Cities without Amtrak service

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C

Charles785

Service Attendant
Joined
Nov 24, 2017
Messages
155
I thought I would try to identify the 10 largest cities, ranked by metro population, that do not now have Amtrak service. Am I skipping over any?
1. Phoenix 4.575 million
2. Las Vegas 2.115 million
3. Nashville 2.072 million
4. Columbus 2.020 million
5. Louisville 1.396 million
6. Tulsa 1.034 million
7. Dayton 814,000
8. Boise 795,000
9. Des Moines 699,000
10. Wichita 648,000
 
Per Wikipedia contribuors' original research (so shouldn't be on Wikipedia...):
Las Vegas, NV
Colombus, OH
Nashville, TN
Louisville, KY
Tulsa, OK
Honolulu, HI (although that's a special case ;))
Knoxville, TN
Baton Rouge, LA
Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton, PA
North Port – Sarasota – Bradenton, Florida – Venice, FL
Dayton/Springfield, OH
Boise, ID
Cape Coral/Fort Myers, FL
Colorado Springs, CO
Des Moines, IA
Augusta, GA
 
I always take these metropolitan area population lists in decreasing population order with a huge dollop of salt. The Palm Bay - Melbourne - Titusville - Cape Canaveral Metropolitan Area has a population of some 620,000 and has no Amtrak service, but you will seldom find it in any of these learned lists. :rolleyes:
 
Yes, I should have specified I was excluding Thruway bus connections and I was focusing on the contiguous 48 states.

And from the above comments I see I missed at least seven metro areas that could have been in the top ten. Maybe a top twenty list would now be interesting.
 
Here's the top 100 from Wiki based on 2022 metro popuations (MSA, not the higher-order CSA) showing who is missing an Amtrak stop in their urban core and also within their official metro bounds. Because Maricopa is within a county (Pinal) included in the Phoenix MSA its metro area is not unserved even though Amtrak is remote to the main urban aread of PHX. On the flipside because places like Winston-Salem and Ogden are officially their own metro areas and no trains stop there, they are "no service" in spite of nearby Salt Lake and Greensboro. A change to census definition would alter that status of places like that, of course.

All 100 won't fit in one message so let's set how many it takes. Let me know if I clearly misclassified any.

Rank2022estUrban AreaMetro
119,557,311New York–Newark–Jersey City, NY-NJ MSA
212,872,322Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA MSA
39,274,140Chicago–Naperville–Elgin, IL-IN MSA
47,943,685Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington, TX MSA
57,368,466Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands, TX MSA
66,265,183Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA
76,241,164Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA
86,237,435Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell, GA MSA
96,139,340Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach, FL MSA
105,015,678NoYes (Maricopa)Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler, AZ MSA
114,900,550Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA-NH MSA
124,667,558Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario, CA MSA
134,579,599San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont, CA MSA
144,345,761Detroit–Warren–Dearborn, MI MSA
154,034,248Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, WA MSA
163,693,729Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington, MN-WI MSA
173,290,730Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater, FL MSA
183,276,208San Diego–Chula Vista–Carlsbad, CA MSA
192,985,871Denver–Aurora–Centennial, CO MSA
202,835,672Baltimore–Columbia–Towson, MD MSA
212,801,319St. Louis, MO-IL MSA
222,764,182Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, FL MSA
232,756,069Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia, NC-SC MSA
242,655,342San Antonio–New Braunfels, TX MSA
252,509,489Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, OR-WA MSA
262,434,021Pittsburgh, PA MSA
272,421,115Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos, TX MSA
282,416,702Sacramento–Roseville–Folsom, CA MSA
292,322,985NoNoLas Vegas–Henderson–North Las Vegas, NV MSA
302,258,099Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN MSA
312,209,494Kansas City, MO-KS MSA
322,161,511NoNoColumbus, OH MSA
332,160,146Cleveland, OH MSA
342,119,839Indianapolis–Carmel–Greenwood, IN MSA
352,072,283NoNoNashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN MSA
361,938,524San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, CA MSA
371,787,188Virginia Beach–Chesapeake–Norfolk, VA-NC MSA
381,675,668Jacksonville, FL MSA
391,673,802Providence–Warwick, RI-MA MSA
401,559,792Milwaukee–Waukesha, WI MSA
411,484,338Raleigh–Cary, NC MSA
421,459,380Oklahoma City, OK MSA
431,361,946NoNoLouisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN MSA
441,339,855Memphis, TN-MS-AR MSA
451,339,182Richmond, VA MSA
461,266,191Salt Lake City–Murray, UT MSA
471,181,196Birmingham, AL MSA
481,175,446Fresno, CA MSA
491,161,192Buffalo–Cheektowaga, NY MSA
501,158,069Hartford–West Hartford–East Hartford, CT MSA
 
