Amtrak

Amtrak, is the brand name of the intercity passenger train system created on May 1, 1971 in the United States. Officially known as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, the name Amtrak is a portmanteau of the words American travel by track. Nominally, Amtrak is an independent for-profit corporation, but all of its preferred stock is owned by the federal government, and the members of Amtrak's board of directors are appointed by the President of the United States and are subject to confirmation by the United States Senate. Some common stock is held by the private railroads which transferred their passenger service to Amtrak in 1971. Though Amtrak stock does not pay dividends and is not routinely traded, a small number of private investors have purchased Amtrak stock from its original owners. The interim president of Amtrak is David Hughes. Until November 9, 2005, David L. Gunn was president. Gunn was fired after a GAO report critical of the board's oversight was released on November 3, 2005. The current chairman of Amtrak's board is David Laney, a presidential appointee. By law, the Secretary of Transportation (currently Norman Mineta) also sits on the board, although Mineta has never attended a board meeting. Per Amtrak's authorizing legislation, there are to be seven directors forming the company's board. Aside from Laney and Mineta (or his designee), the Bush administration has only filled two other director seats. As of the date of Gunn's firing, both of those directors were recess appointments whose terms expire with the adjournment of the current session of the 109th Congress. 109th Congress

History

109th Congress, often called the "pointless arrow" or, less often but officially by Amtrak, the "inverted arrow". On July 6, 2000 Amtrak unveiled "a new logo whose shape and suggestion of movement convey the comfort and uniqueness of the rail experience." ]]

Background: pre-1971

Historically, on routes where a single railroad has had an undisputed monopoly, passenger service was as spartan and as expensive as the market and Interstate Commerce Commission regulation would bear, since such railroads had no need to advertise their freight services. But on routes where two or three railroads were in direct competition with each other for freight business, such railroads would spare no expense to make their passenger trains as fast, luxurious, and affordable as possible, because it was considered to be the most effective way of advertising their profitable freight services. As early as the 1930s, automobile travel had begun to cut into the rail passenger market, somewhat reducing economies of scale, but it was the development of the Interstate Highway System and of commercial aviation in the 1950s and 1960s that dealt the most damaging blows to rail transportation, both passenger and freight. There was little point in operating passenger trains to advertise freight service when those who made decisions about freight shipping traveled by car and by air, and when the railroads' chief competitors for that market were interstate trucking companies. Soon, the only things keeping most passenger trains running were legal obligations. Meanwhile, companies who were interested in using railroads for profitable freight traffic were looking for ways to get out of those legal obligations, and it looked like intercity passenger rail service would soon become extinct in the United States outside a few highly-populated corridors. The final blow came with the loss of railway post offices in the 1960s. The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) was formed in 1967 to lobby for the continuation of passenger trains. Its lobbying efforts were hampered somewhat by Democratic opposition to any sort of subsidies to the privately-owned railroads, and Republican opposition to nationalization of the railroad industry. The proponents were aided by the fact that few in the federal government wanted to be held responsible for the seemingly-inevitable extinction of the passenger train, which most regarded as tantamount to political suicide. The urgency of the need to solve the passenger train problem was heightened by the bankruptcy filing of the Penn Central, the dominant railroad in the Northeast U.S., on June 21, 1970. Under the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970, Congress created the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (NRPC) to subsidize and oversee the operation of intercity passenger trains. The Act provided that
- Any railroad operating intercity passenger service could contract with the NRPC, thereby joining the national system.
- Participating railroads bought into the new corporation using a formula based on their recent intercity passenger losses. The purchase price could be satisfied either by cash or rolling stock; in exchange, the railroads received Amtrak common stock.
- Any participating railroad was freed of the obligation to operate intercity passenger service after May 1, 1971, except for those services chosen by the Department of Transportation as part of a "basic system" of service and paid for by NRPC using its federal funds.
- Railroads who chose not to join the Amtrak system were required to continue operating their existing passenger service until 1975 and thenceforth had to pursue the customary ICC approval process for any discontinuance or alteration to the service. While it appeared for some time that President Nixon would veto the legislation, ultimately it was signed into law October 30, 1970. The original working brand name for NRPC was Railpax, but shortly prior to the company's assumption of intercity rail passenger operations, the name was changed to Amtrak. At the time, many Washington insiders, including President Nixon's and his aides, viewed the corporation as a face-saving way for the President and Congress to give passenger trains the one "last hurrah" demanded by the public, but expected that the NRPC would quietly disappear as a result of disinterest within a few years of its creation. However, while Amtrak's political and financial support have often been shaky, popular and political support for Amtrak has allowed it to survive long past its expected lifetime.

