Amtrak Bolsters Summer Schedule

Air travel and drive travel aren’t the only ways to go on vacation this summer.

Citing an increased demand, Amtrak announced today it is bolstering its summer schedule, including the most Acela class trains since the beginning of the pandemic more than two years ago and the restoration of four long-distance trains to daily service.

Amtrak also plans to increase staff as it increases trips.

“Thanks to our dedicated existing employees and newly-hired staff, we are thrilled to expand our scheduled service just in time to meet customers’ rising demand for travel this summer,” Stephen Gardner, CEO at Amtrak, said in a statement. “We are recruiting and training additional employees nationwide to accelerate our recovery from the pandemic and to support service growth. There’s never been a better time to come work at Amtrak.”

Here’s how the expanded summer 2022 schedule breaks down.

The Northeast Regional offers expanded service between Washington, D.C. and Boston with 13 roundtrips per weekday between Washington, D.C. and New York City.

There will be nine roundtrips every Saturday between Washington, D.C. and New York City and 14 roundtrips every Sunday between Washington, D.C. and New York City.

Between Boston and New York, there will be eight roundtrips during the weekdays, eight on Saturdays and nine on Sundays.

Keystone Service offers expanded service between Harrisburg and New York City. There will be 12 roundtrips per weekday between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, 10 roundtrips per weekday between Philadelphia and New York City, including a new early morning departure arriving in New York by 7:15 a.m.

Amtrak’s Hartford Line between New Haven, Conn. and Springfield, Mass. is fully restored with seven roundtrips per weekday.

On the Acela Line, there will be 10 roundtrips per weekday between Washington, D.C. and New York, four roundtrips every Saturday and six on Sundays. Acela will also run nine roundtrips every weekday between Boston and New York, three each Saturday and four on Sundays.

And as far as long-distance service goes, the Auto Train, California Zephyr, Capitol Limited, Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, Lake Shore Limited, Palmetto, Silver Star, Southwest Chief and Texas Eagle will begin daily service starting May 23.