta. In fact Amtrak doesn’t go anywhere near Nashville. Nor does it go to Phoenix, or Las Vegas, or Boise or Twin Falls, or Augusta Maine. And on and on.

The good news is that Amtrak partners with various transportation services, usually buses, around the country to provide access to many more destinations. This map, which is on the Amtrak website, shows these connecting routes in green. Amtrak calls them Thruway services. This is how you can fill in a lot of the gaps in Amtrak’s main train routes, and get to Las Vegas, or to Phoenix, or Montgomery Alabama, or Sarasota, or Nashville, or way up through Wisconsin and Michigan. This is how you explore more of Oregon and Colorado, and Kentucky and Ohio… and yes, how you can use Amtrak to move around the great state of Wyoming.

See you on the rails!

[TDWanderer]

*Thanks for hopping on the train with me!*

[mplsmark]

One thing I enjoy about Amtrak, is it’s low stress. Most fellow travelers are calm, respectful. None of the rush and wait, standing in line like cattle that is the experience at airports. The amount of space you get in coach let alone the lounge car is fantastic.

[DanCW]

Slightly over a hundred years ago, my great grandfather left New Orleans for New York. Watching this made me realize that he followed the railroads The stories that he didn't own a pair of boots until he got to Memphis and that he had to work in Chicago for six weeks before he left for New York. Your map helped me realize how he walked it.

[megamagamanga]

I love train travel. It is such a unique experience that neither car nor air travel can provide. America is a beautiful country for train travel and I really wish the US would improve its rail system. It's a shame that we do not have a good rail system like in Europe or Asia.

[RichardShelton]

As the son of a Southern Pacific employee, we traveled every summer from Yuma, AZ to Ohio. I loved it!

[raffiart]

I had absolutely no idea my city Chicago is so important in Amtrak network. It’s almost like the heart of the whole thing!

[noodengrthree]

I have completely crossed the USA twice via Amtrak. Waterloo IN to Chicago to LA on the Southwest Chief. Then flew around the world and into NYC and home on the Lake shore Limited. The next year it was home to NYC then around the world and back into the USA in San Francisco and home on the California Zepher. Now planning a trip to Seattle via the Empire Builder with stops along the way out and then home strait thru from Portland. All trips have been memorable. And met awesome fellow travelers.

[sonnyca]

Life is a journey and it’s best made riding a train.

[johnq.public]

In the late 90's, I travelled across the US & Canada on Amtrak & Greyhound. It was rough but one of the best things I've ever did. After watching this, I'm getting itchy feet.

[TopHatJackStudios]

Traveling to a far-flung location by train is one of the few items on my bucket list.

[calcrappie]

Train travel is not for everyone. Much more about the journey than the destination. Interesting people. Great scenery.

[delmarrey]

I’ve only been on one train in my 71 years. In 1984, we loaded our automobile on a flat car and went through the Portage Glacier tunnel to Whittier, Alaska. Hardly a train ride, threw a black hole in the mountain.

[kendufresne]

Can't beat the scenery from the train!

[TrainMike]

Thank heavens Nashville. Las Vegas, and Phoenix are on the new train routes announced by Amtrak. The gap between Jacksonville and New Orleans is closing with the newly announced New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama. Plans are to restore the entire Sunset Limited to fill that gap.

[apara]

I traveled by amtrak my first time December 2019 (NY to Miami), and now I'm hooked. If I'm not in a rush I'll def prefer this over a plane with; the train has hardly any restrictions and is super pleasant because of the views.

Great video. Can't wait until the pandemic is over so I continue my love of amtrak.

[TNMsGraceful]

Sad that Amtrak doesn't run Wyoming anymore. In 1981, I rode the train from Cheyenne to DC. That is a fabulous memory of mine.

[jdhjimbo]

I love train travel, though Amtrak has a long way to go to equal the European trins. The employees were very hospitable and helpful, so I give them an A there. The shorter trains in the NE are quite good, especially I ally the Acela service linking Boston-NY-DC, but in places like Pontiac (Oakland Co, MI) to Chicago, the tracks are rough, and the train a rather dimpke one, with less comfort & no nice meal service. The breakfasts and dinners were quite good, butvthe pre-wrapped lunches (microwaved) were quite poor. On longer routes, you could disembark at a stopping point, and buy To Go food, if it was a stop for 30+ minutes (which I did in ABQ on the Santa Fe Chief, between Chicago and LA.