Early days: 1971-

At Amtrak's startup, 20 out of the 26 eligible railroads had elected to join the Amtrak system: #Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway #Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (no service until the West Virginian began September 8, 1971) #Burlington Northern Railroad #Central of Georgia Railway (has never hosted Amtrak service) #Chesapeake and Ohio Railway #Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad #Chicago and North Western Railway (never had any service) #Delaware and Hudson Railway (no Amtrak service until the Adirondack began August 6, 1974) #Grand Trunk Western Railroad (no Amtrak service until the Blue Water Limited began September 15, 1974) #Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad #Illinois Central Railroad #Louisville and Nashville Railroad #Missouri Pacific Railroad #Norfolk and Western Railway (no Amtrak service until the Mountaineer began March 25, 1975) #Northwestern Pacific Railroad (has never hosted Amtrak service) #Penn Central Transportation #Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad #Seaboard Coast Line Railroad #Southern Pacific Railroad #Union Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad, Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, Georgia Railroad, Reading Company and Southern Railway continued to run their own intercity trains after the Amtrak startup date. The Alaska Railroad provided long-distance service, but was already owned by the federal government. In addition, the Canadian Pacific Railway's Atlantic, taken over by VIA Rail in 1976, crossed northern Maine until 1994. Amtrak began operations May 1, 1971 on a system of about half the size of that operated the previous day. Several major corridors, including the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route across Ohio and the Grand Trunk Western Railroad's Chicago-Detroit line, became freight-only in favor of parallel lines. A 19-hour layover at Cincinnati was necessary for eastbound Chicago-Newport News travelers on the James Whitcomb Riley and George Washington. On the other hand, Amtrak's Coast Starlight (named November 14) was a first, running along the west coast from San Diego to Seattle, combining three separate trains operated by three railroads into one. The first timetable was compiled from former Official Guide of the Railways schedules with only minor changes. Former names were kept, and some trains were unnamed at first. By the July 12 timetable, service had returned to the Water Level Route with the Lake Shore (named November 14), and the Northeast Corridor received an Inland Route via Springfield, Massachusetts, thanks to money from New York, Ohio and Massachusetts. Due to pressure from Senator Mike Mansfield of Montana, the North Coast Hiawatha was implemented as a second route to the Pacific Northwest. The first all-new timetable was dated November 14, 1971, and included several name changes and names for most of the formerly unnamed trains. New numbers were also assigned to all trains. Another barrier, at Chicago, was broken with the Milwaukee-St. Louis Abraham Lincoln and Prairie State. The Southern joined on February 1, 1979, when its Southern Crescent became Amtrak's Crescent. The D&RGW last operated its Rio Grande Zephyr April 25, 1983, and Amtrak's San Francisco Zephyr was renamed the California Zephyr. The Zephyrs rerouting onto the scenic D&RGW was delayed by a mudslide and did not take place until July 15, 1983. The bankrupt CRI&P ran its last intercity passenger trains (the Chicago-Peoria Peoria Rocket and the Chicago-Rock Island Quad Cities Rocket) on December 31, 1978. The last Georgia Railroad mixed train was operated May 6, 1983 by the Seaboard System Railroad. The Reading Philadelphia-Newark Penn Station service stayed around into Conrail and was discontinued in 1983. CSS&SB trains still operate, now by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. Both the Reading and CSS&SB operations qualified as intercity passenger service, but were fundamentally longer-than-average distance commuter train operations. Except for the joining of routes through Oakland, California to create the continuous Coast Starlight, all Amtrak services on day one were continued from pre-Amtrak operations. The first all-new Amtrak route, in other words a route that had not been operated immediately prior to Amtrak, was the Montrealer/Washingtonian. That route was inaugurated September 29, 1972 along Boston and Maine Railroad and Canadian National Railway track that had last seen passenger service in 1966. In its original conception, Amtrak did not own any track and thus was not a true railroad. Following the bankruptcy declaration of several northeastern railroads in the early 1970s — particularly that of Penn Central, which owned and operated the Northeast Corridor, Congress passed the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 to create a consolidated, federally-subsidized freight network called Conrail. As part of this legislation, the vital Northeast Corridor passenger route was transferred to Amtrak, and the corporation became a true railroad for the first time. In subsequent years, various short route segments needed for passenger operations but not for freight were transferred to Amtrak ownership. However, the majority of Amtrak's routes are hosted by private railroads, to which Amtrak pays the costs of adding its passenger trains to the freight trains of the host railroad. At the beginning in 1971, the host railroads supplied the rolling stock and operating crews. Amtrak soon purchased the best of the railroad equipment and subsequently has purchased new equipment.Today, Amtrak trains are staffed by Amtrak employees but, other than on the routes that Amtrak owns outright, are dispatched by the host railroads on whose tracks these trains operate. The fuel shortages of the mid-1970s on the nation's highways and increased air fares which also resulted in creating a renewed interest in passenger rail travel. Given that railroads use fuel very efficiently, passenger rail travel no longer seemed quite so outmoded. Consequently, Amtrak's ridership began to increase. Another rebound occurred after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Conflicting goals
September 11, 2001 attacks] Amtrak was established to relieve railroads of their federally-mandated responsibility to transport passengers as a priority over freight. This was causing increasingly large financial losses for the railroads as the networks of federally-funded highways and airports expanded. From the outset, Amtrak was expected to pursue conflicting goals: Amtrak was supposed to continue providing a national rail passenger service in the face of significantly diminished demand while simultaneously operating as a commercial enterprise. There have been few times in history when any intercity rail passenger operation in the world has been profitable, even with respect to only its operating costs, and passenger trains have never brought in enough revenue to pay their infrastructure costs. Even highly efficient private-sector railroads such as the Norfolk and Western Railway could not earn a profit, or even recover operating expenses for passenger service. The concept of Amtrak as a for-profit business was fatally flawed before the first passenger boarded. Amtrak is in many ways dependent on freight railroads. As it owns little track, it must rely on maintenance done by the freight owners, and sometimes has to cancel service over routes taken out-of-service by the host freight railroad (as occurred recently with service to Phoenix, Arizona) or pay to maintain the tracks.
Politically-appointed leaders and congressional funding
