Editing Amtrak (section)

===1970s: The Rainbow Era===
[[File:BN_9762_in_Yakima_Aug_71_NthCstHiRP.jpg|right|thumb|The ''[[North Coast Hiawatha]]'' near [[Yakima, Washington]], in July 1971, an example of early Amtrak "rainbow" [[consist]]s, made up of equipment still painted in the colors of various railroads]]
Amtrak began operations on May 1, 1971.<ref name="winner" /><ref name="last court test" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Stover|1997|p=234}}</ref> Amtrak received no [[rail tracks]] or [[Right-of-way (transportation)|rights-of-way]] at its inception. All of Amtrak's routes were continuations of prior service, although Amtrak pruned about half the passenger rail network.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_rteAAAAIBAJ&pg=2851%2C10220 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=Idaho |agency=Associated Press |last=Cook |first=Louise |title=Many famous trains roll into history |date=May 1, 1971 |page=1 |access-date=May 20, 2020 |archive-date=May 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509213404/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_rteAAAAIBAJ&pg=2851%2C10220 |url-status=live}}</ref> Of the 366 train routes that operated previously, Amtrak continued only 184.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sanders|2006|pp=5–6}}</ref> Several major corridors became freight-only, including the ex-[[New York Central Railroad]]'s [[Water Level Route]] from New York to Ohio and [[Grand Trunk Western Railroad]]'s Chicago to Detroit route. The reduced passenger train schedules created confusion amongst staff. At some stations, Amtrak service was available only late at night or early in the morning, prompting complaints from passengers.<ref>{{Cite news|date=April 28, 1976|title=Daylight hours asked for local train|work=[[Williamson Daily News]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KJlDAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1|access-date=October 2, 2021|archive-date=October 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002165557/https://books.google.com/books?id=KJlDAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1|url-status=live}}</ref> Disputes with freight railroads over track usage caused some services to be rerouted, temporarily cancelled, or replaced with buses.<ref>{{Cite news|date=August 2, 1974|title=Temporarily Halt Rail Service To Repair Penn-Central Tracks|work=[[Times-Union (Warsaw)|Times-Union]]|location=[[Warsaw, Indiana]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AoNHAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3|access-date=October 2, 2021|archive-date=October 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002165555/https://books.google.com/books?id=AoNHAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|agency=Associated Press|date=July 14, 1978|title=Hoosiers fighting over rails|work=The Rochester Sentinel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gS1jAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1|access-date=October 2, 2021|archive-date=October 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002165555/https://books.google.com/books?id=gS1jAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1|url-status=live}}</ref> On the other hand, the creation of the Los Angeles–Seattle ''[[Coast Starlight]]'' from three formerly separate train routes was an immediate success, resulting in an increase to daily service by 1973.<ref>{{cite news |last=Barr |first=Robert A. |date=March 18, 1973 |title=Amtrak's coastal train may run daily in June |page=D12 |work=[[The Seattle Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Barr |first=Robert A. |date=June 14, 1972 |title=Riders filling Amtrak's Seattle-San Diego trains |page=H4 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref>

Needing to operate only half the train routes that had operated previously, Amtrak would lease around 1,200 of the best passenger cars from the 3,000 that the private railroads owned. All were air-conditioned, and 90% were easy-to-maintain stainless steel.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.amtrak.com/archives/weve-rejected-2-out-of-every-3-cars-advertisement-1971 |title="We've Rejected 2 Out Of Every 3 Cars" advertisement, 1971 |date=June 11, 2013 |website=Amtrak |access-date=April 21, 2018 |archive-date=September 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910014704/https://history.amtrak.com/archives/weve-rejected-2-out-of-every-3-cars-advertisement-1971 |url-status=live}}</ref> When Amtrak took over, passenger cars and locomotives initially retained the paint schemes and logos of their former owners which resulted in Amtrak running trains with mismatched colors – the "Rainbow Era".<ref>{{cite news |date=September 27, 2017 |title=Amtrak interiors through the years |url=https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/travel/2017/09/27/amtrak-interiors-through-the-years/106053536/ |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |access-date=March 21, 2018 |archive-date=March 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322081956/https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/travel/2017/09/27/amtrak-interiors-through-the-years/106053536/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In mid-1971, Amtrak began purchasing some of the equipment it had leased, including 286 [[Electro-Motive Division|EMD]] E and F unit diesel locomotives, 30 [[PRR GG1|GG1]] electric locomotives and 1,290 passenger cars. By 1975, the official Amtrak color scheme was painted on most Amtrak equipment and newly purchased locomotives and the rolling stock began appearing.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://ctr.trains.com/railroad-reference/operations/2001/06/amtraks-beginnings |first=John |last=Kelly |title=Amtrak's beginnings |journal=Classic Trains Magazine |date=June 5, 2001 |access-date=December 29, 2010 |archive-date=October 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015103725/http://ctr.trains.com/railroad-reference/operations/2001/06/amtraks-beginnings |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Amtrak pointless arrow logo at Oakland–Jack London Square station, September 2015.jpg|thumb|left|Classic Amtrak logo displayed at the [[Oakland – Jack London Square station]], California]]

