Regional & Commuter Rail
Passenger Services in the
United States of America
A Brightline inter-city train at Fort Lauderdale station, FL.
Locomotive 110 is a Siemens SCB-40 Charger 4000hp Bo-Bo diesel electric.
These pages deal with the contiguous
United States of America, namely 48 states and the District of
Columbia. For the remaining states, and other areas of particular
railway interest, see the Main Index.
The regional & commuter rail services in the United States
are characterised by their essentially local nature, usually centred
on one or two large cities. “Local” in this context can involve
considerable distances, but the type of service offered is essentially
different from the long distance services offered by Amtrak.
Most of the railways concerned receive state or municipal support.
Some have dedicated rail lines, though many share lines with freight
carriers. They are distinguished by their heavy rail nature from purely
urban forms of rail passenger transport; the latter are included under
the topic of Metros and Trams.
Northeast
- AllEarth
Rail proposed commuter services in and around Burlington VT
- Boston Surface
Railroad proposed commuter service between Providence RI and
Worcester MA on the tracks of Providence & Worcester Railroad
- CTrail
Hartford Line commuter service between New Haven, Hartford and
Springfield MA
- Long Island
Rail Road New York to destinations on Long Island
- Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Boston
to destinations in Massachusetts, also Providence RI
- Metro-North
New York to Poughkeepsie, Wassaic and destinations in Connecticut.
Connects with Shore Line East at New Haven
- NJ
Transit New York, Hoboken and Newark to destinations in New Jersey
and New York State; also Atlantic City to Philadelphia. Connects with
SEPTA at Trenton and Philadelphia
- SEPTA Philadelphia to destinations in southeast
Pennsylvania and northern Delaware, also Trenton NJ. Connects with
NJ Transit at Philadelphia and Trenton
- Shore Line
East New London to New Haven, connecting with Metro-North
Southeast
- Brightline Miami to Orlando; possible future
extensions to Jacksonville and Tampa
- MARC Train Washington DC to destinations in
Maryland and West Virginia
- Sunrail
commuter services in the Orlando area
- Tri-Rail
Miami Airport via Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach to Mangonia
Park, Palm Beach
- Virginia Railway
Express Washington DC to Fredericksburg, Manassas and Broad Run
- WeGo Star Nashville to Lebanon
Mid West
- Eastern
Flyer Sapulpa OK (with bus connections to various destinations in
Tulsa) to Midwest City OK (with bus connections to various destinations
in Oklahoma City)
- Metra
Chicago to destinations in Illinois, also Kenosha WI
- NICTD
Chicago to South Bend IN via the Chicago South Shore line
- Northern
Lights Express proposed service between Minneapolis and Duluth
- Northstar Minneapolis to Big Lake; possible future
extension planned to St Cloud
West Coast
- Altamont
Corridor Express San Jose to Stockton
- Caltrain
San Francisco to San Jose and Tamien, extending to Gilroy at peak
commuter times
- Coaster San Diego to Oceanside, connecting with
Metrolink
- Dreamstar
Lines proposed night service between Los Angeles and the San
Francisco Bay area
- Metrolink
Los Angeles area. Connects with Coaster at Oceanside
- SMART Larkspur, connecting with ferries from San
Francisco, to Sonoma County Airport. Extension under construction
to Windsor and planned to Petaluma
- Sounder Train Seattle to Tacoma and Everett
- Westside Express
Service Beaverton to Wilsonville, in northern Oregon
- X Train
proposed luxury passenger train service between Los Angeles and Las
Vegas
Mountain Region
Texas
- Austin
- A-Train
Denton to Carrollton, connecting with the RTD network of Denver
- TEX Rail proposed service from Fort Worth to
Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport, on a route partly shared
with DART
- Trinity Railway Express Dallas to Fort Worth
© 2007-2023 Glyn Williams
Photo image by Patrickhamiltonbrightline from Wikimedia Commons