Without a dedicated source of capital equipment and operating funding (except for competitive passenger fares and even less express income), Amtrak's continued operation has always been dependent upon the Executive and Legislative branches of the U.S. government. Both congressional funding and appointments of Amtrak's leaders are subject to political considerations, which have varied widely during its existence through seven U.S. presidencies and major shifts of power in the U.S. Congress. Because Amtrak's board and president are all political appointees, some have had little or no experience with railroads. However, Amtrak has also benefited from both highly skilled and politically-oriented leaders. For example, in 1982, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy and retired Southern Railway head W. Graham Claytor Jr. brought his naval and railroad experience to the job. Claytor had served briefly as an acting U.S. Secretary of Transportation in the cabinet of President Jimmy Carter in 1979, and came out of retirement to lead Amtrak after the disastrous financial results during the Carter administration (1977-1981). He was recruited and strongly supported by John H. Riley, an attorney who was the highly-skilled head of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) under the Reagan Administration from 1983-1989. Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole also tacitly supported Amtrak. Claytor seemed to enjoy a good relationship with the Congress for his 11 years in the position. Of course, politics aside, that may have also been because he did a good job. According to an article in Fortune magazine, through vigorous cost cutting and aggressive marketing, within 7 years under Claytor, Amtrak was generating enough cash to cover 72% of its $1.7 billion operating budget by 1989, up from 48% in 1981.
Myth of a self-sustaining Amtrak
Two of the leaders who followed Claytor lacked freight railroad or private-sector experience. Further, they each inherited the goal of making Amtrak operationally self-sufficient, an idea which began under David Stockman and his successors at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) while Claytor was Amtrak's president (circa 1986). Claytor's replacement was Thomas Downs. Downs had been city administrator of Washington DC, and oversaw the Union Station project, which had experienced both massive delays and cost overruns. Under Downs, Amtrak began to claim that it could achieve operating self-sufficiency, and its leaders seemed to be increasingly misleading as to the prospects of achieving that goal when pressed by Congress and the media. After Downs left Amtrak, George Warrington was appointed by the board as the company's next president. He had previously been in charge of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor Business Unit. When he took the helm of Amtrak in January, 1998, self-sufficiency was still officially a stated goal, although it was becoming elusive in the eyes of Congress. Under Warrington's administration, Amtrak was mandated by the Administration and Congress to become totally self-sufficient within a five-year period, and all its management efforts were directed to that goal. Passengers became "guests" and there were expansions into express freight work. Finally, at the end of the 5-year period, it became clear that self-sufficiency was an unachievable goal, no matter how much additional express revenue was gained or how many cuts were made in Amtrak services. 1998, after departing from Chicago in 1993.]] In fairness, while both Downs and Warrington had extensive experience in government, neither had the non-governmental cost accounting or practical experience in private-sector railroading that Claytor had had. Claytor also enjoyed the benefit of serving during the Reagan Administration when increases in federal spending on military items was drawing a lot of the political attention in Congress. The efforts to expand Amtrak's express income were unpopular with the host freight railroads, who did not want the additional Amtrak traffic it brought (or the competition). The express work also brought Amtrak new political enemies in the powerful trucking lobby before Congress. Warrington also had the burden of delays in implementation of the new Acela Express high-speed trainsets, which promised to be a strong source of income and favorable publicity along the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington DC. When David L. Gunn was selected as Amtrak president in April 2002, Amtrak self-sufficiency had largely fallen out of favor as a realistic short-term goal. Gunn came with a reputation as a strong, straightforward and experienced operating manager, but his blunt style sometimes put him at odds with others. Years earlier, Gunn's refusal to "do politics" put him at odds with the WMATA (Metro) board, which includes representatives from the District of Columbia and suburban jurisdictions in Maryland and Virginia during his tenure from 1991-1994. His work as president of the New York City Transit Authority from 1984 to 1990 and as Chief General Manager of the Toronto Transit Commission in Canada from 1995-1999 earned him a great deal of operating credibility, despite a sometimes-rough relationship with politicians and labor unions. The two agencies were each the largest transit operations of their respective countries. Prior to 1974, Gunn also gained private-sector railroad experience with Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, the New York Central Railroad System (before their 1968 merger into Penn Central) and for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Before that, he had experience with the U.S. Navy in the Naval Reserve. Supporters consider Gunn's credentials to be the strongest at the head of Amtrak since W. Graham Claytor came out of retirement by request in 1982. Gunn was polite but direct in response to congressional criticism. He was also seen as more credible than some of his recent predecessors by Congress, the media, and many Amtrak supporters and employees. Perhaps more than any past president of Amtrak, Gunn seemed willing to publicly confront the policy and budget positions of the President of the United States who appointed the board at whose pleasure the Amtrak president serves. In a departure from his recent predecessors' promises to make Amtrak self-sufficient in the short term, the Gunn administration took the stance that no form of mass passenger transportation in the United States is self-sufficient as the economy is currently structured, and that Amtrak should not be judged by different standards than other transport modes. Highways, airports, and air traffic control all require large government expenditures to build and operate, although some of those expenditures are not as obvious as Amtrak's direct subsidies, instead appearing as user fees and highway fuel and road taxes. Before a congressional hearing, Gunn answered a demand by leading Amtrak critic Arizona Senator John McCain to eliminate all operating subsidies by asking the Senator if he would also demand the same of the commuter airlines, upon whom the citizens of Arizona are dependent. McCain, usually not at a loss for words when debating Amtrak funding, did not reply. Some of Gunn's actions have been seen by many as politically wise. He had been very proactive in reducing layers of management overhead and has eliminated almost all of the controversial express business. He had stated that continued deferred maintenance will become a safety issue which he will not tolerate. This improved labor relations to some extent, even as Amtrak's ranks of unionized and salaried workers have been reduced. On November 9, 2005, Amtrak's board of directors asked David L. Gunn to step down as president. He refused and was terminated. David Hughes was named as acting president and CEO until a permanent replacement can be appointed. David Laney, Amtrak's chairman, stated "Amtrak's future now requires a different type of leader who will aggressively tackle the company's financial, management and operational challenges. The need to bring fundamental change to Amtrak is greater and more urgent than ever before." The board envisions fundamental changes for the railroad including increasing competition and shared financial responsibilities with states.
Federal funding
Amtrak's ongoing need for federal government funding leads to recurring budget crises and debates over its possible elimination. A stalemate in federal subsidization of Amtrak has led to cutbacks in services and routes for the last several years, and some deferred maintenance. In fiscal 2004 and 2005, Congress appropriated about $1.2 billion for Amtrak, $300 million more than President Bush had requested. However, the company's board has requested $1.8 billion through fiscal 2006, the majority of which, about $1.3 billion, would be used to bring infrastructure, rolling stock, and motive power back to a state of good repair. In Congressional testimony, the Department of Transportation's inspector-general confirmed that Amtrak would need at least $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion in fiscal 2006 and $2 billion in fiscal 2007 just to maintain the status quo. As has been the practice in most years, the current budget proposal from the U.S. President to the Congress does not support Amtrak's continued existence in its current form. Hoping to spur Congress to overhaul the way Amtrak does business, the budget proposed by the Bush Administration for fiscal 2006 would eliminate Amtrak's operating subsidy and set aside $360 million to run trains along the Northeast Corridor once the railroad ceases operating. Several states have entered into operating partnerships with Amtrak, notably California, Illinois, Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.
