The Amtrak 2035 plan, officially called Amtrak Connects US, is a 15-year vision unveiled in the spring of 2021 to add 39 new intercity routes, enhance 25 existing ones, and reach more than 160 additional communities by 2035. Amtrak estimates it would draw 20 million new passengers a year and generate $8 billion in annual economic benefits, at a cost of roughly $75 billion in federal investment.1Amtrak Media. Amtrak Seeks To Bring More Rail Service To More Communities Four years in, a few routes have launched and major Northeast Corridor construction is underway, but most of the map remains conditional on funding that runs out in September 2026.
What the Plan Proposes
The Connects US vision, sometimes called the Corridor Vision, would bring new corridor service to 16 states and expand it in 20 others, ultimately reaching 47 of the 48 contiguous states and all 50 of the largest metropolitan areas.2Amtrak Connects US. Amtrak Corridor Vision Cities targeted for new intercity service include Las Vegas, Nashville, Columbus, Phoenix, and Wichita. Underserved cities like Houston, Atlanta, and Cincinnati would see significant additions.1Amtrak Media. Amtrak Seeks To Bring More Rail Service To More Communities
Fully implemented, the plan would increase state-supported corridor ridership by 120% over fiscal year 2019 levels.3Amtrak Connects US. Amtrak Corridor Vision Most new service would run on existing freight-owned track rather than newly built lines, which Amtrak calls the most cost-effective approach. The plan asks Congress to strengthen Amtrak’s legal right to access freight lines and to create a dedicated intercity passenger rail trust fund.4Amtrak Connects US. Amtrak Connects US Vision Neither has happened.
What Has Actually Launched
Two new services from the vision are now carrying passengers.
The Mardi Gras Service on the Gulf Coast
Passenger rail returned to the Gulf Coast between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, on August 18, 2025. The Amtrak Mardi Gras Service runs twice daily with stops in Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula.5Amtrak Media. Book Now for Amtrak Mardi Gras Service The launch followed years of contentious negotiations with freight owners CSX and Norfolk Southern, including a Surface Transportation Board mediation that ended without a deal in 2022 before agreements were eventually reached.6Governing. The Elusive Deal To Restore Amtrak Service on the Gulf Coast
Early numbers ran ahead of projections. In its first five and a half months the service carried 70,400 riders and generated $2.4 million in ticket sales, with 88% on-time performance and a 94.1% customer satisfaction score. The Southern Rail Commission has secured funding for the first three years of operation.7AL.com. Amtrak Mardi Gras Train Becomes a Gulf Coast Hit
The Borealis Between the Twin Cities and Chicago
The Amtrak Borealis launched on May 21, 2024, adding a second daily train between St. Paul, Minnesota, and Chicago via Milwaukee along a 411-mile corridor.8HNTB. TCMC Intercity Passenger Rail It’s a partnership among Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois with host railroad CPKC, funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.9Amtrak Media. Introducing Amtrak Borealis Trains
New Trainsets
Fleet replacement is running alongside the expansion. Amtrak ordered 83 Siemens-built trainsets, branded Amtrak Airo, capable of 125 mph and designed to replace aging equipment on more than a dozen routes including the Northeast Regional, Empire Service, Keystone Service, and Cascades.10Siemens Mobility. Amtrak Airo Production Stimulates Nationwide Economy The first Cascades Airo trainset completed testing in Pueblo, Colorado, in October 2025, and all eight Cascades sets are expected out of manufacturing in 2026.11Amtrak Media. Meet the New Airo Fleet The first Northeast Regional Airo trainset finished manufacturing in May 2026 and headed to Pueblo for testing, with revenue service on the Northeast Regional targeted for 2027.12Amtrak Media. First Northeast Regional Airo Trainset Completes Manufacturing The second-generation NextGen Acela trainsets entered service in 2025.13APTA. Senators Letter on Passenger Rail Investment
The Pipeline of Routes Still to Come
Most of the 2035 map isn’t operating yet, but a lot of it is now formally in the federal pipeline. In December 2023, the Federal Railroad Administration announced that 69 corridors across 44 states had been accepted into its Corridor Identification and Development Program: 15 upgrades to existing routes, 47 new routes, and 7 high-speed rail projects. Selections included high-speed rail between Dallas and Houston, Atlanta to Nashville and to Savannah, a Front Range route from Fort Collins to Pueblo, Phoenix to Tucson, Baton Rouge to New Orleans, and expanded connections in Florida linking Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Miami.14Railway Age. FRA Announces Fed-State National Program Corridor ID Selections
Amtrak also received specific grants to run the Cardinal and Sunset Limited as daily rather than tri-weekly services, extend the Northeast Regional to Long Island, and study a Texas High-Speed Rail Corridor.15Amtrak Media. Amtrak and Partners Receive Federal Grants To Improve and Expand Passenger Rail Amtrak has been clear that it cannot project specific timelines for many of these routes, because they depend on state partner funding, host railroad agreements, and federal grant decisions.16Amtrak. Amtrak Service and Asset Line Plans FY24-29
The Northeast Corridor Piece
Connects US has a companion plan for the Northeast Corridor, the busiest passenger rail line in the country. The Northeast Corridor Commission released CONNECT NEC 2035 in July 2021 with a $117 billion, 15-year price tag.17SME Mining Engineering. Northeast Corridor Commission Releases $117 Billion Plan An updated version, CONNECT NEC 2037, was released in November 2023 with a revised cost of $135 billion in 2023 dollars ($175 billion in year-of-expenditure terms) and a funding gap of about $100 billion.18NEC Commission. CONNECT NEC 2037 Executive Summary C37 sets a 2040 goal of an average two-hour-30-minute Acela trip between New York and Washington and three hours 15 minutes between Boston and New York. It also acknowledged that projected trip-time savings were lower than C35 had estimated, reflecting more realistic workforce and cost assumptions.19NEC Commission. CONNECT NEC 2037 Full Report
The Hudson Tunnel
The single most critical piece of NEC work is the Gateway Program, a $40 billion portfolio of upgrades between Newark and New York anchored by the $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project. That project will build a new two-tube tunnel under the Hudson and rehabilitate the existing North River Tunnel, which dates to 1910 and was severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.20Amtrak OIG. Hudson Tunnel Project Audit21NJ Spotlight News. Amtrak Audit Describes Notable Progress in Gateway Tunnel Project22Gateway Program. Gateway Program President Trump has threatened to terminate federal funding for the project.