Amtrak inherited problems with train stations (most notably [[deferred maintenance]]) and redundant facilities from the competing railroads that once served the same communities. Chicago is a prime example; on the day prior to Amtrak's inception, intercity passenger trains used four different Chicago terminals: [[LaSalle Street Station|LaSalle]], [[Dearborn Station|Dearborn]], [[Ogilvie Transportation Center|North Western Station]], [[Central Station (Chicago terminal)|Central]], and Union. The trains at LaSalle remained there, as their operator [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad|Rock Island]] could not afford to opt into Amtrak. Of all the trains serving Dearborn Station, Amtrak retained only a pair of Santa Fe trains, which relocated to [[Chicago Union Station|Union Station]] beginning with the first Amtrak departures on May 1, 1971. Dearborn Station closed after the last pre-Amtrak trains on the Santa Fe arrived in Chicago on May 2. None of the intercity trains that had served North Western Station became part of the Amtrak system, and that terminal became commuter-only after May 1. The trains serving Central Station continued to use that station until an alternate routing was adopted in March 1972. In [[New York City]], Amtrak had to maintain two stations ([[Pennsylvania Station (New York City)|Penn]] and [[Grand Central Terminal|Grand Central]]) due to the lack of track connections to bring trains from upstate New York into Penn Station; a problem that was rectified once the [[Empire Connection]] was built in 1991.<ref>{{cite web |title=Digging into the Archives: The West Side Connection |url=https://history.amtrak.com/blogs/blog/making-connections |website=Amtrak History |publisher=Amtrak |date=April 3, 2013 |access-date=June 25, 2018 |archive-date=June 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625214006/https://history.amtrak.com/blogs/blog/making-connections |url-status=live}}</ref> The Amtrak Standard Stations Program was launched in 1978 and proposed to build a standardized station design across the system with an aim to reduce costs, speed construction, and improve its corporate image.<ref name="amtrakhistory">"{{cite web |date=March 4, 2013 |title=The Amtrak Standard Stations Program |url=https://history.amtrak.com/blogs/blog/creating-a-visual-identity-the-amtrak-standard-stations-program |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321014720/http://history.amtrak.com/blogs/blog/creating-a-visual-identity-the-amtrak-standard-stations-program |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 21, 2013 |access-date=July 27, 2019 |publisher=Amtrak }}</ref><ref name="executivesummary">{{cite book |title=Standard Stations Program Executive Summary |date=1978 |publisher=National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Office of the Chief Engineer)}}</ref> However, the cash-strapped railroad would ultimately build relatively few of these standard stations.<ref name="heartland2">{{harvnb|Sanders|2006|p=270}}</ref>

[[File:Amtrak 621 with the San Francisco Zephyr over the Truckee River in Verdi, Nevada, February 1975.jpg|thumb|right|An Amtrak [[EMD SDP40F]] with the ''[[San Francisco Zephyr]]'' in 1975. By the mid-1970s, Amtrak equipment was acquiring its own identity.]]

Amtrak soon had the opportunity to acquire rights-of-way. Following the bankruptcy of several northeastern railroads in the early 1970s, including Penn Central, which owned and operated the Northeast Corridor (NEC), Congress passed the [[Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act]] of 1976.<ref>[[Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act]], {{USPL|94|210}}, {{USStat|90|31}}, {{USC|45|801}}. February 5, 1976.</ref> A large part of the legislation was directed to the creation of [[Conrail]], but the law also enabled the transfer of the portions of the NEC not already owned by state authorities to Amtrak. Amtrak acquired the majority of the NEC on April 1, 1976.<ref>{{cite web |website=U.S. Federal Railroad Administration |url=http://www.fra.dot.gov/rpd/passenger/643.shtml |title=Northeast Corridor Main Line |access-date=November 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111202082510/http://www.fra.dot.gov/rpd/passenger/643.shtml |archive-date=December 2, 2011}}</ref> (The portion in Massachusetts is owned by the Commonwealth and managed by Amtrak. The route from New Haven to New Rochelle is owned by New York's [[Metropolitan Transportation Authority]] and the [[Connecticut Department of Transportation]] as the [[New Haven Line]].)<ref>{{cite web|last=Frisman|first=Paul|date=November 13, 2014|title=Questions About Metro North Railroad And Commuter Rail|url=https://www.cga.ct.gov/2014/rpt/pdf/2014-R-0204.pdf|url-status=live|website=Connecticut General Assembly - Office of Legislative Research|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818022707/https://www.cga.ct.gov/2014/rpt/pdf/2014-R-0204.pdf}}</ref> This mainline became Amtrak's "jewel" asset, and helped the railroad generate revenue. While the NEC ridership and revenues were higher than any other segment of the system, the cost of operating and maintaining the corridor proved to be overwhelming. As a result, Amtrak's federal subsidy was increased dramatically. In subsequent years, other short route segments not needed for freight operations were transferred to Amtrak.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

In its first decade, Amtrak fell far short of financial independence, which continues today, but it did find modest success rebuilding trade. Outside factors discouraged competing transport, such as fuel shortages which increased costs of automobile and airline travel, and strikes which disrupted airline operations. Investments in Amtrak's track, equipment and information also made Amtrak more relevant to America's transportation needs.<ref>{{cite news |first=William H. |last=Jones |title=Americans Rediscover The Train; Trains are rediscovered |newspaper=Washington Post |page=D8 |date=May 12, 1979}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=John |last=Yemma |title=Years Later, Amtrak is Keeping Riders Won in Gas Pinch |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0721/072139.html |work=Christian Science Monitor |page=4 |date=July 21, 1980 |access-date=June 12, 2008 |archive-date=September 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903044628/http://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0721/072139.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Amtrak's ridership increased from 16.6&nbsp;million in 1972 to 21&nbsp;million in 1981.<ref name="NiceD" />

In February 1978, Amtrak moved its headquarters to 400 North Capitol Street NW, Washington D.C.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.amtrak.com/archives/amtraks-first-headquarters |title=The second Amtrak corporate headquarters. — Amtrak: History of America's Railroad |publisher=History.amtrak.com |date=April 13, 2011 |access-date=June 27, 2022 |archive-date=October 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003145835/https://history.amtrak.com/archives/amtraks-first-headquarters |url-status=dead }}</ref>