Cardinal (train)

Route map:
Cardinal
Cardinal passing through Orange, Virginia in 2021.
Overview
Service typeInter-city rail
Higher speed rail (Northeast Corridor only)
LocaleMid-Atlantic, Midwestern and Southeastern United States
PredecessorJames Whitcomb Riley
First serviceOctober 30, 1977
Current operator(s)Amtrak
Annual ridership82,705 (FY23) Increase 3.0%
Route
TerminiChicago, Illinois
New York
Stops36
Distance travelled1,146 miles (1,844 km)
Average journey time27 hours, 45 minutes
Service frequencyThree round trips per week
Train number(s)50/51
On-board services
Class(es)Coach Class
Sleeper Service
Disabled accessAll train cars, most stations
Sleeping arrangements
  • Roomette (2 beds)
  • Bedroom (2 beds)
  • Bedroom Suite (4 beds)
  • Accessible Bedroom (2 beds)
Catering facilitiesCafé/Dinette (combined car)
Baggage facilitiesOverhead racks, checked baggage available at selected stations
Technical
Rolling stock
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed41 mph (66 km/h) (avg.)
125 mph (201 km/h) (top)
Track owner(s)AMTK, BB, CN, CSX, METX, NS, UP
Route map
Map
Legend
0mi
New York City
NJ Transit
10 mi
16 km
Newark Penn
Newark Light Rail Port Authority Trans-Hudson NJ Transit
58 mi
93 km
Trenton
NJ Transit
91 mi
146 km
Philadelphia–30th Street
NJ Transit
116 mi
187 km
Wilmington
185 mi
298 km
Baltimore
225 mi
362 km
Washington, D.C.
Virginia Railway Express
233 mi
375 km
Alexandria
Virginia Railway Express
258 mi
415 km
Manassas
Virginia Railway Express
293 mi
472 km
Culpeper
340 mi
547 km
Charlottesville
379 mi
610 km
Staunton
437 mi
703 km
Clifton Forge
472 mi
760 km
White Sulphur Springs
496 mi
798 km
Alderson
517 mi
832 km
Hinton
540 mi
869 km
Prince
551 mi
887 km
Thurmond
592 mi
953 km
Montgomery
619 mi
996 km
Charleston
668 mi
1075 km
Huntington
Tri-State
closed
1998
683 mi
1099 km
Ashland
712 mi
1146 km
South Portsmouth–
South Shore
766 mi
1233 km
Maysville
828 mi
1333 km
Cincinnati
851 mi
1370 km
Hamilton
closed
2005
pre-1986 route
864 mi
1390 km
Oxford
893 mi
1437 km
Connersville
951 mi
1530 km
Indianapolis
998 mi
1606 km
Crawfordsville
1025 mi
1650 km
Lafayette
1072 mi
1725 km
Rensselaer
1118 mi
1799 km
Dyer
mi
mi
Richmond
Muncie
Marion
Peru
Gary
1147 mi
1846 km
Chicago
Metra

The Cardinal is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York Penn Station and Chicago Union Station via Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Charlottesville, Charleston, Huntington, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis. Along with the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited, it is one of three trains linking the Northeast and Chicago. Its 1,146-mile (1,844 km) trip between New York and Chicago takes 2814 hours.

The Cardinal has three round trips each week, departing New York City on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and departing Chicago on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Prior to being discontinued in 2019, the Hoosier State provided service on the portion of the Cardinal's route between Indianapolis and Chicago on the other four days of the week.

The Cardinal's ridership was 82,705 in fiscal year 2023, a 3.0% increase from FY2022, but approximately 25% below its pre-COVID-19 pandemic ridership of about 109,000 in FY2019. In the two fiscal years prior to the pandemic (FY2018 and FY2019), ridership had increased 12.5%. In FY2020, the Cardinal earned $7.1 million on expenses of $22.6M—a revenue-to-cost ratio of 31%, the second lowest among all Amtrak routes.

