Research Paper on:
Amtrak's Importance

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
to rethink travel habits and many decided the rail was safest. Still, rail travel has limitations and while it is rather quick, it will never be as fast as an  airplane. It is somewhat convenient as one can relax and look out the window at the countryside, but it is limited in terms of where it can go. In some  rural areas, people have to drive hours to find the nearest Amtrak station. Of course, that depends where one lives. In New York and New Jersey, Amtrak is highly visible  and convenient. In fact, in the entire Northeast, many routes have already been in steady use since the 1830s when the tracks were first laid (Sertl, 1999). Other states  dream of luring motorists out of their cars, while Amtraks passenger loads between Washington and Boston are close to nine million per year, a figure that is just shy of  half its total for the entire country (1999). Amtrak operates a 22,000-mile passenger rail system on track that is for the most part owned by freight railroads (Hecker, 2001).  Amtrak however actually owns 650 miles of track, and this track is primarily in the Northeast Corridor, an area that goes between Boston and Washington, D.C. and encompasses about  70% (2001, p.PG) of Amtraks service. That service is provided by conventional trains but the remainder is provided by a high-speed variety (2001). Approximately 22 million (2001, p.PG) passengers  in 45 states had been aboard Amtraks trains in 2000 which comes down to approximately 60,000 passengers (2001, p.PG) each day. Also, Amtrak has been integral in moving  commuters and has supplemented state and other private lines. The benefits of having Amtrak trains in the United States is significant and it supplements a public transportation need. While