Amtrak began operations on May 1, 1971, inheriting various trains from the private railroads. Initially, the railroads' train numbers were retained. On July 12, 1971, some schedule adjustments were made. And on November 14, 1971, Amtrak adopted its own train numbers.
Routes are listed in numerical order of train number series.
Links are to zoomable Google Maps, which clarify some of the more interesting routings adopted by Amtrak, mostly in smaller cities.
Passenger Train Routes In Major Cities
In many of the largest cities, Amtrak continues to use routings within the cities which had been used by the private predecessor railroads.
Consolidating Amtrak Into Chicago Union Station
Amtrak adopted Chicago Union Station as its main hub outside the Northeast Corridor. And several Amtrak service changes required some interesting routings, in a city which historically had six separate terminal stations for intercity passenger trains.
140's - Bay State
5/17/71 - some New York to Springfield service extended from Springfield to Boston via Penn Central (former New York Central).
3/1/75 - discontinued.
10/20/84 - restored.
11/1/2004 - discontinued.
200's - Empire Service
5/1/71 - inherited from Penn Central (former New York Central) between New York and Buffalo.
10/29/78 - some service extended from Buffalo to Niagara Falls.
4/7/91 - rerouted to serve Pennsylvania Station in New York, instead of Grand Central Terminal.
270's - Cape Codder
7/3/86 - seasonal service introduced between New York and Hyannis, via Conrail (former New Haven) between Attleboro and Hyannis.
9/29/96 - discontinued.
290's - Ethan Allen Express
12/2/96 - introduced between New York and Rutland, via former Delaware & Hudson between Schenectady and Rutland via Whitehall.
300's - Lincoln Service
5/1/71 - inherited from Gulf Mobile & Ohio between Chicago and St. Louis.
311/312 - Prairie Marksman
12/31/78 - Peoria Rocket, having been independently operated by Rock Island between Chicago and Peoria, discontinued.
8/10/80 - Prairie Marksman introduced by Amtrak between Chicago and Peoria, using former Gulf Mobile & Ohio between Chicago and Chenoa IL, and Toledo Peoria & Western between Chenoa and Peoria. A connecting track existed at the northwest quadrant of the crossing at Chenoa.
10/5/81 - discontinued.
310's - Missouri River Runner
5/1/71 - inherited from Missouri Pacific between St. Louis and Kansas City. Under Amtrak, the one daily train operated was actually an extension of the National Limited, between New York and St. Louis.
10/1/79 - National Limited discontinued between New York and St. Louis, service retained between St. Louis and Kansas City.
317/318 - Hoosier State
10/1/80 - introduced between Chicago and Indianapolis, primarily using former Monon route, and using former New York Central Peoria & Eastern line between Crawfordsville and Indianapolis. Instead of using Chicago & Western Indiana route through Hammond, train would use Conrail former Pennsylvania route between Chicago and Munster, IN. (See Chicago Union Station link above) A connecting track existed at the northeast quadrant of the crossing at Crawfordsville. West of Indianapolis, due to abandonment of a portion of the Peoria & Eastern line, train used a former Pennsylvania Railroad routing between Clermont and Indianapolis.
4/27/86 - Cardinal changed to operate over this route, and combined with Hoosier State during various times of operation.
6/30/93 - rerouted between Chicago and Munster primarily via former Chicago & Western Indiana and Chicago & Eastern Illinois through Dolton, and former Grand Trunk Western between Thornton Jct. and Munster. (See Chicago Union Station link above).
7/22/94 - railroad and station relocated in Lafayette, eliminating street running on Fifth Street.
320's - Chicago-Valparaiso
10/29/79 - in an allegedly political move, commuter service inherited from Conrail between Chicago and Valparaiso, lacking local public funding. This a deviation from the original intention, that Amtrak would only be responsible for intercity service.
5/6/91 - discontinued.
330's - Hiawatha Service
5/1/71 - inherited from Milwaukee Road between Chicago and Milwaukee.
342/343 - Lake Country Limited
4/15/2000 - introduced between Chicago and Janesville via former Milwaukee Road.
9/22/2001 - discontinued.
350's - Wolverine Service
5/1/71 - inherited from Penn Central (former New York Central) between Chicago and Detroit.
8/3/80 - some service extended from Detroit to Toledo via former New York Central.
1982 - route through Battle Creek shifted to Grand Trunk Western, allowing abandonment of former New York Central line and elimination of numerous street crossings.
