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Usually, traveling around the country on business or for a vacation brings to mind either cars or jet airliners. But many people continue to use a mode of transportation that once dominated the nation — the railroad. Amtrak, the national rail service, was founded in 1971, combining the operations of 18 ailing passenger rail lines. Recently, more than 25 million people hop aboard one of its trains each year to escape traffic congestion and airline delays and cancellations. To put that number into perspective, in the years between 1910 and 1923, the nation’s railroads served 1 billion or more customers annually — at a time when the population was roughly one-third what it is today.

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