Foreword
Thirty years ago, train travel in America had fallen on hard times. Ridership had been declining since the 1920s, mostly because of competition from automobiles and airlines. Private industry had all but abandoned rail passenger service, finding it more lucrative to move freight than people.Reluctant to see the trains die out completely, Congress passed the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1971, creating the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, more familiarly known as Amtrak. The Act allowed Amtrak to take over the routes and passenger cars of dozens of railroad companies glad to be relieved of the unprofitable service.Amtrak today carries about…
