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Crossing America’s vast distances by train provides a unique perspective on many of the country’s natural and urban highlights — and with major rail investment in the pipeline, the experience is only likely to get better.
Published December 8, 2023
15 min read
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
In the US, embarking on a train trip means taking the track less travelled. Once the symbol of technological advancement and westward expansion, the country’s railroads have had a hard time moving into the modern era. But when you ride the rails in the US, you’re afforded the opportunity to peel back the layers of this land and experience it on a human scale.
From the train windows, passengers bear witness to the epic diversity of landscapes that have shaped the country’s history and people — the snowy Sierra Nevadas, the Rocky Mountains, the rugged West Coast cliffs that plunge into the blue Pacific, the placid swamps of Florida and Texas and the oceans of prairie grass in the Midwest. Watching that scenery roll by is a highlight, but taking the train in the US is also about opening a backdoor to parts of the country rarely seen by travellers, from underappreciated small towns to the industrial underbelly.
Many Americans have never taken a cross-country train on home soil. Amtrak, the country’s only long-distance passenger train operator, is barely more than 50 years old, founded as a quasi-public company in 1971 — but US train travel can feel like a journey much further back in time. The long-distance lines have wonderfully evocative names, such as ‘Coast Starlight’ (Seattle to Los Angeles), ‘California Zephyr’ (the San Francisco Bay Area to Chicago), ‘Silver Star’ (New York City to Miami) and ‘Sunset Limited’ (Los Angeles to New Orleans). Trains pass through monumental stations that are architectural beacons of their eras, from the art deco tilework and massive chandeliers hanging from the soaring, 19-metre-high ceilings in Los Angeles’ Union Station to the beaux arts white granite arches, gold-leaf ceiling medallions and classical statuary at Union Station in Washington, DC.
While the US lags behind many countries in terms of train infrastructure — there are far fewer of the sleeper cabins that Europe excels in, while the bullet-train speeds of Japan have yet to materialise — Amtrak is on the cusp of a revolution, set for the largest rail investment in its history. As part of this, its Acela trains in the northeast will be upgraded by 2024, making them faster and more environmentally friendly. And by the end of the decade, new routes and a new fleet of long-distance trains are promised across the country. But for now, at least, riding Amtrak remains something of an old-school travel experience. These train trips are less about getting from A to B and more about watching the world go by and sharing the journey with the strangers you meet on board.