The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak (reporting mark AMTK), is a publicly funded service operated and managed as a for-profit corporation and began operations on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States.   National Railroad Passenger Corporation, better known as Amtrak, has been riding the rails for more than 40 years. Amtrak is the US' intercity passenger rail provider and its only high-speed rail operator. More than 28 million passengers travel on Amtrak every year on approximately 300 daily trains. It connects 46 states, Washington, DC, and three provinces in Canada. Its network consists of about 21,000 route miles of track, most of which is owned by freight railroads. Amtrak also operates commuter rail systems on behalf of several states and transit agencies. Owned by the US government through the US Department of Transportation, Amtrak depends on subsidies from the federal government to operate.