Last edited:
Here's 51-100

511,157,752Grand Rapids–Wyoming–Kentwood, MI MSA
521,057,597Tucson, AZ MSA
531,056,701Rochester, NY MSA
541,034,123NoNoTulsa, OK MSA
55995,638NoNoUrban Honolulu, HI MSA
56976,671Omaha, NE-IA MSA
57972,913New Orleans–Metairie, LA MSA
58958,958Greenville–Anderson–Greer, SC MSA
59950,976Bridgeport–Stamford–Danbury, CT MSA
60932,245NoNoKnoxville, TN MSA
61919,543Albuquerque, NM MSA
62916,108Bakersfield–Delano, CA MSA
63904,617Albany–Schenectady–Troy, NY MSA
64891,411NoNoNorth Port–Bradenton–Sarasota, FL MSA
65888,367NoNoMcAllen–Edinburg–Mission, TX MSA
66873,060NoNoBaton Rouge, LA MSA
67872,195El Paso, TX MSA
68871,229NoNoAllentown–Bethlehem–Easton, PA-NJ MSA
69862,927Worcester, MA MSA
70847,686Columbia, SC MSA
71832,605Oxnard–Thousand Oaks–Ventura, CA MSA
72830,529Charleston–North Charleston, SC MSA
73822,453NoNoCape Coral–Fort Myers, FL MSA
74812,595NoNoDayton–Kettering–Beavercreek, OH MSA
75811,336NoNoBoise City, ID MSA
76793,229Stockton–Lodi, CA MSA
77787,404Lakeland–Winter Haven, FL MSA
78784,101Greensboro–High Point, NC MSA
79765,424NoNoColorado Springs, CO MSA
80757,615Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway, AR MSA
81729,053NoNoDes Moines–West Des Moines, IA MSA
82715,001Provo–Orem–Lehi, UT MSA
83705,897Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL MSA
84703,486Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh, NY MSA
85697,627NoNoAkron, OH MSA
86688,471NoNoWinston-Salem, NC MSA
87687,077NoYes (Columbus)Madison, WI MSA
88653,633Syracuse, NY MSA
89652,341NoNoOgden, UT MSA
90650,039NoNoWichita, KS MSA
91630,693NoNoPalm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville, FL MSA
92624,083NoNoAugusta-Richmond County, GA-SC MSA
93610,904Jackson, MS MSA
94603,493Harrisburg–Carlisle, PA MSA
95602,407Durham–Chapel Hill, NC MSA
96600,406Toledo, OH MSA
97597,919Spokane–Spokane Valley, WA MSA
98576,403NoNoFayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR MSA
99574,507NoNoChattanooga, TN-GA MSA
100573,244New Haven, CT MSA
 
Specific to the original question, these are the most populous metro areas withou and Amtrak stop. Technically PHX and MSN might arugably be removed because of a rural stop away from the urban center but within the metro area.

It's just over 1/4 of the largest metros not served by Amtrak -- if you want to exclude Honolulu based on geography it would still be 26 of 100 since the next in line to add to the list (#101 Scranton) is also not currently served.

Rank2022estUrban AreaMetroOverall Rank
15,015,678NoYes (Maricopa)Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler, AZ MSA10
22,322,985NoNoLas Vegas–Henderson–North Las Vegas, NV MSA29
32,161,511NoNoColumbus, OH MSA32
42,072,283NoNoNashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN MSA35
51,361,946NoNoLouisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN MSA43
61,034,123NoNoTulsa, OK MSA54
7995,638NoNoUrban Honolulu, HI MSA55
8932,245NoNoKnoxville, TN MSA60
9891,411NoNoNorth Port–Bradenton–Sarasota, FL MSA64
10888,367NoNoMcAllen–Edinburg–Mission, TX MSA65
11873,060NoNoBaton Rouge, LA MSA66
12871,229NoNoAllentown–Bethlehem–Easton, PA-NJ MSA68
13822,453NoNoCape Coral–Fort Myers, FL MSA73
14812,595NoNoDayton–Kettering–Beavercreek, OH MSA74
15811,336NoNoBoise City, ID MSA75
16765,424NoNoColorado Springs, CO MSA79
17729,053NoNoDes Moines–West Des Moines, IA MSA81
18697,627NoNoAkron, OH MSA85
19688,471NoNoWinston-Salem, NC MSA86
20687,077NoYes (Columbus)Madison, WI MSA87
21652,341NoNoOgden, UT MSA89
22650,039NoNoWichita, KS MSA90
23630,693NoNoPalm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville, FL MSA91
24624,083NoNoAugusta-Richmond County, GA-SC MSA92
25576,403NoNoFayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR MSA98
26574,507NoNoChattanooga, TN-GA MSA99
 
jis said:
I always take these metropolitan area population lists in decreasing population order with a huge dollop of salt. The Palm Bay - Melbourne - Titusville - Cape Canaveral Metropolitan Area has a population of some 620,000 and has no Amtrak service, but you will seldom find it in any of these learned lists. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Might be because there is no real identifiable central city in that region.
 
Metra Electric Rider said:
I DEMAND Amtrak service to Hawaii within four years!

(it can be via the SSAmtrak)
Click to expand...
It already was part of the U.S. rail system in 1916 when the S.S. Great Northern was removed from the money-losing Flavel (Astoria) <>San Francisco run and was put on the California<>Honolulu run. That left only the S.S. Northern Pacific to harass the SP.
1916 03 09 Oregonian - PDX-SFO on steamer.jpg
 

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