History

The Cardinal is the successor of several previous trains, primarily the New York Central (later Penn Central) James Whitcomb Riley and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) George Washington. The James Whitcomb Riley was a daytime all-coach train which operated between Chicago and Cincinnati (via Indianapolis). The George Washington, the C&O's flagship train, was a long-distance sleeper that ran between Cincinnati and—via a split in Charlottesville, Virginia—Washington, D.C. and Newport News, Virginia. Until the late 1950s, the Riley carried the Washington's sleeper cars between Cincinnati and Chicago. Both routes survived until the formation of Amtrak in 1971.: 51, 93 

Amtrak kept service mostly identical through the spring and summer of 1971. It slowly began integrating the trains that summer. The two trains began exchanging through Washington—Chicago and Newport News—Chicago coaches at Cincinnati on July 12, and a through sleeping car began September 8. On November 14, the Riley and George Washington merged into a single long-distance Chicago-Washington train, with the eastbound train (train 50) known as the George Washington and the westbound train (train 51) known as the Riley.: 38  The eastern terminus was briefly extended to Boston, giving the Northeast Corridor a one-seat ride to Chicago. However, it was truncated back to Washington in 1972. On May 19, 1974, Amtrak fully merged the George Washington into the Riley.

During the early Amtrak era, the Riley was plagued by the poor condition of ex-New York Central track in Indiana. In 1973, it was moved to ex-Pennsylvania Railroad track through Indianapolis.: 256  By 1974, Amtrak rerouted it off Penn Central track altogether; by then, the trackage had deteriorated so badly that the Riley was limited to 10 mph (16 km/h) for much of its route through Indiana. The Newport News section ended in 1976, replaced by the Boston–Newport News Colonial. A number of long-distance trains running along former Penn Central trackage in the Midwest were plagued by similar problems.

The former station in Muncie, Indiana, before the realignment via Indianapolis

The James Whitcomb Riley was renamed the Cardinal on October 30, 1977, as the cardinal was the state bird of all six states through which it ran. However, due to poor track conditions in Indiana, the train was rerouted numerous times, first over various Penn Central/Conrail routings that had once been part of the Pennsylvania Railroad, then ultimately over the former Baltimore and Ohio route via Cottage Grove by 1980.: 121 

The Cardinal was eventually extended to run along the Northeast Corridor again in an effort to improve the Cardinal's cost recovery ratio, but this time with the eastern terminus moved to New York. Previously, the Broadway Limited ran from New York to Chicago along the Northeast Corridor, but only as far south as Philadelphia. The train was discontinued on September 30, 1981, but revived on January 8, 1982, per a mandate initiated by Senator Robert C. Byrd. While the Cardinal and its predecessors had run daily, the revived Cardinal ran only three times per week. The revived train followed another new route, via Richmond and Muncie, Indiana. This arrangement lasted until April 27, 1986, when the train was finally moved to its current route via Indianapolis.: 121  On October 29, 1995, the Cardinal was truncated to Washington, D.C. after the consist was updated with Superliners. On October 27, 2002, after derailments on other routes depleted available Superliner cars, the Superliners were replaced with Viewliners. The Cardinal continued to operate the Chicago-Washington D.C. schedule. Service to New York was restored on Sunday's westbound Cardinal on October 27, 2003. Full service to New York resumed on April 26, 2004.

From March 29, 2018, to November 8, 2018, due to continuing construction at New York Penn Station, the Cardinal's eastern terminus was temporarily moved to Washington. Cardinal passengers needing to travel to or from points north of Washington were transferred to a Northeast Regional.

Hoosier State

With the Indianapolis routing, the Cardinal began operating jointly with the Chicago–Indianapolis Hoosier State. The Hoosier State operated to Indianapolis on the days the Cardinal did not, assuring seven-day service between Chicago and Indianapolis. This pattern ceased on October 25, 1987, when the Hoosier State became a full-fledged daily train once again. The Hoosier State was dropped on September 8, 1995, but resumed again on July 19, 1998, again running on days that the Cardinal did not run.

On December 17, 1999, Amtrak extended the Hoosier State to Jeffersonville, Indiana, (and later to Louisville, Kentucky) and renamed the train the Kentucky Cardinal. This new train was a daily service; on days when the Cardinal operated, the two trains ran combined between Indianapolis and Chicago. Amtrak ultimately discontinued the Kentucky Cardinal on July 4, 2003, and brought back the Hoosier State on the pre-1999 schedule.

After Indiana discontinued its subsidy, Amtrak suspended the Hoosier State as of June 30, 2019. Passengers who booked trips after that date were compensated with Cardinal tickets.

Plans

In the July 2010 issue of Trains magazine, the Cardinal was noted as being one of five routes under consideration for performance improvement. For the Cardinal, the proposed changes included increasing service from thrice-weekly to daily operation, and changing the western terminus to St. Louis, Missouri. Railfan and Railroad magazine also suggested that the train be rerouted to St. Louis, with a separate section bound for Chicago.