National impact
states 2004.]] Amtrak employs over 19,000 people. The nationwide network of 22,000 miles of routes serves 500 communities in 46 of the United States, with some of the routes serving communities in Canadian provinces along the United States border. In fiscal year 2004, Amtrak routes served over 25 million passengers, a company record.
Gaps in service
The only states that are not served by Amtrak trains are Alaska (served by the Alaska Railroad), Hawaii, South Dakota, and Wyoming (lost service in the 1997 cuts; served by Amtrak's Thruway Motorcoaches). In addition, many large cities are not served by Amtrak such as
- Las Vegas, Nevada (lost service in the 1997 cuts),
- Boise, Idaho (same),
- Nashville, Tennessee,
- Louisville, Kentucky and
- Columbus, Ohio. Other cities are not served directly due to inconvenient water barriers including Norfolk and Virginia Beach in the Hampton Roads area, and San Francisco, where trains stop across the bay in Oakland and Emeryville. Others have only indirect service for other reasons, such as Phoenix, Arizona, which is served via Thruway coach from the Southwest Chief train at Flagstaff, Arizona or the nearby, yet remote due to a lack of any public transportation connection, Maricopa, Arizona roughly thirty miles from the city.
Amtrak routes and services
Maricopa, ArizonaAmtrak has a complex albeit decentralized management structure wherein individual train conductors and other staff are assigned to particular routes or stations whereas ticket sales are managed by a nationwide computer system. As a general rule, even-numbered routes run north and east while odd numbered routes run south and west. However, some routes, such as the Pacific Surfliners, use the exact opposite numbering system, which they inherited from the previous operators of similar routes, such as the Santa Fe Railroad. Amtrak gives each of its train routes a name. These names often reflect the rich and complex history of the route itself, or of the area traversed by the route.
Commuter services
Through various commuter services, Amtrak serves an additional 61.1 million passengers per year in conjunction with state and regional authorities in California, Washington, Maryland, Connecticut, and Virginia:
- CalTrain (San Francisco and San Jose)
- Sounder Commuter Rail (Seattle, Washington and the Puget Sound area)
- San Diego Coaster (San Diego)
- MARC (Maryland)
- Shore Line East (Connecticut)
- Virginia Railway Express (VRE) In the past, Amtrak has operated Metrolink . and MBTA Commuter Rail.
Freight services
Amtrak Express provides small package and less-than-truckload shipping services between more than 100 cities. Amtrak Express also offers station-to-station shipment of human remains to many express cities. At smaller stations, funeral directors must load and unload the shipment onto and off the train. Amtrak also hauled mail for the United States Postal Service as well as time sensitive freight shipments, but discontinued these services in October of 2004. On most parts of the few lines that Amtrak owns, it has trackage rights agreements allowing freight railroads to use its trackage.
Intermodal connections
Intermodal connections between Amtrak trains and other transportation are available at many stations. With few exceptions, Amtrak rail stations located in downtown areas have connections to local public transit. Amtrak also code shares with Continental Airlines providing service between Newark Liberty International Airport (via its Amtrak station) and Philadelphia 30th St, Wilmington, Stamford, and New Haven. In addition, Amtrak serves airport stations at Milwaukee and Baltimore. Amtrak also coordinates Thruway Motorcoach service to extend many of its routes, particularly in California.
Guest Rewards
California Amtrak operates a loyalty program called Guest Rewards, which is similar to the frequent flyer programs offered by many airlines. Guest Rewards members accumulate points by riding Amtrak and through other activities. Members can then redeem these points for free Amtrak tickets and other awards.
Trains and tracks
Most tracks are owned by freight railroads. Amtrak operates over all seven Class I railroads, as well as several short lines - the Guilford Rail System, New England Central Railroad and Vermont Railway. Other sections are owned by terminal railroads jointly controlled by freight companies or by commuter rail agencies.
Tracks owned by the company
Along the NEC and in several other areas, Amtrak owns 730 route-miles of track (1175 km), including 17 tunnels consisting of 29.7 miles of track (47.8 km), and 1,186 bridges (including the famous Hell Gate Bridge) consisting of 42.5 miles (68.4 km) of track. Amtrak owns and operates the following lines. ;Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C. and Boston via Philadelphia and New York is largely composed of Amtrak's own tracks. These are combined with those of several state and regional commuter agencies in what amounts to a cooperative arrangement. Amtrak's portion was acquired in 1976 as a result of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act.
- Boston to the Massachusetts/Rhode Island state line (operated and maintained by Amtrak but owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts)
- 118.3 miles (190.4 km), Massachusetts/Rhode Island state line to New Haven, Connecticut
- 240 miles (386 km), New Rochelle, New York to Washington, D.C. ;Keystone Corridor This line runs from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and is in the midst of a rehabilitation project that will eventually see 110 mph (about 175 km/h) service.
- 104 miles (167 km), Philadelphia to Harrisburg (Pennsylvanian and Keystone Service) ;Empire Corridor
- 11 miles (18 km), New York Penn Station to Spuyten Duyvil, New York
- 35.9 miles (57.8 km), Stuyvesant to Schenectady, New York (operated and maintained by Amtrak, but owned by CSX)
- 8.5 miles (13.8 km), Schenectady to Hoffmans, New York ;New Haven-Springfield Line
- 60.5 mi (97.4 km), New Haven to Springfield (Regional and Vermonter) ;Other tracks
- Chicago-Detroit Line - 98 miles (158 km), Porter, Indiana to Kalamazoo, Michigan (Wolverine)
- Chicago-Detroit Line - 4 miles (6 km) in Detroit, Michigan, CP Townline to CP West Detroit (Wolverine)
- Post Road Branch - 12.42 miles (20 km), Post Road Junction to Rensselaer, New York (Lake Shore Limited) Amtrak also owns station and yard tracks in: Chicago, Hialeah (near Miami, Florida) (leased from the State of Florida), Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Oakland (Kirkham Street Yard), Orlando, Portland, Oregon, Saint Paul, Minnesota, Seattle, Washington, DC Amtrak wholly owns the Chicago Union Station Company (Chicago Union Station) and Penn Station Leasing (New York Penn Station). It has a 99.7% interest in the Washington Terminal Company (Washington Union Station) and 99% of 30th Street Limited (Philadelphia 30th Street Station). Also owned by Amtrak is Passenger Railroad Insurance.
Motive power and rolling stock
Amtrak operates 425 locomotives (351 diesel and 74 electric), 2,141 railroad cars including several types of passenger cars (including 168 sleeper cars, 760 coach cars, 126 first class/business class cars, 66 dormitory/crew cars, 225 lounge/café/dinette cars, and 92 dining cars). Many are Superliner I and II models, Amfleet I and II, Horizon Fleet. The newest sleeping car in service is the Viewliner. Baggage cars, autoracks for Auto Train service, and maintenance of way rolling stock make up the remainder of the fleet. The original cars that Amtrak inherited from the railroads in 1971 are known as the Heritage Fleet and are almost all retired. Twenty Acela Express trainsets have been used to provide popular high-speed rail service along the Northeast Corridor between South Station in Boston and Union Station in Washington D.C. This service has been so popular, in fact, that the Acela trains even cover their "above the rail" costs (operating expenses, but not capital to maintain infrastructure). However, the innovative service has not been without problems. In April 2005, all 20 trainsets were removed from service to repair cracked brake rotors. All trainsets were returned to service by September of that year.
References

