By Railfan & Railroad Staff

WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s long-distance trains are starting to resume daily schedules this week, seven months after the trains were reduced to just three days a week due to the pandemic. 

This week, the Empire Builder, Coast Starlight, California Zephyr and Texas Eagle all began running daily. Next week, the Capitol Limited, City of New Orleans, Lake Shore Limited and Southwest Chief will come back to full strength. And on June 7, the Crescent, Palmetto, Silver Meteor and Silver Star will all come back to a daily schedule. The Cardinal and Sunset Limited will remain tri-weekly as was done before the pandemic. The Auto Train was the only train that did not see its schedule reduced. 

The trains are returning to their daily schedules as travel demand increases. The resumption of service was funded thanks to the pandemic relief bill passed by Congress in March that included $1.7 billion for Amtrak.