NRPC Form 90 is the “Application for Rail Travel Privilege Card and Change Request” that retired railroad employees, their spouses, and eligible dependents use to obtain an Amtrak pass for free or reduced-fare intercity travel. You do not download it from Amtrak. You request the blank form from your former railroad, fill it out, and return it to that same railroad, which certifies your employment history and forwards the application to Amtrak for processing.1SMART Union. Amtrak Passes
Where to Get the Blank Form
Contact the human resources or retiree services office at the railroad where you last worked and ask for NRPC Form 90. BNSF retirees, for example, can call 817-352-4983 to have an application mailed out.2SMART Union. Amtrak Pass Information
If your original employer no longer exists as a standalone company (Penn Central, Santa Fe, and Burlington Northern are common examples), contact the successor railroad that absorbed its operations. That successor holds the personnel records and is the entity that will certify your form.
Information You’ll Need to Complete It
The form is short, but a few fields trip people up if they don’t have the numbers on hand before they start. Based on the current revision (NRPC 90, dated 08/07), plan to provide:
- Your full legal name and current mailing address, exactly as they should appear on the privilege card.
- Your Social Security number.
- Your Railroad Retirement Board number. If you can’t find it, call the RRB at 1-877-772-5772 before you start filling in the form.
- The name of your home railroad. List the specific entity you actually worked for — the predecessor line, not the modern successor. The name you enter determines which benefit tier applies to your card.
- The exact start and end dates of your railroad employment.
- Full name, date of birth, and relationship for each spouse or dependent child you want covered.
- Your signature certifying that the information is accurate.
Keep a photocopy of the completed form before you send it. If Amtrak’s records don’t match what you wrote, having your own copy makes it much easier to sort out.
Who Signs It and Where It Goes
After you complete your portion, a certification officer at your home railroad signs the form to confirm your employment details. That signature is the whole reason the form routes through the railroad rather than going straight to Amtrak.
Return the completed application to your home railroad, not to Amtrak. The railroad verifies your employment data, signs off, and forwards the packet to Amtrak for final review.1SMART Union. Amtrak Passes Mailing it directly to Amtrak’s Travel Service Office will likely get it sent back to you, because Amtrak won’t process an uncertified application.
Processing Time
Once Amtrak has the certified application, expect roughly four to six weeks for review and card issuance.2SMART Union. Amtrak Pass Information If something on the form doesn’t line up with Amtrak’s records, you’ll receive a notice describing what needs to be corrected.
For questions while your application is pending, start with your home railroad. For general questions about the pass system itself, call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245) or the dedicated pass line at 1-800-424-0224.
When to File a New Form 90
Active employees hold pink Rail Travel Privilege Cards that don’t expire during their careers. When you retire, submit a fresh Form 90, because your status and benefit level change at retirement.2SMART Union. Amtrak Pass Information Use the form again to add or remove a dependent, correct a name or address, or replace a lost or stolen card. In each case, the form still routes through your home railroad first.
Who Is Eligible to Apply
Before you request the form, make sure you actually qualify. Under federal law, Amtrak must honor travel privileges that rail carrier employees held as of April 30, 1971, on a space-available basis.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 24307 – Liability and Employee Protective Arrangements Eligible applicants include active full-time rail employees (including those on furlough), retirees of a rail carrier or terminal company, and their dependents.
Each carrier sets its own specific eligibility rules, so the details depend on which railroad you worked for and when you were hired.1SMART Union. Amtrak Passes Union membership by itself does not qualify anyone. If you resigned or were terminated rather than retired, neither you nor a surviving spouse can receive a privilege card.4Union Pacific. Amtrak Pass Eligibility
Spouses and Dependents
A spouse generally receives the same or similar privileges as the retiree, though some tiers cap the spouse’s free home-road trips at 12 per year.5Union Pacific. Amtrak Passes A surviving spouse can qualify only if the deceased employee was hired on or before May 1, 1952, and eligibility ends permanently if the surviving spouse remarries.4Union Pacific. Amtrak Pass Eligibility
Dependents must be the applicant’s natural, legally adopted, or stepchild, and must qualify as a dependent under IRS rules. Pass privileges end at age 18, or at age 26 if the child is enrolled full-time in college with at least 12 credits.4Union Pacific. Amtrak Pass Eligibility
What the Card Provides
The benefits printed on your card depend on your hire date and years of service with your home road. Union Pacific’s published schedule is a useful reference for how most predecessor railroads structure the tiers:
- Hired on or before May 1, 1952, with 19 or more years of continuous service by April 30, 1971: unlimited free travel on the home road, 50 percent off on the rest of the Amtrak system, and 50 percent off sleeping accommodations. Spouse receives the same.
- Hired between May 1, 1951, and April 30, 1962, with 9 or more years of continuous service by April 30, 1971: unlimited free travel on the home road and 50 percent off elsewhere and on sleepers. Spouse receives the same, except home-road travel is capped at 12 free round trips per year, then 50 percent off.
- Hired between May 1, 1962, and April 30, 1971, with fewer than 9 years of service: 12 free round trips per year on the home road and 50 percent off on the rest of the system and sleeping accommodations. Spouse receives unlimited system-wide half-fare travel and sleepers.
These tiers come from Union Pacific.5Union Pacific. Amtrak Passes Your railroad may define its tiers slightly differently, so confirm the exact privileges with your home road before you file Form 90. All pass travel is on a space-available basis, meaning the card gets you the fare treatment but never guarantees a seat on a sold-out train.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 24307 – Liability and Employee Protective Arrangements