Trains we actively promote - Intercity:
Intercity trains connect cities together. The seats are typically more comfortable and the luggage racks are bigger than on commuter trains.
Many intercity trains provide food and beverages of some kind. Within the intercity grouping there are several categories. The distinctions between each get very blurry however.
Corridor trains. A rail planner in the late-sixties remarked that a map of the tracks from Washington through New York to Boston looked like a corridor (hallway), with the various branches being the doors into the offices. As a result, the project became known as the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project.
Since then, trains that operate on frequent schedules on between city pairs in the 100 mile to 500 mile range have been called corridor trains.
Long Distance trains. In the US, the term long distance train typically means an overnight with sleeper cars. Sometimes daytime-only trains longer than 500 miles are called long distance trains.
In Europe, long distance refers to any intercity train.
Sleeper trains. Sleeper trains run overnight with sleeper compartments, often with a full service diner. In the Midwest, sleeper trains connect over 200 small to medium size cities to Chicago.
In the US, sleeper trains have the highest average passenger loadings and the best financial performance outside the Northeast Corridor . By gathering many different trips types and lengths - and combining them with high-revenue sleeper trips - in a single high-volume vehicle, sleeper trains provide a higher level of service at a lower operating cost then daylight-only trains operating over the individual segments.
Hotel trains are high-end sleepers trains. The Tren Hotel is one example.
High-Speed Trains deserve their own page.
Next: Trains we support, but don't actively support.
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