Amtrak has used a variety of paint schemes (liveries) on its rolling stock since taking over intercity passenger rail service in the United States in 1971. A series of seven schemes termed Phases, first introduced in 1972, have seen the widest use. Phases primarily use geometric arrangements of red, white, and blue—the national colors of the United States—part of Amtrak's patriotic visual identity.
Amtrak began operations in May 1971 with a mixture of equipment still painted in the distinct colored liveries of the freight railroads that relinquished their passenger service to Amtrak. The company retained the equipment that it determined to be in the best condition, and elected not to keep the same rolling stock on the same routes. Since this resulted in trains with mismatched liveries, which contrasted with the previous coordinated liveries, that period was later known as the Rainbow Era.
To build the brand of Amtrak as a unified passenger railroad, the rolling stock was gradually repainted into a new system-wide livery starting around 1972. Successive liveries are known as Phases and are sequentially numbered using Roman numerals – a nomenclature that began with model railroaders and was later officially adopted by Amtrak. Most current locomotives use the 2000-introduced Phase V, while passenger cars use the 2002-introduced Phase VI (or Phase IVb). A modified Phase III scheme was introduced for some equipment in 2013. Non-revenue equipment uses bright lime green or a variation of Phase V.
Some routes financially supported by individual states use service-specific liveries to provide a more regionalized distinction. These include the three Amtrak California routes, eight Amtrak Midwest services, the Cascades, and the Piedmont. Amtrak has repainted equipment in unique livery for special uses, including its 40th anniversary in 2011 and to promote the Operation Lifesaver safety campaign. Equipment has also been wrapped for advertising promotions. When testing equipment from other railroads, Amtrak has mostly kept existing livery, though some longer-term tests used Phase schemes.
Rainbow Era
When Amtrak took over intercity passenger rail service on May 1, 1971, it inherited a collection of rolling stock from twenty different railroads, each with its own distinct colors and logos. Operating only 184 of the 366 privately operated trains, Amtrak was able to pick the 1,200 best passenger cars to lease from the 3,000 that the private railroads owned. Equipment was used nationwide and did not always stay on predecessor routes, resulting in trains with the mismatched colors of several predecessor railroads. This "Rainbow Era" was short-lived; Amtrak began purchasing some of the leased equipment in mid-1971, setting the stage for wholesale repainting from 1972 to 1974 as the equipment was refurbished.
Phase paint schemes The Phase paint schemes have been used on most passengers equipment – locomotives, passenger cars, and trainsets – as well as some non-passenger cars and non-revenue equipment. Phase schemes generally have red, white, and blue on the sides of equipment, with black or gray sections around the wheels and roof to hide grime.
Phase I Introduced in 1972, Phase I was the first paint scheme to be implemented system-wide on Amtrak's trains. It was the first new paint for most equipment under Amtrak, except for a small number of locomotives that had been painted into experimental and promotional paint schemes. The scheme was part of Amtrak's larger move to a visual identity featuring the national colors of red, white, and blue. Amtrak did not initially assign nomenclature for its livery; model railroaders began referring to this first paint scheme as Phase I and numbering all subsequent phases sequentially using Roman numerals. Amtrak later made the Phase numbering scheme the official terminology.
Locomotives in Phase I were painted light gray ("Platinum Mist") with a black roof, the Amtrak "Pointless Arrow" chevron logo on the side, and a red nose (which led to a "Bloody Nose" nickname). Passenger cars were silver (or left bare stainless steel), with a red and bright blue stripe (bracketed by thin white stripes) at window level and the chevron logo at one or both ends. A number of variants were made for non-revenue locomotives, GG1 locomotives, Turbotrain and Turboliner trainsets, and self-propelled RDC and Metroliner railcars.
Phase II Phase II was introduced in late 1974 with the arrival of the new GE E60 locomotives. The red nose and chevron logo on Phase I locomotives were replaced with the same stripes found on passenger cars, which wrapped around the nose of the locomotive. Locomotive roofs remained black. Most passenger cars were essentially unchanged from Phase I, except for the removal of the chevron logo; new Sightseer lounges had a higher stripe with an angled transition on each end.
Phase III Phase III, introduced in 1976, is still used on some equipment. On both passenger cars and locomotives, the outer white pinstripes were removed while the inner stripe was widened, resulting in red, white, and blue stripes of equal width. Turboliners and the LRC test train were painted in white, with the stripes at the bottom of the train. This scheme was introduced "for safety, graphic aid and saving money", as the white band was highly reflective and provided a place for car information, and the standard widths made better use of raw material.
