The Northeast Regional is an intercity rail service operated by Amtrak in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. In the past it has been known as the NortheastDirect, Acela Regional, or Regional. It is Amtrak's busiest route, carrying 8,686,930 passengers in fiscal year (FY) 2018, a 1.4% increase over the 8.57 million passengers in FY 2017. The Northeast Regional service earned over $613.9 million in gross ticket revenue in FY 2016, a 0.4% increase over the $611.7 million earned during FY 2015.
The Northeast Regional offers daily all-reserved service, usually at least every hour. Trains generally run along the Northeast Corridor between Boston in the north to Washington, D.C. in the south with multiple stops, including in New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Extensions and branches provide service to Newport News, Norfolk, and Roanoke, Virginia, and Springfield, Massachusetts, with intermediate stops.
Trains cover the most popular stretch between New York Penn Station and Washington Union Station in approximately 3.5 hours. The section between New York and Philadelphia takes 1.5 hours, while the part between Philadelphia and Washington takes 2 hours.
North of New York, the travel time to Boston is 4 hours, while trips to Springfield take 3.5 hours. South of Washington, trains take 4.5 hours to reach Newport News, 4.5 hours to reach Norfolk, or 5 hours to reach Roanoke.
History
The services along the line, as inherited from Penn Central, once had their own names, such as the "Yankee Clipper" and the "Federal"; typically a name applied to at most one train and its "twin" in the opposite direction. Electrification ended at New Haven, Connecticut, requiring an engine change. On October 28, 1995, Amtrak introduced the "NortheastDirect" brand for all trains on the Northeast Corridor (and its extension to Newport News, Virginia) except for the express and hourly services. The November 10, 1996, timetable restored the old names in addition to the NortheastDirect brand. The names (except the ) were dropped with the May 16, 1999, schedule.
In 2000, Amtrak completed electrifying the route from New Haven to Boston in preparation for the introduction of the Acela Express, thereby eliminating the engine change at New Haven. The first two all-electric round-trips to and from Boston were branded Acela Regional and equipped with refurbished Amfleet cars painted in the Acela-like "Phase V" livery. All-electric service began on January 31, 2000. The NortheastDirect branding continued to be used for trains which changed from electric to diesel traction in New Haven.
Due to customer confusion with the Acela Express, the name was changed again on March 17, 2003, to simply "Regional." As part of rebranding and service improvements, the name was changed to "Northeast Regional" on June 23, 2008 (though it also appeared on schedules several months beforehand).
On May 12, 2015, Northeast Regional Train 188, traveling from Washington, D.C., to New York City, derailed in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia, killing eight people and injuring more than 200 people. The train derailed along a curve and was determined to have been traveling at a speed of about 100 mph, exceeding the limit of 50 mph on that curve. This speed limit was not posted; engineers on that route are expected to rely on memory to control the speed of the train. Additionally, the train was suspected to have been hit by a projectile, as was a commuter train in the area shortly before the derailment.
Private sleeping rooms on overnight trains 65/66/67, last available in 2004 on the Federal, were made available effective April 5, 2021. The overnight trains were temporarily cancelled in January 2022; they resumed in July 2022 without sleepers. They were temporarily cancelled north of New York City effective April 4, 2023, due to Penn Station Access construction.
Virginia service
Some Northeast Regional trains continue into Virginia, serving three branches to Norfolk, Newport News, and Roanoke, serving points in between. These tracks are not electrified and are partially owned by both freight railroads and the State of Virginia.
Virginia and Amtrak partnered in 2009 under the brand Amtrak Virginia to expand passenger rail service within the Commonwealth, making Virginia the 15th state to fund state services in addition to federally funded routes.