All Aboard! Passenger Rail Travel in the USA: Past, Present and Future

For nearly two centuries, passenger rail has played a defining role in shaping America’s landscape and identity—from powerful steam locomotives to the gleaming streamliners that once symbolized modernity and adventure, to today’s Amtrak trains connecting cities and communities in the Northeast Corridor and across vast distances. Although automobiles and air travel have long dominated U.S. transportation, passenger trains continue to capture the American imagination, offering a window into the nation’s history, geography, and social fabric.

Inspired by his recent cross-country train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles, Keith Danish invites you on a fascinating exploration of U.S. passenger rail travel—its past, present, and possible future. His presentation will trace the evolution of passenger rail service in America, touching on its economic, cultural, political, culinary, musical, and even poetical dimensions. Keith will explain how Amtrak came into existence and how, buoyed by substantial federal infrastructure funding, it now looks toward a future that may be stable—but not necessarily “high-speed” in the sense familiar to travelers in Europe or Asia.

Keith will also examine the challenges and opportunities facing the next era of American passenger rail—whether it can expand, modernize, and meet the needs of a changing nation.

A retired attorney who specialized in Intellectual Property Law, Keith Danish serves on the Executive Board of the N.Y. Labor History Association and is the association’s Newsletter and Book Review Editor. He was formerly on the Board of Trustees of the Institute of New Dimensions (IND), a nonprofit lifelong-learning organization offering short college-level courses for adults. Keith has lectured widely on topics ranging from law and the U.S. Supreme Court to baseball’s business and labor history and American cultural history.