In early October 2010, Amtrak released a report detailing plans to increase the Cardinal's service from thrice-weekly to daily service, as well as increasing the train's on-time performance and food service. The January 2011 issue of Trains later revealed that Amtrak would scrap re-routing and Superliner conversion and instead adopt not only daily service, but also purchasing dome cars to be used along the Chicago-Washington, D.C., portion of the trip. In addition, the routing into Chicago Union Station would be changed and station platforms along the route containing coal dust would be scrubbed and cleaned.

However, obstacles to a daily Cardinal persist. Track capacity is limited on the Buckingham Branch Railroad, a short line railroad between Orange and Clifton Forge, Virginia where the Cardinal operates along former C&O/CSX trackage, preventing frequent freight trains from passing a daily Cardinal. This problem also applied to the planned-but-failed Greenbrier Presidential Express train, which would also have traversed the Buckingham Branch on a weekly basis. The Buckingham Branch requires additional funding to expand several sidings before allowing additional service. Another obstacle is freight congestion in Chicago particularly at the 75th Street Corridor on Chicago's South Side. The third obstacle is capacity at the Long Bridge in Washington, D.C.. Infrastructure improvements are being made at all three. The Orange Branch between Orange and Gordonsville raised train speed after the completion of a track and signal project in 2017. The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE) has received funding under a public–private partnership (P3) for the 75th Street Corridor with construction beginning in October 2018 and is scheduled to be finished by 2025. A parallel span of the Long Bridge is full funded and moving towards engineering design and financing.

Starting on October 1, 2019, traditional dining car services were removed and replaced with a reduced menu of "Flexible Dining" options. As a result, the changes to the consist of the train will have the dining car serve as a lounge car for the exclusive use of sleeping car passengers.

In June 2021, Senator Jon Tester of Montana added an amendment to the Surface Transportation Investment Act of 2021 which would require the Department of Transportation (not Amtrak itself) to evaluate daily service on all less frequent long-distance trains, meaning the Cardinal and Sunset Limited. The bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee with bipartisan support, and was later rolled into President Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which Congress passed on November 5, 2021. The report must be delivered to Congress within two years. In mid-2023, Amtrak applied for a federal grant to operate the Cardinal daily and increase speeds between Indianapolis and Dyer. In December 2023 the daily Cardinal project was granted $500,000 from the IIJA through the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor Identification and Development Program.

Train consist

In the early 1990s, the Cardinal ran with the usual Amtrak long-distance consist of two EMD F40PHs or one GE E60, plus several material handling cars (MHC) and baggage cars, followed by several Amfleet coaches, an Amfleet lounge, a Heritage diner, two or three Heritage 10-6 sleepers, a slumbercoach, and finally, a baggage dormitory car. Following the delivery of the Superliner II fleet, however, the Cardinal was re-equipped with Superliner cars in 1995. As a result, its route was truncated to end in Washington D.C., as Superliners cannot operate on the Northeast Corridor due to low tunnel clearances in Baltimore and New York City. With the Superliner equipment, the consist would usually be two Superliner sleeping cars, a diner, a Sightseer Lounge, a baggage coach, and a coach.

In 2002, two derailments on other routes took numerous Superliner cars out of service. Because of this, insufficient Superliner equipment was available for use on the Cardinal. The Cardinal was re-equipped with a consist of single-level long-distance cars, including dining, lounge, sleeping, and dormitory cars, although service to New York was not restored until 2004. Subsequent fleet shortages shortened the Cardinal further, and at one point, the train was running with two or three Amfleet II coaches and a combined diner-lounge car. While the sleeping car was later restored, the Cardinal has not had a dormitory car or a diner since. Similarly, though the baggage car was also removed, it was restored in response to an upturn in patronage in mid-2010. In 2016, Amtrak added business class service to the Cardinal.

Amtrak began replacing the older P40DC and P42DC locomotives with Siemens ALC-42 locomotives in 2023. The Cardinal's typical consist includes a single locomotive, three Amfleet II long-distance coaches, a single Amfleet II Diner-Lite diner-lounge car, one or two Viewliner II sleeping cars, and a Viewliner II baggage-dorm car.