- Amtrak System Timetable, Fall 2004/Winter 2005
- [http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/Title_Image_Copy_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1081442674477&ssid=161 Amtrak financial reports]
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- # # # # Amtrak (November 9 2005), [http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/News_Release_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1093554026306&ssid=180 Amtrak Board Releases Gunn]. Retrieved November 9 2005. # # #
See also

- Amtrak California - A partnership of Caltrans and Amtrak.
- Amtrak Cascades - A partnership of Washington State DOT and Amtrak.
- Auto-Train Corporation - Private company that pioneered car-on-train service. Service lives on as Amtrak's Auto Train (no hyphen).
- List of Amtrak stations
- Superliner (railcar)
- Thruway Motorcoach
- Amtrak Discount Codes - Amtrak offers a variety of discount codes for some routes and times. They new codes appear and expire regularly.
External links
;Corporate sites
- [http://www.amtrak.com/ Amtrak.com]
- [http://www.amtrakcascades.com/ Amtrak Cascades Corridor]
- [http://www.amtrakcapitols.com/ Amtrak Capitol Corridor]
- [http://www.amtrakcalifornia.com/ Amtrak California]
- [http://www.mitrain.org/ Amtrak Michigan Services]
- [http://www.amtrakguestrewards.com/ Amtrak Guest Rewards] ;Passenger train advocacy
- [http://www.narprail.org/ National Association of Railroad Passengers]
- [http://www.trainweb.org/crocon/amtrak.html Friends of Amtrak]
- [http://www.saveamtrak.net/ Save Amtrak]
- [http://www.unitedrail.org United Rail Passenger Alliance] ;External articles
- [http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/001/123clbam.asp Amtrak's beginnings] - via http://Trains.com
- [http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/amtrak/index.html?s=spusa All Aboard?] - via http://CSMonitor.com ;History
- [http://www.amtrakhistoricalsociety.com/ Amtrak Historical Society]
- [http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/001/138fddcg.asp Trains Operating on the Eve of Amtrak (1971-04-30)]
- [http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/Rail/Amtk/routes_1971.html Amtrak's First Trains & Routes (1971-05-01)]
- [http://groups.google.com/group/bit.listserv.railroad/msg/71c75eb00db0da08?hl=en Amtrak timetable, 1971-11-14]
- Mike Schafer, Amtrak's atlas, Trains June 1991
- Kevin McKinney, At the dawn of Amtrak, Trains June 1991 ;Miscellaneous
- [http://www.railserve.com/railnews/amtrak_news.html Amtrak News]
- [http://forums.amtraktrains.com/ Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Boards]
- [http://www.usa-by-rail.com/ USA by Rail guide]
- [http://www.on-track-on-line.com/amtrak-freqs.shtml Amtrak Radio Frequencies] (includes information on the owners of the tracks) Category:Amtrak Category:Rail transport ja:アムトラック

Brand name
, is one of the world's most famous brands]] In marketing, a brand is the symbolic embodiment of all the information connected with a product or service. A brand typically includes a name, logo, and other visual elements such as images, fonts, color schemes, or symbols. It also encompasses the set of expectations associated with a product or service which typically arise in the minds of people. Such people include employees of the brand owner, people involved with distribution, sale or supply of the product or service, and ultimately consumers. In other contexts the term "brand" may be used where the legal term trademark is more appropriate.
Concepts
Some marketers distinguish the psychological aspect of a brand from the experiential aspect. The experiential aspect consists of the sum of all points of contact with the brand and is known as the brand experience. The psychological aspect, sometimes referred to as the brand image, is a symbolic construct created within the minds of people and consists of all the information and expectations associated with a product or service. Marketers seek to develop or align the expectations comprising the brand experience through branding, so that a brand carries the "promise" that a product or service has a certain quality or characteristic which make it special or unique. A brand image may be developed by attributing a "personality" to or associating an "image" with a product or service, whereby the personality or image is "branded" into the consciousness of consumers. A brand is therefore one of the most valuable elements in an advertising theme, as it demonstrates what the brand owner is able to offer in the marketplace. The art of creating and maintaining a brand is called brand management. brand managementA brand which is widely known in the marketplace acquires brand recognition. Where brand recognition builds up to a point where a brand enjoys a mass of positive sentiment in the marketplace, it is said to have achieved brand franchise. One goal in brand recognition is the identification of a brand without the name of the company present. Disney has been successful at branding with their particular script font (originally Walt Disney's signature, but later translated to go.com). Brand equity measures the total value of the brand to the brand owner, and reflects the extent of brand franchise. The term brand name is often used interchangeably with "brand", although it is more correctly used to specifically denote written or spoken linguistic elements of a brand. In this context a "brand name" constitutes a type of trademark, if the brand name exclusively identifies the brand owner as the commercial source of products or services. A brand owner may seek to protect proprietary rights in relation to a brand name through trademark registration. The act of associating a product or service with a brand has become part of pop culture. Most products have some kind of brand identity, from common table salt to designer clothes. In non-commercial contexts, the marketing of entities which supply ideas or promises rather than product and services (eg. political parties or religious organizations) may also be known as "branding". Consumers may look on branding as an important value added aspect of products or services, as it often serves to denote a certain attractive quality or characteristic. From the perspective of brand owners, branded products or services also command higher prices. Where two products resemble each other, but one of the products has no associated branding (such as a generic, store-branded product), people may often select the more expensive branded product on the basis of the quality of the brand or the reputation of the brand owner. Advertising spokespersons have also become part of some brands, for example: Mr. Whipple of Charmin toilet tissue and Tony the Tiger of Kellogg’s.
History
Brands in the field of marketing originated in the 19th century with the advent of packaged goods. Industrialization moved the production of many household items, such as soap, from local communities to centralized factories. These factories, generating mass-produced goods, needed to sell their products to a wider market, to a customer base familiar only with local goods. It quickly became apparent that a generic package of soap had difficulty competing with familiar, local products. The packaged goods manufacturers needed to convince the market that the public could place just as much trust in the non-local product. Around 1900, James Walter Thompson published a house ad explaining trademark advertising. This was an early commercial explanation of what we now know as branding. Many brands of that era, such as Uncle Ben's rice and Kellogg's breakfast cereal furnish illustrations of the problem. The manufacturers wanted their products to appear and feel as familiar as the local farmers' produce. From there, with the help of advertising, manufacturers quickly learned to associate other kinds of brand values, such as youthfulness, fun or luxury, with their products. This kickstarted the practice we now know as branding.
Examples of well known brand names
Business Week magazine publishes an annual "brand scorecard" of the top 100 most valuable brands worldwide. Some results from the 2005 survey, which contained 53 American, 37 European, 7 Japanese, and 3 South Korean brands, are listed below. The European breakdown is as follows: 9 German, 8 French, 5 Swiss, 4.5 British, 4 Italian, 3.5 Dutch, 1 Finnish, 1 Spanish, and 1 Swedish
United States Of America

