The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a passenger railroad service that provides medium- and long-distance intercity service in the contiguous United States. Founded in 1971 to take over most of the remaining U.S. passenger rail services, it is partially government funded yet operated and managed as a for-profit corporation.

Amtrak serves more than 500 destinations in 46 states and three Canadian provinces, operating more than 300 trains each day over of track. Some track sections allow trains to run as fast as .

In fiscal year 2015, Amtrak served 30.8million passengers and had $2.185 billion in revenue, while employing more than 20,000 people. Nearly two-thirds of passengers come from the 10 largest metropolitan areas; 83% of passengers travel on routes shorter than . Its headquarters is at Union Station in Washington, D.C.

The name "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "trak", the latter itself a sensational spelling of "track".

In 1916 98% of all commercial intercity travelers in the United States moved by rail; the remaining 2% moved by inland waterways. Passenger traffic on the railroads totaled 42 billion passenger-miles. Passenger trains were owned and operated by the same privately owned companies that operated freight trains. Thereafter patronage declined in the face of competition from buses, air travel, and the automobile. New streamlined diesel-powered trains such as the "Pioneer Zephyr" were popular with the traveling public but could not reverse the trend. By 1940 railroads held just 67 percent of commercial passenger-miles in the United States. In real terms, passenger-miles had fallen by 40% since 1916, from 42 billion to 25 billion.

Answer the following questions:
1. Who was doing business with antrak?
2. what is amtrak?
3. did they do short distace?
4. how many trains are operated?
5. when was it founded?
6. were they international travelers?
7. how many states are served?
8. is it a for profit or non profit?
9. how many stops does it have?
10. how many people rode in 2015
11. what makes up the name Amtrak?
12. do they travel to canada?
13. who partially funds it?
14. how many provinces do they travel to?
15. where do most of the passengers come from?
16. how many people traveled by train in 1916?
17. what about waterway?
18. What percent did it drop to 1940?
19. What is trak short for?
20. where is it headquarters?

Numbered answers:
1. The National Railroad Passenger Corporation
2. passenger railroad service
3. no
4. more than 300
5. 1971
6. yes
7. 46
8. for-profit
9. 500
10. 30.8million
11. "America" and "trak",
12. yes
13. government
14. three
15. the largest metropolitan areas
16. 42 billion passenger-miles.
17. Two
18. 67
19. track
20. Union Station