Route overview

Amtrak bills the Cardinal's route as one of the most scenic in its system. After an early morning departure from New York and traveling south down the Northeast Corridor, the train passes through Virginia's rolling horse country, across the Blue Ridge and the Shenandoah Valley. It then climbs the Allegheny Mountains and stops at the resort town of White Sulphur Springs, home to The Greenbrier, a famous luxury resort. The Cardinal descends on tracks through New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, a unit of the National Park Service protecting the longest deepest river gorge in the Eastern U.S. The river is popular for white water rafting, and the cliffs attract rock climbers. The forests blaze with autumn foliage and the train usually sells out during the peak season. The Cardinal will often add the only remaining full-length dome car in Amtrak service, car number 10031, to the consist in the autumn to try to accommodate the leaf peepers.

Amtrak train 51 arriving at Thurmond

The schedules are timed to provide a daylight transit of the New River Gorge almost all year. So westbound, the train travels at night from Charleston, West Virginia, on to Indianapolis, where it arrives about dawn, reaching Chicago in mid-morning. Eastbound the Cardinal departs late afternoon, reaching Indianapolis before midnight, Charleston mid-morning, and NYC in the late evening. Unfortunately, Cincinnati is served both directions with stops after midnight, yet about 15,000 passengers a year arrive or depart from this station.

The Cardinal is one of only two of Amtrak's 15 long-distance trains to operate only three days a week, the other being the Sunset Limited. Like other long-distance trains, passengers are not allowed to travel only between stations on the Northeast Corridor on the Cardinal. Eastbound trains only stop to discharge passengers from Alexandria northward, and westbound trains only stop to receive passengers from Newark to Washington. This policy aims to keep seats available for passengers making longer trips; passengers traveling between Northeast Corridor stations can use the more frequent Acela Express or Northeast Regional services.

Route details

Cardinal route map

The Cardinal operates over Amtrak, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, Buckingham Branch Railroad, Canadian National Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, and Metra trackage:

The Buckingham Branch trackage is one of the few Class III railroad used in the Amtrak system.

Station stops

State/Province Town/City Station Connections
Illinois Chicago Chicago Union Station Amtrak Amtrak (long-distance): California Zephyr, Capitol Limited, City of New Orleans, Empire Builder, Lake Shore Limited, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle
Amtrak Amtrak (intercity): Blue Water, Hiawatha, Illini and Saluki, Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, Lincoln Service, Pere Marquette, Wolverine
Metra Metra:  BNSF,  Milwaukee District North,  Milwaukee District West,  North Central Service,  Heritage Corridor,  SouthWest Service
Chicago "L": Blue (at Clinton), Brown Orange Pink Purple (at Quincy)
Bus interchange CTA Bus, Pace Bus
Amtrak Amtrak Thruway to Madison, Rockford (Van Galder), Louisville (Greyhound)
Indiana Dyer Dyer
Rensselaer Rensselaer
Lafayette Lafayette Bus interchange CityBus
Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines
Crawfordsville Crawfordsville
Indianapolis Indianapolis Bus interchange IndyGo
Amtrak Amtrak Thruway (Burlington Trailways)