- American Express (credit card)
- Apple (computer)
- Citi (banking)
- Coca-Cola (soft drink)
- Disney (entertainment)
- Ford Motor Company (automobiles)
- GE (household appliances)
- Gillette (shaving accessories)
- Google (internet)
- Heinz (food)
- IBM (computer)
- Intel (computer)
- KFC (fast food restaurant)
- Levi's (clothing retailer)
- Marlboro (tobacco)
- McDonald's (fast food restaurant)
- Microsoft (software)
- Nike (footwear)
- Pepsi (soft drink)
- Starbucks (coffee)
- Harley Davidson (motorcycles)
Europe

- BMW (carmaker—Germany)
- BP (petrol—UK)
- Chanel (luxury apparel—France)
- Gucci (luxury apparel—Italy)
- HSBC (banking—UK)
- IKEA (furniture—Sweden)
- Louis Vuitton (leather goods and luxury apparel—France)
- MMA (insurance France)
- Mercedes-Benz (automobile line—Germany)
- Nestlé (food—Switzerland)
- Nokia (mobile phones—Finland)
- Philips (electronics—Netherlands)
- SAP (software—Germany)
- UBS (banking—Switzerland)
- Volkswagen (carmaker—Germany)
Japan

- Canon (photography)
- Honda (automobiles)
- Matsushita (electronics)
- Nintendo (video games)
- Nissan (automobiles)
- Sony (electronics)
- Toyota (automobiles)
South Korea

- Hyundai (automobiles)
- LG (electronics)
- Samsung (electronics and mobile phones)
Criticisms of branding
Criticism has been leveled against the concept and implementation of brands, much of it associated with the "antiglobalization" movement. One of the better known criticisms of branding is found in Naomi Klein's book, No Logo. The book claims that corporations' brands serve as structures for corporations to hide behind, and that such global problems as sweatshop labor and environmental degradation have been permitted and exacerbated by branding. Criticism of branding also comes from within corporations, with some employees becoming frustrated by being limited by overall brand strategies that restrict what they can say, how they say it, and what Pantone colour to say it in. Some shareholders also have concerns about the amount of money invested in branding. Skepticism toward branding has also grown in parts of the marketing community since the end of the dotcom boom, though for a very different reason: in many ways, branding has failed to live up to its promise.

Passenger train

Train#Passenger trains

1971

1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar).

Events

January

- January 1 - British Divorce Reform Act comes into force
- January 2 - 66 die in stairway crush at Rangers v Celtic football match, Glasgow, Scotland. See Ibrox disaster.
- January 2 - A ban on television cigarette advertisements goes into effect in the United States.
- January 3 - BBC Open University begins in the United Kingdom
- January 7 - Howard Hughes breaks his silence to announce that his supposed biography is a forgery.
- January 8 – Tupamaros kidnap Geoffrey Jackson, British ambassador to Uruguay, in Montevideo; they keep him captive until September
- January 9 – Uruguayan president Jorge Pacheco Areco demands emergency powers for 90 days due to kidnappings and receives them the next day
- January 14 – 70 Brazilian political prisoners released in Santiago. Giovanni Enrico Bucher is released January 16
- January 15 - Aswan Dam officially opened
- January 18 – Strikes in Poland demand resignation of interior minister Kazimierz Switala. He resigns January 23 and is replaced by Franciszek Szlachcic
- January 19 – Representatives of 23 western oil companies begin negotiations with OPEC in Tehran to stabilize oil prices. February 14 they sign a treaty with six Persian Gulf countries
- January 19 - No, No Nanette premieres (46th Street Theatre, New York City)
- January 24 – Guinean government sentences to death 92 Guineans who helped Portuguese troops in the failed landing attempts in November 1970. 72 are sentenced to hard labor for life. 58 of the sentenced are hanged the next day
- January 25 - Charles Manson and three female "family members" are found guilty of the 1969 murder of Sharon Tate and others at Sharon's house
- January 25 - Idi Amin leads a coup deposing Milton Obote and becomes Uganda's president
- January 25 - Himachal Pradesh becomes the 18th Indian state
- January 31 - Apollo program: US spaceflight Apollo 14, commanded by Alan Shepard, lifts off on the third successful lunar landing mission

February

- February 2 - Idi Amin ousts Milton Obote and assumes power in Uganda
- February 4 - In Britain, Rolls Royce goes bankrupt - state takes over
- February 5 - Apollo 14 lands on the Moon.
- February 7 - Tuscany, Italy, wrecked in an earthquake
- February 7 - Men of Switzerland vote for giving voting rights to women in state elections - but not in all canton-specific ones.
- February 7 – Wladyslaw Gomulka is expelled from central council of the Polish communist party
- February 8 - A new stock market index called the Nasdaq debuts
- February 9 - The 6.4 on the Richter Scale Sylmar earthquake hits the San Fernando Valley area of California.
- February 9 - Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to become voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
- February 9 - Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned moon landing
- February 11 - US, UK, USSR, others sign Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons.
- February 11-12 – Palestinian and Jordanian fighters clash in Amman
- February 13 - Vietnam War: Backed by American air and artillery support, South Vietnamese troops invade Laos.
- February 15 - "Decimalisation Day" - United Kingdom and Ireland both switch to decimal currency. See also decimalisation.
- February 15 – Angry Belgian farmers crash the EEC meeting in Brussels with three live cows with them
- February 16 – In Italy, local parliament elects the city of Catanzaro as the capital of Calabria – residents of Reggio di Calabria riot for five days because of the decision
- February 20 – 50 tornadoes rage in Mississippi – 74 dead
- February 20 - US Emergency Broadcast System sends an erroneous warning - many radio stations just ignore it
- February 21 - The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
- February 26 - Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
- February 27 - Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start to perform abortus provocatus

March

- March 1 - Bomb explodes in men's room in the White House - Weather Underground claims responsibility.
- March 1 - Pakistani President Yahya Khan indefinitely postponed the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
- March 1 - Canadian John Robarts ends his term of office as 17th premier of Ontario
- March 5 – Pakistani army occupies the East Pakistan
- March 7 – Strike of British postal workers ends after 47 days
- March 10 - Twenty-sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution lowers voting age to 18.
- March 12 - Hafez al-Assad becomes president of Syria.
- March 16 – Government of Trygve Bratteli in Norway
- March 18 - A landslide at Chungar, Peru crashes into Lake Yanahuani killing 200
- March 23 – Military coup in Argentina – general Alejandro Lanusse takes power
- March 25 – Pakistani army starts massive killing in East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh, after an open, non-democratic denial by Pakistani president Yahiya Khan, a military ruler, of election results that gave Awami League an overwhelming majority in the parliament.
- March 26 - The Independence Day of Bangladesh.
- March 29 - Filming begins on The Godfather. Shooting starts on Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. The movie, released in 1972, won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay.
- March 29 - William Calley is found guilty of 22 murders in My Lai massacre and sentenced to life in prison. He is later pardoned.
- March 29 - A Los Angeles, California jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers.