Other major corridor projects are in motion: the Portal North Bridge replacement in New Jersey was 33% complete as of Amtrak’s FY24–29 planning documents, the Frederick Douglass Tunnel Program in Baltimore launched early construction in 2023 and 2024 after receiving over $4 billion in federal funding, and Philadelphia’s William H. Gray III 30th Street Station renovation is expected to be finished by the end of 2027.16Amtrak. Amtrak Service and Asset Line Plans FY24-29
The Freight Railroad Problem
Because Amtrak runs most of its trains over track owned by freight railroads, host-railroad performance sets a ceiling on what the expansion can deliver. Federal law requires freight railroads to give Amtrak trains preference, but enforcement has been weak. In 2024, freight trains caused more than 850,000 minutes of delay to Amtrak passengers, and all 14 long-distance routes failed to meet the federal on-time performance standard of 80%. The worst performer, the Southwest Chief, was on time just 33% of the time.23Amtrak. Amtrak 2024 Host Railroad Report Card
Amtrak filed its first-ever request for a Surface Transportation Board investigation in December 2022, targeting Sunset Limited delays on Union Pacific track. The STB opened the investigation in July 2023, with discovery running into 2024 and briefing scheduled into early 2025.24Surface Transportation Board. STB Investigation – Amtrak Sunset Limited The Department of Justice, the only entity authorized to enforce Amtrak’s statutory preference in court, had brought just two enforcement actions in Amtrak’s entire history as of 2024.23Amtrak. Amtrak 2024 Host Railroad Report Card
The 2026 Funding Cliff
The most immediate threat to the 2035 vision is money. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided $66 billion for Amtrak and rail grant programs over five years through FY 2026, including $22 billion for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and National Network, $36 billion for the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail, and $5 billion for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program.13APTA. Senators Letter on Passenger Rail Investment Those authorizations and advance appropriations expire on September 30, 2026, creating what advocates call an “investment cliff.” Rail lacks a dedicated trust fund like the one that supports highways, so future spending depends on annual appropriations that could shrink sharply.25Congressional Research Service. Rail Program Reauthorization
The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget, released in April 2026, would cut Amtrak’s total discretionary funding to $2.1 billion, a 13.5% reduction from FY 2026. Once the expiration of IIJA advance appropriations is factored in, the effective drop is far larger: National Network funding would fall from $4.8 billion to $1.45 billion, NEC funding from $2.0 billion to $600 million, high-speed rail grants would be zeroed out, and the Federal-State Partnership program would drop from $3.8 billion to $1.4 billion.26Rail Passengers Association. Rail Passengers Oppose White House Call To Cut Rail and Transit Funding The American Public Transportation Association estimated that passenger rail funding would be cut by 82% under the proposal.27Smart Cities Dive. Trump Budget FY2027 Transit Rail Cuts
In February 2026, a coalition of 15 U.S. senators urged the Senate to include advance appropriations for Amtrak and passenger rail from FY 2027 through at least FY 2031 in upcoming surface transportation reauthorization legislation.13APTA. Senators Letter on Passenger Rail Investment In the House, the BUILD America 250 Act has been introduced as a possible reauthorization vehicle that would continue some rail programs through annual appropriations while eliminating others.28Bipartisan Policy Center. How IIJA’s Funding Structure Complicates Surface Transportation Reauthorization
At a June 2023 House rail subcommittee hearing, chairman Troy Nehls said Amtrak should focus on improving existing money-losing routes rather than expanding and increasing taxpayer costs, and other Republicans argued that Amtrak should be barred from competing for certain grant programs. Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner acknowledged at the same hearing that the railroad faces four implementation challenges: building a workforce pipeline, securing domestic supply chains, coordinating construction with ongoing service, and locking in state and federal funding partnerships.29Eno Center for Transportation. House Rail Subcommittee Looks at Amtrak Service
Where Ridership Stands
The direction of travel is up. Amtrak served 34.5 million passengers in fiscal year 2025, an all-time record for the second consecutive year, and network capacity grew 4.3% during the year.30Passenger Train Journal. Amtrak Posts Record Ridership in 2025 That still falls short of Amtrak’s FY 2028 goal of 37 million and the longer-term target of doubling ridership to 66 million by 2040.16Amtrak. Amtrak Service and Asset Line Plans FY24-29
Amtrak’s own near-term plan for fiscal years 2024 through 2029 calls for more than $50.4 billion in investment, with major priorities in state-of-good-repair work, station renovations in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C., and a target of reaching break-even on train operations by FY 2028.16Amtrak. Amtrak Service and Asset Line Plans FY24-29 Whether that plan holds, and how much of the 2035 map ever gets built beyond it, will be decided in the reauthorization fight now underway in Congress.