My favoritexexperience was in 1976, where Amtrak offered an Ameripass ticket ($150) for unlimited travel for 2 weeks (last leg had to leave on the 14th day. I was visiting in Vancouver, BC, so I took a VIA train to Seattle (separate price), purchased the ticket, and continued onto LA, where I visited friends for 1 24-hour period to see them, take a shower and sleep in a real bed. From there I went onto KC, got out and had breakfast, then recorded and went to Chicago. After eating there, I boarded a train for NYC, where I had Long Island friends to stay with for a day or so, and then went onto Miami, FL. I spent 2 nights in a Miami Beach hotel, then boarded a train to Chicago, where I had another friend for a day or two, and onto Mpls, where I was checking out a cutting edge gym (to see if I could replicate it out west), spending 2 nights in a downtown hotel, from where I could walk everywhere. Finally, on the 14th day, I boarded the Empire Builder (coming from Chicago) back to Seattle. Met so many great people on the 2-week sojourn. From Seattle, I rejoined my safely-parked car, and continued on my US travels by car. Simply one of the better travel experiences of my life. I know there are some extended passes now, but cost (even adjusted for I n flatio) do not seem as competitive, andcthere are more restrictions. My first trip to Europe had the Eurail pass, which gave me the same benefits, but for ax2-month period, as opposed to two weeks. Since Europe has much better local transportation than the car-mad US, it was great. Here, once you reach a city, most are not conducive to car-less exploration, so you need to hire one, or have a friend that can take you around. Most of the major train stations (LA, KC, Chicago, DC, NYC, Boston, Mpls) are pretty nice, but smaller cities often have pretty poor ones, and departure and arrival times not c real conducive. Overall, service is pretty good for much of the population centers but certain routes are very convulted, I n clouding the ATL to Chicago one you mentioned. Trains are such a pleasant way to travel and meet people and really see the country - for anyone not on a real time constraint. In 2013, I went to a cousin's wedding in Oxnard, CA by train from Pontiac, MI. Whole trip, including stops and transfers (1 in Chicago, and 1 in LA) was about 48 hours. One night sleeping in the comfortable seats (a sleeper nearly triples tne fare!) was fine, but if I had to do it again, I would have gotten off in KC, MO (10 pm arrival), spent 24 hours there with a hotel or Airbnb accommodation, and recorded the next night at 10 pm, avoiding back to back train seat sleeps. For scenery, the train generally goes thru boring areas at night, so you do not miss the great scenery which is viewed in daylight. The fares are pretty competitively priced, especially with senior discounts. I used to have an Amtrak timetable directory, which I loved to check out potential rotes. The online booking is sometimes not as easy to use in the preliminary stage. Once you go to book, it is easy and tickets are delivered online very fast. Never had a problem. Some stations need upgrading, and for routes like MI to DC, you have to wait for several hours in the crappy Toledo bus/train station to change from bus to train. That is not real pleasant at 11 pm in a ghetto area. I would almost prefer to go to Chicago direct first, and then catch the DC train (Capitol Limited), adding in the extra time and cost to avoid that Toledo dive experience! Especially at connection points, the terminals should be better. No onexwantsxto wait in a stinky place at night! Charleston, SC is one of my favorite cities, but the Amtrak station is poorly located and not very nice, andcthextrain arrivals/departures timed such, that waiting there in North Charleston is unpleasant. I believe in trains, and hope we see increased ridership, and some improvement in some of the stations. Thanks for sharing!

[Rey-Nolds]

Took a train in 2018 from Paris to Nice, France...excellent ride and comfort. Mapping out a trip to the Rock & Roll Hall a Fame from Philly then on to Chicago for a long weekend before returning home. Great video sir.

[johnnyguerra]

This is the video I've been search for. Lots of great info. I'm looking to try some train travel and doing my research. I'm glad I found your channel.

[nelsonfoster]

in 1958 I took the train from Nashville to San Diego. No train service in Nashville for years. Closest AmTrak is 200 miles away. Bummer.