Several types of locomotives that were acquired later were given variations on Phase III. AEM-7 locomotives had the blue stripe expanded to cover the entire lower part of the body. On Dash 8-32BWH locomotives, a deeper blue and red was used; the stripes had additional pinstripes and angled upward across the middle of the body. The similarity to the Pepsi logo led to the units being nicknamed "Pepsi Cans". Genesis locomotives had a lighter roof and narrower white stripe; the stripes angled downward on the sloped nose, and faded towards the rear. That variant was created by industrial designer Cesar Vergara, who also designed the angular bodies of the locomotives.
In October 2013, Amtrak introduced a new variant of Phase III with the production of the new Viewliner II cars, the first of which entered service in 2015. The Viewliner cars have some changes from previous Phase III passenger cars, including a red reflective stripe at the bottom and a newer ("Travelmark") logo. In January 2016, Amtrak revealed a P32AC-DM that was repainted into Phase III, similar to that of the heritage units 145 and 822, but featuring modern logos and "Empire Service" emblems on the sides. All P32AC-DMs were repainted into this scheme, with costs shared between Amtrak and the state of New York.
Phase IV Beginning in 1993, Phase IV was introduced as a striking departure from the traditional red, white, and blue style seen previously. Brought into service with the delivery of the newer Superliner II cars, Phase IV has two thin red stripes and a thick dark blue stripe. In 1997, Amtrak extended the scheme to locomotives, initially GE P42DC diesel locomotives on Northeast Corridor services. Locomotives for the Northeast Corridor services were light gray with a darker gray stripe at top; locomotives outside the Northeast Corridor did not have the top stripe.
Phase V Phase V was introduced with the arrival of the Acela Express high-speed train sets in 2000 and is currently used on most locomotives. Locomotives are painted light gray, with a blue stripe (darker than Phases I–III, but lighter than IV) at the top and a thin red reflective sill stripe at the bottom. The blue stripe has a wavy bottom on Genesis locomotives and Acela Express power cars, and a flat bottom on other locomotives and ex-F40PH non-powered control units (NPCUs). The Amtrak "Travelmark" logo is painted near the front or rear of the unit.
Acela Express trainsets have grey and stainless steel bodies with the lower red stripe, with the blue roof and Acela logo on the power cars only. The Acela passenger cars have no blue stripe; colored shapes called "mobiles", based on the shape of the Acela logo, are used to indicate the type of car (Business Class, Cafe Bistro, or First Class). A similar scheme was created for Amfleet coaches used on the Acela Regional, with a window stripe (light blue for Coach Class and baggage cars, blue for Business Class and cafe cars) and mobiles to indicate the type of service. The rebuilt Turboliners also had a version of the Phase V livery, with similar window stripes and mobiles.
Non-passenger cars such as Auto Train auto racks are all-gray except for the logo and red stripe; Express Box Cars had blue stripes on top and bottom.
Phase VI (Phase IVb) Phase VI (also called Phase IVb) was introduced in 2002, and is currently used on most passenger cars. It retains the same stripe style as Phase IV: wide window stripes on single-level cars, and narrow stripes on Superliners. The red reflective sill stripe and mid-tone blue on Phase V are used. Single-level cars have white logos within the blue stripe, while Superliners have blue logos below the stripes. Five of the first six Siemens Charger ALC-42 locomotives have a Phase VI scheme consisting of a mostly blue body with red and black around the windshield, with red and silver chevrons at the rear. Amtrak described this as a "transitional paint scheme". A single P42DC was painted into Phase VI as well in 2021 as part of Amtrak's 50th anniversary, without the red chevrons on the rear.
Phase VII Phase VII, introduced in 2022, is the latest livery for most Amtrak equipment, debuting on the Siemens Charger ALC-42 locomotives. The design features two tones of blue on the sides, divided by a curved white stripe. The black cab window area is flanked by red and white stripes, with matching red and white sill stripes running the length of the locomotive. In January 2024, Amtrak began repainting Genesis locomotives in the Phase VII livery, prompted by the depletion of Phase V paint supplies at the Beech Grove Shops. Passenger cars began to receive the new Phase VII design in December 2024. Passenger cars utilize different accent colors to indicate service levels: red for first class, light blue for business class, and green for coach class. The name of the car fleet type is printed on the sill stripe. Alongside the rollout of Phase VII, Amtrak reintroduced the practice of naming sleeping cars, with Viewliners being named after rivers east of the Mississippi River while Superliners are named after states and national parks.
Route-specific paint schemes Thirteen Amtrak-operated, state-funded corridor routes — eight Midwest routes, three Amtrak California routes, and the Cascades and Piedmont — are operated by Amtrak using equipment that is largely owned by the states in which they operate, and painted in custom schemes that deviate from the national Amtrak livery. Several other route-specific paint schemes have been used in the past.
Amtrak California