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines

Connersville Connersville
Ohio Cincinnati Cincinnati Bus interchange SORTA Metro
Kentucky Maysville Maysville Bus interchange Maysville Transit
South Shore South Portsmouth–South Shore
Ashland Ashland Bus interchange Ashland Bus System
Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines
West Virginia Huntington Huntington Bus interchange Tri-State Transit Authority
Charleston Charleston Amtrak Amtrak Thruway to Sutton/Flatwoods, Weston, Clarksburg, Fairmont, Morgantown (Barons Bus Lines)
Bus interchange Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority
Montgomery Montgomery Bus interchange Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority
Thurmond Thurmond
Prince Prince
Hinton Hinton
Alderson Alderson
White Sulphur Springs White Sulphur Springs
Virginia Clifton Forge Clifton Forge
Staunton Staunton Bus interchange Staunton Free Trolley, Coordinated Area Transportation Services (at Staunton Visitor Center)
Charlottesville Charlottesville Amtrak Amtrak: Crescent, Northeast Regional
Amtrak Amtrak Thruway to Richmond (James River Transportation), Washington, D.C.
Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines
Bus interchange Charlottesville Area Transit
Culpeper Culpeper Amtrak Amtrak: Crescent, Northeast Regional
Manassas Manassas Amtrak Amtrak: Crescent, Northeast Regional
Virginia Railway Express VRE:  Manassas Line
Bus interchange PRTC: Manassas Metro Direct, OmniLink Manassas
Alexandria Alexandria Amtrak Amtrak: Crescent, Northeast Regional, Silver Meteor, Silver Star
Virginia Railway Express VRE:  Fredericksburg Line,  Manassas Line
Metro: Blue Line, Yellow Line
Bus interchange Metrobus, DASH
District of
Columbia
Washington Washington Union Station Amtrak Amtrak: Acela, Capitol Limited, Carolinian, Crescent, Palmetto, Northeast Regional, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter
MARC:  Brunswick Line,  Camden Line,  Penn Line
Virginia Railway Express VRE:  Manassas Line,  Fredericksburg Line
Metro: Red Line
DC Streetcar: H Street/Benning Road Line
Bus interchange Metrobus, DC Circulator, MTA Maryland, Loudoun County Transit, OmniRide
Bus interchange Intercity bus: Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Megabus (North America) Megabus, BoltBus, BestBus, Peter Pan, OurBus
Maryland Baltimore Baltimore Amtrak Amtrak: Acela, Carolinian, Crescent, Palmetto, Northeast Regional, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter
MARC:  Penn Line
Light RailLink
Bus interchange MTA Maryland, Charm City Circulator
Delaware Wilmington Wilmington Amtrak Amtrak: Acela, Carolinian, Crescent, Palmetto, Northeast Regional, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter
Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines
SEPTA Regional Rail:  Wilmington/​Newark Line
Bus interchange DART First State
Pennsylvania Philadelphia 30th Street Station Amtrak Amtrak: Acela, Carolinian, Crescent, Keystone Service, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter
SEPTA Regional Rail: all lines
NJ Transit NJ Transit:  Atlantic City Line
SEPTA City Transit: Market-Frankford Subway-Surface
Bus interchange SEPTA City Bus, SEPTA Suburban Bus
New Jersey Trenton Trenton Amtrak Amtrak: Carolinian, Crescent, Keystone Service, Northeast Regional, Pennsylvanian, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter
NJ Transit NJ Transit:  Northeast Corridor Line,  River Line
SEPTA Regional Rail:  Trenton Line
Bus interchange NJ Transit Bus, SEPTA Suburban Bus
Newark Newark Penn Station Amtrak Amtrak: Acela, Carolinian, Crescent, Keystone Service, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Vermonter
NJ Transit NJ Transit:  North Jersey Coast Line,  Northeast Corridor Line,  Raritan Valley Line
Port Authority Trans-Hudson PATH: NWK-WTC
Newark Light Rail Newark Light Rail
Bus interchange NJ Transit Bus
New York New York City New York Penn Station Amtrak Amtrak (long-distance): Crescent, Lake Shore Limited, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, Silver Star
Amtrak Amtrak (intercity): Acela, Adirondack, Berkshire Flyer, Carolinian, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Keystone Service, Maple Leaf, Northeast Regional, Pennsylvanian, Vermonter
LIRR:  Main Line,  Port Washington Branch
NJ Transit NJ Transit:  North Jersey Coast Line,  Northeast Corridor Line,  Gladstone Branch,  Montclair-Boonton Line,  Morristown Line
NYC Subway: "1" train"2" train"3" train"A" train"C" train"E" train
Port Authority Trans-Hudson PATH: HOB-33 JSQ-33 JSQ-33 (via HOB)
Bus interchange NYC Transit Bus

Ridership

Traffic by Fiscal Year (October-September)
Ridership Change over previous year Ticket Revenue Change over previous year
2007 193,748 - $14,877,428 -
2008 216,350 Increase011.66% $17,431,949 Increase017.17%
2009 215,371 Decrease00.45% $17,581,767 Increase00.85%
2010 218,956 Increase01.66% $18,578,926 Increase05.67%
2011 226,597 Increase03.48% $20,312,544 Increase09.33%
2012 226,884 Increase00.12% $20,480,182 Increase00.82%
2013 229,668 Increase01.22% $21,373,833 Increase04.36%
2014 235,926 Increase02.72% $20,591,711 Decrease03.65%
2015 226,240 Decrease04.1% $19,103,951 Decrease07.22%
2016 228,444 Increase00.97% $18,973,626 Decrease00.68%
2017 231,000 Increase01.11% - -
2018 219,033 Decrease05.18% - -
2019 209,578 Decrease04.31% - -
2020 63,223 Decrease040.0% - -
2021 69,098 Increase09.3% - -
2022 80,322 Increase016.2% - -

This page was last updated at 2024-03-23 10:22 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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