1/6/88 - Michigan Central Station in Detroit closes, replaced with temporary station nearby.
5/5/94 - new station in Detroit opens along Grand Trunk Western Mount Clemens Subdivision, some service extended via Grand Trunk Western Holly Subdivision beyond to Pontiac.
4/2/95 - service discontinued between Detroit and Toledo.
364/365 - Blue Water
9/15/74 - introduced between Chicago and Port Huron, via Grand Trunk Western between Battle Creek and Port Huron. Initially, trains would switch to and from former New York Central at Nichols Tower, east of Battle Creek.
1982 - route through Battle Creek shifted to Grand Trunk Western, allowing abandonment of former New York Central line and elimination of numerous street crossings.
10/31/82 - Blue Water replaced with International, extended from Port Huron to Toronto and operated by Via Rail Canada east of Port Huron.
4/25/2004 - International replaced with Blue Water, again terminating in Port Huron.
370/371 - Black Hawk
2/14/74 - introduced between Chicago and Dubuque via Illinois Central (See Chicago Union Station link above).
10/1/81 - discontinued.
370/371 - Pere Marquette
8/5/84 - introduced between Chicago and Grand Rapids, via Conrail between Chicago and Porter, and via CSX (former Chesapeake & Ohio/Pere Marquette) between Porter and Grand Rapids. (See Chicago Union Station link above). The Pere Marquette line actually is south of the Amtrak former Michigan Central line, as those lines diverge northeast from the New York Central line at Porter. But east of New Buffalo, the Pere Marquette line passes over the Amtrak line on a bridge.
380's - Chicago-Quincy
11/4/71 - introduced between Chicago and Quincy via Burlington Northern.
390's - Chicago-Carbondale
5/1/71 - inherited from Illinois Central between Chicago and Carbondale.
3/6/72 - diverted in Chicago from Central Station to Union Station (See Chicago Union Station link above).
7/2/81 - one daily train between Chicago and Champaign extended to Decatur, via Norfolk & Western (former Wabash) between Tolono and Decatur. A connecting track existed at the northwest quadrant of the crossing at Tolono.
7/10/83 - service to Decatur discontinued.
400's - New Haven-Springfield
5/1/71 - inherited from Penn Central (former New Haven) between New Haven and Springfield.
500's - Cascades
5/1/71 - inherited from Burlington Northern between Seattle and Portland.
7/17/72 - service introduced between Seattle and Vancouver BC via Burlington Northern (former Great Northern)
8/3/80 - service introduced between Portland and Eugene.
9/30/81 - service discontinued between Seattle and Vancouver BC.
12/31/81 - service discontinued between Portland and Eugene.
10/30/94 - service restored between Portland and Eugene.
5/26/95 - service restored between Seattle and Vancouver BC.
520's - Capitol Corridor
12/12/91 - introduced between Sacramento and San Jose via Oakland, via Southern Pacific.
560's - Pacific Surfliner
5/1/71 - inherited from Santa Fe between Los Angeles and San Diego.
6/26/88 - some service extended from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara via Southern Pacific.
10/29/95 - some service extended from Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo via Southern Pacific.
600's - Keystone Service
5/1/71 - inherited from Penn Central (former Pennsylvania) between Philadelphia and Harrisburg.
680's - Downeaster
12/15/2001 - introduced between Boston and Portland via Boston & Maine.
700's - San Joaquin
3/6/74 - introduced between Oakland and Bakersfield, via Southern Pacific between Oakland and Port Chicago, and via Santa Fe between Port Chicago and Bakersfield.
2/21/99 - some service extended from Stockton to Sacramento via Southern Pacific.
760's - Arrowhead
4/15/75 - introduced between Minneapolis and Superior via Burlington Northern (former Great Northern)
2/15/77 - extended from Superior to Duluth.
3/1/78 - Midway Station in St. Paul replaces Great Northern station in downtown Minneapolis. Station is along Minnesota Commercial Railway, which connects with the Milwaukee Road to the south and with the Burlington Northern to the north.
4/30/78 - combined with Twin Cities Hiawatha forming a through train between Chicago and Duluth, renamed the North Star.
10/25/81 - North Star discontinued between Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
4/7/85 - discontinued.
791/792 - Expo '74
1974 - operated between Spokane and Seattle via Burlington Northern (former Great Northern), for World's Fair.