April

- April 1 - United Kingdom lifts all restrictions on gold ownership
- April 5 – In Ceylon, group calling himself People’s Liberation Front begins a rebellion against Bandaranaike government
- April 5 – Chile and East Germany form diplomatic relations
- April 5 - Mount Etna erupts
- April 7 – Greece releases 261 political prisoners, 50 of which are sent to internal exile
- April 8 – Right-wing coup attempt exposed in Laos
- April 9 - Charles Manson is sentenced to death but the sentence is commuted to life imprisonment.
- April 12 – Palestinians retreat from Amman to north of Jordan
- April 17 – Bangladesh makes official declaration of independence but Pakistani troops continue the fighting
- April 17 - Libya, Syria and Egypt sign an agreement to form a confederation.
- April 19 – Government of Bangladesh flees to India
- April 19 – Sierra Leone becomes a republic
- April 19 – Unemployment in UK is 3.4%
- April 19 - Soviet Union launches Saljut I.
- April 19 - Followers of Charles Manson, the Manson Family, are sentenced to gas chamber.
- April 20 - Supreme Court of the United States rules unanimously that busing of students may be ordered to achieve racial desegregation.
- April 20 – Cambodian Prime Minister Lon Nol resigns
- April 21 – Siaka Stevens is elected the first president of Sierra Leone
- April 21 – François Duvalier, president of Haiti, dies—his son Jean-Claude Duvalier follows him as president-for-life
- April 24 – Soyuz 10 docks with Salyut 1
- April 24 – 500,000 people in Washington DC and 125,000 in San Francisco march against the Vietnam War
- April 24 - Tsunami 85 m high rises over Ryukyu Islands in Japan. It throws a 750-ton block of coral 2.5 km inland
- April 25 – Todor Zhivkov re-elected as the leader of the Bulgarian communist party
- April 25 – Franz Jonas re-elected as the new chancellor of Austria
- April 26 – Government of Turkey declares the state of siege in 11 provinces, Ankara included, because of violent demonstrations
- April 29 – Bolivia nationalizes American-owned zinc mine of Matilde
- April 29 - The third anniversary of the Broadway musical Hair was celebrated with a concert at a Central Park bandshell.

May

- May 1 - Amtrak begins operation of intercity rail passenger service in the United States
- May 1 – Ceylonese government promises amnesty for those guerillas who surrender before April 5
- May 2 – in Ceylon left-wing guerillas launch a series of assaults against public buildings
- May 3 – Harris public opinion poll claims that 60% of Americans are against the war in Vietnam
- May 3 – East German leader Walter Ulbricht resigns as a party leader but retains the positions of the head of state
- May 3 - Anti-war militants attempt to disrupt government business in Washington, D.C.; police and military units arrest as many as 12,000, most of whom are later released.
- May 3 - All Things Considered, National Public Radio's flagship news program, broadcasts for the first time.
- May 5 – US dollar floods the European currency markets and threatens especially the Deutsche Mark – Central banks of Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland stop the currency trading
- May 6 – Ceylon government begins a major offensive against the People's Liberation Front
- May 9 – Launch of Mariner 8 fails
- May 12 – Earthquake in Turkey destroys most of the city of Burdur
- May 15 – Israeli ambassador to Turkey, Efraim Elrom, is kidnapped. He is found killed in Istanbul May 25
- May 16 – Coup attempt exposed and foiled in Egypt
- May 19 - Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union
- May 26 – Austria and People's Republic of China form diplomatic relations
- May 26 - Qantas agrees to pay $500,000 to Bomb hoaxer-extortionist Mr Brown (Peter Marcini) (Later Arrested)
- May 27 – Six armed passengers hijack Romanian passenger plane and force it to fly to Vienna
- May 27 - Christie's auctions diamond later known as Deepdene - it is later found to be artificially colored
- May 28 – Portugal resigns from UNESCO
- May 30 - Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched toward Mars
- May 31 - The birth of a new country, Bangladesh, is declared by the government in exile from territory formerly part of Pakistan.

June

- June 1 - Vietnam War: Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace, claiming to represent the majority of U.S. veterans who served in southeast Asia, speak against war protests
- June 6 - Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 launches.
- June 6 - A midair collision between a Hughes Airwest Douglas DC-9 jetliner and a U.S. Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom jet fighter near Duarte, California claims 50 lives.
- June 10 – USA ends trade embargo of China.
- June 13 - Vietnam War: The New York Times begins to publish the Pentagon Papers. [http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/48.htm].
- June 13 - Gijs van Lennep wins the 24 hours of Le Mans together with Helmet Marko.
- June 14 - Norway begins oil production in North Sea.
- June 17 - Representatives of Japan and the United States sign the Okinawa Reversion Agreement, setting out a plan where the U.S. would return control of Okinawa.[http://www.niraikanai.wwma.net/pages/archive/rev71.html]
- June 20 – Britain announces that Soviet space scientist Anatoli Fedosejev has been granted asylum.
- June 21 – Britain begins new negotiations for EEC membership in Luxembourg.
- June 25 – Madagascar accuses USA of being connected to the plot to oust the current government – USA recalls its ambassador.
- June 28 - Assassin Jerome A. Johnson shoots Joe Colombo to the head in a middle of a Italian-American rally. Colombo goes into coma.
- June 30 - After a successful mission aboard Salyut 1, the world's first manned space station, the crew of the Soyuz 11 spacecraft are killed when their air supply leaks out through a faulty valve.

