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===On-time performance===
On-time performance is calculated differently for airlines than for Amtrak. A plane is considered on-time if it arrives within 15 minutes of the schedule. Amtrak uses a sliding scale, with trips under {{convert|250|mi}} considered late if they are more than 10 minutes behind schedule, up to 30 minutes for trips over {{convert|551|mi}} in length.<ref name="bts-ontime" />

Outside the Northeast Corridor and stretches of track in Southern California and Michigan, most Amtrak trains run on tracks owned and operated by privately owned freight railroads. [[BNSF Railway|BNSF]] is the largest host to Amtrak routes, with 6.3 million train-miles.<ref name=":1" /> Freight rail operators are required under federal law to give dispatching preference to Amtrak trains. However, Amtrak has accused freight railroads of violating or skirting these regulations, resulting in passenger trains waiting for freight traffic to clear the track.<ref name=":4" />

The railroads' dispatching practices were investigated in 2008,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oig.dot.gov/library-item/3874 |title=Root Causes of Amtrak Train Delays |date=September 8, 2008 |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |access-date=February 4, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526202602/http://www.oig.dot.gov/library-item/3874 |archive-date=May 26, 2010}}</ref> resulting in stricter laws about train priority. Subsequently, Amtrak's overall on-time performance went up from 74.7% in fiscal 2008 to 84.7% in 2009, with long-distance trains and others outside the NEC seeing the greatest benefit. The ''[[Missouri River Runner]]'' jumped from 11% to 95%, becoming one of Amtrak's best performers. The ''[[Texas Eagle]]'' went from 22.4% to 96.7%, and the ''[[California Zephyr]]'', with a 5% on-time record in 2008, went up to 78.3%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249203347496&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-disposition&blobheadervalue1=attachment;filename=Amtrak_0909monthly.pdf |title=Monthly Performance Report for September 2009 |date=December 31, 2009 |website=Amtrak |access-date=February 4, 2010 |archive-date=November 6, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101106143804/http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249203347496&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-disposition&blobheadervalue1=attachment;filename=Amtrak_0909monthly.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> However, this improved performance coincided with a general economic downturn, resulting in the lowest freight-rail traffic volumes since at least 1988, meaning less freight traffic to impede passenger traffic.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/01/rail-traffic-in-2009-lowest-since-at.html |title=Rail Traffic in 2009: Lowest since at least 1988 |date=January 13, 2010 |website=Calculated Risk |access-date=February 7, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117181110/http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/01/rail-traffic-in-2009-lowest-since-at.html| archive-date=January 17, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2018, Amtrak began issuing report cards, grading each host railroad [[Grading in education|similar to students]], based on the railroad's impact to on-time performance. The first report card, issued in March 2018, includes one A (given to [[Canadian Pacific Railway|Canadian Pacific]]) and two Fs (given to [[Canadian National Railway|Canadian National]] and [[Norfolk Southern Railway|Norfolk Southern]]).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.freightwaves.com/news/amtrak-report-card-freight-railroads|title=Amtrak's initial report card on freight railroads ranges from A to a pair of F's|last=Kingston|first=John|date=March 26, 2018|work=Freight Waves|access-date=July 30, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=July 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730110258/https://www.freightwaves.com/news/amtrak-report-card-freight-railroads|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Freight Delays and Your Amtrak Service |url=https://www.amtrak.com/about-amtrak/on-time-performance.html |website=Amtrak |access-date=July 30, 2020 |archive-date=June 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613114402/https://www.amtrak.com/about-amtrak/on-time-performance.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Amtrak's 2020 host report card gives [[Canadian Pacific Railway|Canadian Pacific]] and Canadian National an A, [[BNSF Railway|BNSF]] and [[CSX Transportation|CSX]] a B, [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]] a C+, and Norfolk Southern a D−.<ref name=":4">{{cite web |title=Amtrak Host Railroad Report Card 2021 |url=https://media.amtrak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Host-Railroad-Report-Card-2021-Final-v2.pdf |access-date=January 27, 2023}}</ref>

Amtrak's median on-time performance between 2018 and 2023 was 74.5%, reaching a high of 80% in 2020. It was highest on the Northeast Corridor (81.3%). The vast majority of hours of delay, about 57.5% on average, were caused by the host railroad. Long-distance routes performed similarly to the total weighted on time percentage.<ref>{{cite web |date= |title=Amtrak On-Time Performance Trends and Hours of Delay by Cause |url=https://www.bts.gov/content/amtrak-time-performance-trends-and-hours-delay-cause |url-status=live |access-date=November 9, 2024 |website=Bureau of Transportation Statistics |publisher=United States Department of Transportation}}</ref>