The ''Atlantic City Express'' was an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

train that ran from both

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, Richmond, Springfield and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

to Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the Northeastern United States. The train operated on the Northeast Corridor to

30th Street Station 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, where it went east to Atlantic City.

History

The new service started service in May 1989, after Amtrak spent extra Northeast Corridor improvement funds to rehabilitate the 60.3 mile long

Atlantic City Line The Atlantic City Line (ACL) is a commuter rail line operated by NJ Transit (NJT) in the United States between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlantic City, New Jersey, operating along the corridor of the White Horse Pike. It runs over trackage ...

from Philadelphia to Atlantic City. The train was designed to provide service to gamblers and vacationers. The train made a single local stop on the Atlantic City Line. Amtrak completely renovated the

Lindenwold Station Lindenwold station is a train station in Lindenwold, New Jersey, United States, served by the NJ Transit Atlantic City Line regional rail service and the rapid transit PATCO Speedline. Lindenwold is the eastern terminus of PATCO; the system's h ...

and it served as a stop until July 1994, when the local stop was changed to the new Cherry Hill station due to low ridership at Lindenwold. Amtrak also operated some through services from Atlantic City to Richmond, Virginia and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In June 1990, Amtrak entered into a partnership with Midway Airlines to operate trains from Philadelphia International Airport to Atlantic City via

SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five c ...

. However, the service was short-lived, as Midway Airlines went bankrupt in the summer of 1991. The Amtrak service to Atlantic City never hit its expected ridership levels. In another effort to gain more riders, service was extended to Springfield, Massachusetts and

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

. Even then, most passengers traveled between New York and Philadelphia rather than continue on to Atlantic City. Amtrak also had to compete with a number of bus lines offering discounted rates at casinos. Although the trains were moderately successful, Amtrak still deemed that the poor showing of riders was not enough to warrant train service, and plans were made to discontinue the line. All Amtrak service to Atlantic City was discontinued after April 1, 1995. The following day,

New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

extended all

trains to Philadelphia; previously only a select few had run west of Lindenwold.

Atlantic City Express Service

A successor to the former Amtrak service, ''Atlantic City Express Service'' (ACES), began a weekend express train from

New York Penn Station Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station, is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers ...

to Atlantic City on February 6, 2009. The service was sponsored by several casinos and was run by New Jersey Transit over the Northeast Corridor and the Atlantic City Lines, with a stop in Newark. The last train ran in September 2011, with the train formally discontinued in 2012.

References

* *

External links

Atlantic City Express — 1994 timetable
* {{Former Amtrak routes Former Amtrak routes Railway services introduced in 1989 Railway services discontinued in 1995 Rail transportation in New Jersey Rail transportation in New York (state) Rail transportation in Pennsylvania Rail transportation in Washington, D.C. History of Atlantic City, New Jersey 1989 establishments in the United States 1989 establishments in New Jersey 1995 disestablishments in the United States 1995 disestablishments in New Jersey 1995 disestablishments in New York (state) 1995 disestablishments in Washington, D.C.