July

- July 3 - Doors musician Jim Morrison in found dead in his Paris apartment.
- July 5 - Right to vote: The voting age in the United States is reduced from 21 to 18 (provision of the 26th Amendment formally certified by President Richard Nixon on this day).
- July 9 - United Kingdom increases its troops in Northern Ireland to 11,000.
- July 10-11 – Coup attempt in Morocco - 1400 cadets take over the king's palace for three hours and kill 28 people; 158 rebels die when king's troops storm the palace. Ten high-ranking officers are later executed for involvement.
- July 13 – Ólafur Jóhannesson's government in Iceland.
- July 13 – Jordanian army troops launch offensive against Palestinian guerillas in Jordan.
- July 14 – Libya severs its diplomatic ties to Morocco.
- July 14 – Yugoslavian government allows foreign companies to take their profits from the country.
- July 16 - Francisco Franco makes Prince Juan Carlos his successor.
- July 16 - The four billionth baby was born. (see World Population).
- July 17 – Italy and Austria sign a treaty that ends the schism about South Tyrol.
- July 18 – Trucial States formed in the Persian Gulf.
- July 19-23 – Military coup in Sudan ousts Jaafar Muhammad al-Nemieri and major Hashem al-Atta takes over. Fighting continues until on July 22 pro-Nimeiri troops win. Al-Atta and 3 officers are executed July 23. Nimeiri launches an anti-communist campaign.
- July 26 - Apollo program: Launch of Apollo 15. On July 31 the Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover a day after landing on the surface.
- July 28 - Abdel Madgoub, Sudanese communist leader, is hanged.
- July 29 - The United Kingdom opts out of the Space Race with the cancellation of its Black Arrow launch vehicle.
- July 30 – In Japan, an All Nippon Airways Boeing 727 collides with a Japanese fighter jet – 162 dead.

August

- August 9 - India signs a twenty year treaty of friendship and cooperation with the Soviet Union.
- August 9 - British security forces in Northern Ireland detain hundreds of guerilla suspects and put them into Long Kesh - the beginning of an internment without trial policy. 20 die in riots that follow.
- August 12 – 3000 people from Belfast and Londonderry flee to Ireland because of the violence
- August 12 – Syria severs diplomatic relations to Jordan because of border clashes
- August 14 – British troops stationed on Ireland border to stop arms smuggling
- August 14 - Emirate of Bahrain declares independence
- August 15 – Number of British troops in Northern Ireland rises to 12,500
- August 15 - President Richard Nixon announces that the United States would no longer convert dollars to gold at a fixed value, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system
- August 18 - Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam
- August 18 – British troops in firefight in Londonderry
- August 19-22 – Right-wing coup ignites a rebellion in Bolivia. Miners and students join troops to support president Juan Jose Torres but eventually Hugo Banzer takes over
- August 25 – Border clashes between Tanzania and Uganda
- August 25 – Large flood in Bangladesh and eastern Bengal – thousands flee the area
- August 26 - Civilian government in Greece.
- August 30 - The Alberta Progressive Conservatives under Peter Lougheed defeat the Social Credit government under Harry E. Strom in a general election, ending 36 years of uninterrupted power for Social Credit in Alberta.

September

- September 3 - Qatar regains independence from the United Kingdom
- September 3 - Manlio Brosio resigns as secterary general of NATO
- September 4 - A Boeing 727 carrying Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crashes into the side of a mountain near Juneau, Alaska killing all 111 people on board
- September 8 - In Washington, DC, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated with the opening feature being the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass
- September 9 - 13 - Attica Prison riots - Revolt at the maximum-security prison in Attica, New York. In the end, state police and National Guard storm the facility - 42 dead, 10 of them hostages
- September 21 - Pakistan declares state of emergency
- September 24 - Britain expels 90 KGB and GRU officials and 15 are not allowed to return
- September 27 - October 11 - Emperor Hirohito travels abroad.
- September 28 - Cardinal Mindszenty, who has resided in US embassy in Budapest from 1956 is allowed to move out of Hungary.
- September 29 - Cyclone and tsunami in the Bay of Bengal in Orissa State in India kills 10,000.

October

- October 1 - Walt Disney World opens.
- October 20 - Dannii Minogue born.
- October 21 - President Nixon nominated Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. and William H. Rehnquist to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- October 21 - Gas explosion in Clarkston, Glasgow kills 20 people.
- October 25 - The United Nations General Assembly admits the People's Republic of China and expels the Republic of China (on Taiwan).
- October 27 - Democratic Republic of the Congo is renamed Zaire.
- October 28 - British House of Commons votes in favour of joining the EEC by 356-244.
- October 28 - The United Kingdom becomes the 6th nation to launch a satellite into orbit, the Prospero X-3.
- October 29 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - The total number of American troops still in Vietnam drops to a record low of 196,700 (lowest since January 1966)
- October 30 - Rev. Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party founded in Northern Ireland.
- October 31 - A bomb explodes at the top of the Post Office Tower in London.

November

- November 3 - The UNIX Programmer's Manual is published
- November 6 - US nuclear bomb test in Aleuts.
- November 10 - In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge forces attack the city Phnom Penh and its airport, killing 44, wounding at least 30 and damaging nine airplanes.
- November 12 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - US President Richard M. Nixon sets February 1, 1972 as the deadline for the removal of another 45,000 American troops from Vietnam.
- November 13 - Mariner program: Mariner 9 becomes the first spacecraft to enter Mars orbit successfully
- November 15 - Intel releases world's first microprocessor, the 4004.
- November 23 - The People's Republic of China is given the Republic of China's seat on the United Nations Security Council (see China and the United Nations)
- November 24 - During a severe thunderstorm over Washington, a man calling himself D.B. Cooper parachutes from the Northwest Orient Airlines plane he hijacked with US$200,000 in ransom money (he was never heard from again)
- November 24 - Brussels court sentences would-be-pretender Alexis Brimeyer to 18 months in jail for falsely using a noble title; Brimeyer has already fled to Greece

December

- December 1 - Cambodian Civil War: Khmer Rouge rebels intensify assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing their retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray, 10 kilometers northeast of Phnom Penh
- December 2 - Six Sheikdoms in Persian Gulf founds United Arab Emirates.
- December 3 - The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 begins as Pakistan attacks eight India airbases. The next day India launches a massive invasion of East Pakistan.
- December 3- 4 night - Indian navy destroyer INS Rajput sinks Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi (former USS Diablo)
- December 8 - US President Richard Nixon orders the 7th Fleet to move towards the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
- December 14 - Facing defeat in the war, Pakistan Army kills hundreds of Bangladeshi Intellectuals.
- December 16 - Victory Day of Bangladesh (Pakistan Army surrenders to the Mitro Bahini, ending Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 simultaneously).
- December 18 - US dollar devalued for the second time in US history.
- December 18 - World's largest