The dual impacts of September 11 and the nation’s slower economic growth rate are reinforcing a collaboration between Amtrak and airlines in the Northeast Corridor – a collaboration which began as a response to aviation congestion and related air travel delays. In the Northeast’s service-oriented economy, business travel is very sensitive to time, price and reliability. While short distance air travel is a very modest portion of nation’s overall air travel, it is critical in the Northeast, to meet the needs of the traveler. These shorter distance "air corridor trains" are characterized by reduced travel time, frequent departures and reliability as measured by on-time performance.

Intermodal cooperation is increasing in the Northeast Corridor as Amtrak-airline agreements and new stations provide the traveler with ready links between air and rail service – and the airline with a more economic "short distance feeder" for a hub airport.

Building on its first US air/rail code share partnership at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) with Icelandair, Amtrak has expanded its agreements with airlines.

• In fall 2001, Continental eliminated its short connector flights from Philadelphia to Newark. Travelers can choose among 17 trains connecting Philadelphia and Newark each weekday.
    
• Beginning in mid-March 2002, travelers between Newark International Airport and four cities along the Northeast Corridor – Philadelphia; Wilmington, Delaware; Stamford and New Haven, Connecticut – can book train travel to and from the airport as part of their flight reservation. Continental assigns its airline designator code to trips on Amtrak’s Acela Regional and Keystone trains.
    
• When bad weather impacts Continental’s hub at Newark, New Jersey, the airline notifies Amtrak which then guarantees seats for air travelers displaced by cancelled Continental flights. Amtrak recently expanded this relationship to other cities and is evaluating improved technological links to enhance customer services in these situations.

Improved stations which serve rail and airports contribute to a more efficient trip for the air and rail traveler.

• The newly opened $145 million New Jersey Transit station at Newark International Airport reflects the growing coordination between the modes. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey opened AirTrain Newark which links the Newark Airport to Amtrak and regional commuter and public transit lines through connections at the Penn Stations in Newark and New York City. The AirTrain line, which is expected to handle three million riders within a year, goes directly into Newark Airport where the passenger transfers to the airport monorail system to get to terminal concourses and the parking lots. Continental Airlines, which recently opened a $1.4 billion concourse at the airport, was very active in the design of the station. 
    
• In Fall 1999, Amtrak and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced a $140 million plan for high-speed rail in the Keystone Corridor connecting Harrisburg and Philadelphia. The Keystone Corridor also provides direct links for travel north and south on the Northeast Corridor. Construction of a new intermodal terminal station at Harrisburg International Airport is part of the plan.
    
• T. F. Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island is proposing to build a $168 million Amtrak Station and 4,000 car parking garage which will directly link the airport with the Northeast Corridor.

Prior to September 11, the collaboration of air and rail was a response to the explosion in the demand for air travel which, fueled by deregulation, had overwhelmed the public aviation infrastructure. The resulting congestion contributed to increased air travel delays and significant costs to the US economy. Between 1999 and 2000, delays nationwide increased by 20 percent (FAA). The aviation industry has estimated that delays attributable to the air traffic control system - as opposed to weather - costs airlines and their passengers some $6.5 billion a year in lost productivity. In the tightly scheduled, hub-and-spoke operations of US airlines, adding just a few minutes of delay to each airline flight in the US can create gridlock throughout the nation’s aviation system. For example, on a typical day in June 2000, 5 to 15 minutes of unplanned holdings in the air for 15 flights bound for Newark affected some 250 aircraft throughout the system within 20 minutes, some as far west as Minneapolis. Airport efforts to create additional capacity by building new runways faces major challenges even though Congress provided additional funds for airport construction with passage of AIR 21.

The response to September 11 has accelerated the development of a different business model. Business travelers have changed their travel behavior in part due to security regulations and in part as a consequence of a slow down in the overall national economy. Business travelers are reducing their travel, changing the length of their trips, or switching to other modes. As a result of the events of 9/11 and the resulting impacts on business travel, the US Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General predicts that increased train travel on the Northeast Corridor will generate an additional $72 million in passenger revenues in Fiscal Year 2002. Significantly longer airport access times could raise this projection to as much as $150 million in incremental revenue. The greatest impacts will be on Acela Express markets between Boston-New York and New York-Washington. In the intermediate markets, for example Philadelphia-New York, Acela enjoyed high ridership prior to the attacks. In the longer through markets, such as Washington-Boston, any increase in air travel times is not so great as to fundamentally affect the preference air travel between these cities.

Intercity passenger rail service remains vital to the Northeast’s transportation system. The best summary of the issue was provided by the US DOT Inspector General, Kenneth Meade in testimony to the Senate Commerce Committee on March 14, 2002:

For example, an argument has been made that the rail infrastructure in the Northeast Corridor is a national asset and is essential to national mobility. The Northeast Corridor serves cities with four of the seven most congested airports in the United States, and has for several years carried more passengers between Washington and New York (62 percent of the total) than all airlines combined. Including intermediate stops on the New York to Washington route, Amtrak carries nearly three times as many passengers as the airlines. While the capital subsidies associated with maintaining the Northeast Corridor service may be higher than in other parts of the country, the contribution to regional mobility and the implications on congestion for other modes of transportation without it, may justify the significant capital investment.

• Fund intercity passenger rail in FFY2003 to $1.2 billion – a level needed to provide uninterrupted, safe and reliable service nationwide.
• Commit federal policy support for intercity passenger rail as part of the nation’s integrated transportation system.
• Create a dedicated source of federal capital funding for intercity passenger rail with a strong role for states.
• Create new programs and financing tools which encourage effective federal, state, private partnerships for coordinated development and funding of intercity passenger rail.