[3] Amtrak's long-distance routes form the backbone of the US national rail network, providing an alternative to intercity drives or flights.

[4] A few routes provide direct service to National Parks,[note 1] with Amtrak Thruway buses reaching many more.

[7] While anchored by major cities, long-distance trains also serve many rural communities en route (unlike commercial flights).

Due to height restrictions on the Northeast Corridor, all six routes that terminate at New York Penn Station operate as single-level trains with Amfleet coaches and Viewliner sleeping cars.

Trains which traverse the Northeast Corridor use Siemens ACS-64 electric locomotives for that segment of their routes, switching engines at Washington Union Station.

The top speed for long-distance trains outside the northeast is 100 mph (160 km/h), reached by the Texas Eagle between Chicago and St.

This allows trains to serve multiple endpoints without requiring passengers to transfer, and provides efficiency over the shared route segments.

[16] All long-distance routes have café car service offering takeaway meals, snacks, drinks, and alcohol.

Six routes instead feature Flexible Dining, where passengers may order hot meals to be delivered to their room or lounge.

[20] Amtrak provides free basic Wi-Fi on seven of its long-distance routes: the Auto Train, Cardinal, Crescent, Lake Shore Limited, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, and Floridian.

As a solution, Congress created Amtrak, a government-owned company, to operate intercity rail as a public service.

Unlike short distance "state-supported" corridors, long-distance routes could continue to receive full federal funding.

Six long-distance routes were discontinued by the Carter Administration for not meeting a minimum farebox recovery ratio: the Lone Star, Champion, North Coast Hiawatha, National Limited, Floridian, and Hilltopper.

In 1981 the Capitol Limited began service, while the Inter-American was truncated to San Antonio, stripped of its Houston section, and renamed the Eagle.

In 1995 Amtrak discontinued the Gulf Breeze, Palmetto, and Broadway Limited, the latter being partially replaced with the short-distance Three Rivers.

In 1996 the Three Rivers was extended to Chicago and the Silver Palm was introduced, essentially restoring service on the routes of the Broadway Limited and Palmetto that had ended the prior year.

The Sunset Limited was rerouted to bypass Phoenix at the request of Union Pacific.In 1997, funding issues forced Amtrak to discontinue the Desert Wind and Pioneer, severing Las Vegas, Wyoming, and Southern Idaho from the rail network.

[28] This was the first direct train service between the Midwest and Florida since the 1979 discontinuance of the original Floridian, albeit following a longer route.

Section 22214 of the law orders the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to study the restoration of all long-distance Amtrak routes that had been discontinued, daily service on non-daily trains (the Cardinal and Sunset Limited), and the possibility of new long-distance routes—particularly those that were discontinued upon the formation of Amtrak.

The plan would increase the coverage of the long-distance Amtrak network by 23,200 route miles, reaching an additional 45 million population, 61 metropolitan statistical areas, 24 congressional districts, twelve National Park Service sites, and two states (Wyoming and South Dakota).