Amtrak has announced preliminary results of its operations during fiscal year 2023, with 28.6 million customer trips nationwide – a 24.6 percent increase in ridership over the previous year.

According to Amtrak, the growth has been fueled by the resumption of service on all routes suspended during the pandemic, plus significant growth on the Northeast Corridor, where ridership consistently exceeded pre-pandemic levels since early summer. 

Ridership on Amtrak’s State Supported network also grew nearly 23 percent, serving more than 12.5 million customer trips, including the Amtrak Downeaster and services in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the State of North Carolina.

The higher ridership numbers and ticket revenue across all service lines produced total operating revenue of $3.4 billion, an increase of 20 percent over FY22. The company reported a loss of $752 million in adjusted operating earnings, an improvement of $130 million over FY22,

The rail service also kicked off several major projects in FY23 to improve operations and deal with traffic bottlenecks in the system. This includes the Frederick Douglass Tunnel Program in Baltimore and the Hudson Tunnel Project, a critical piece of the New York-New Jersey Gateway Program, among others.

“Amtrak ridership continues to set post-pandemic records,” said Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner. “We’re inspired by the soaring demand for intercity passenger rail and are eager to continue connecting more people and places.”