Northeast Corridor

Running from Boston to Washington, the Northeast Corridor may be the most important rail line in the United States. Its route links many cities, among them Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City, and every day it carries thousands of travelers on long-distance, regional and commuter services.

The corridor grew out of the first American railroads, whose scattered lines formed the groundwork for the route that exists today. Parts of those early lines later became major sections of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.

The communities that sprang up along the tracks still show the line's influence. The railway keeps changing, yet it remains as significant as it was when its original developers pictured this connection nearly two centuries ago.