Septa9739
Lead Service Attendant
Thank you for the validation. I started calling it that as a mistake, and stopped on the forum to avoid confusion. But I left it in my private notes, because I liked it.
Tracking FY 2024-25 Ridership and Finances
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Septa9739
Lead Service Attendant
If I had to guess, maybe a third (optimistically) is CHI-MKE, which would make 7,000ish, leaving the corridor still about 20,000 off.
I suppose because the Petersburg to Norfolk segment runs over the former N&W, and N&W did operate a Cannonball it inherited from its 1964 merger with the Wabash (between St. Louis and Detroit) until Amtrak start day; is another validation of that name…
thefirewarde
Service Attendant
The Carolinian is up massively - surely with ridership *that* strong there's more impetus to get the new Charlotte overnight facilities active and run a longer consist, possibly also to expand from a six car Airo to an eight car.
Septa9739
Lead Service Attendant
I should have noted that in the data. The 221% number is an anomaly. There must have been some issue with the route in August 2019. In a broader context, the route is running around its 2012 levels, so these numbers aren’t totally unprecedented. On the other hand, the train has been pulling close to 500 passengers per frequency for months. To me that justifies an eight car set, if not a second frequency, especially with the Floridian coming.
thefirewarde
Service Attendant
If there was a spot to park it overnight I think they would be running longer consists. As is they sometimes cut the baggage car for another coach.
Septa9739
Lead Service Attendant
The September (year end) report came out today. For now I will just post a snippet of my annual ridership table with some basic notes. Record means an all time record with the number of years since. I will offer commentary at a later time.
Every Route that set a record last year set one again (except the Auto Train). Additionally, the Cascades and Carolinian toppled long time records, as might have the Pennsylvanian. The NEC numbers are remarkable. State supported is spotty. Long distance is ugly (2019 wasn’t a great year and most routes fall short. The Lakeshore and Crescent are two notable bright spots, posting 10+ year highs.
| 2019 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
| Acela | 3,577,500 | 2,959,400 | 3,238,100 | Best in 5 |
| Regional | 8,940,000 | 9,162,400 | 10,800,000 | Record (First time over 10,000,000) |
| Extras | 7,400 | 0 | 0 | |
| NEC Service Line | 12,525,600 | 12,121,800 | 14,038,100 | |
| Ethan Allen | 50,500 | 86,600 | 89,000 | Record 1 year |
| Vermonter | 99,300 | 101,900 | 109,100 | Record 1 year |
| Empire West | 389,800 | 452,700 | 506,600 | Record 1 year (First time over 500,000) |
| Downeaster | 557,200 | 539,900 | 591,100 | Record 11 year |
| Berkshire Flyer | 0 | 1,200 | 800 | |
| Springfield Shuttle | 362,400 | 439000 | 577,200 | Record 1 year (First time over 500,000) |
| Keystone | 1,576,000 | 1,106,300 | 1,284,000 | Still off |
| Empire South | 1,214,200 | 1,245,600 | 1,358,600 | Record 1 year |
| Great River Service | 0 | 88,400 | Record 0 years | |
| Lincoln Service | 627,600 | 523,600 | 586,200 | Best in 5 |
| Hiawatha | 882,200 | 635,000 | 665,300 | Best in 5 |
| Wolverines | 501,100 | 420,600 | 425,800 | Best in 5 |
| Illini/Saluki | 267,000 | 270,000 | 296,600 | Best in 10 |
| Illinois Service | 192,600 | 114,500 | 141,700 | Better than last year |
| Heartland Flyer | 68,700 | 72,400 | 80,400 | Best in 11 |
| Pacific Surfliner | 2,779,200 | 1,516,700 | 1,983,000 | Best in 5 (Despite Rockslides) |
| Cascades | 828,200 | 668,400 | 938,400 | Record 12 years |
| Capitol Corridor | 1,777,100 | 905,400 | 1,032,600 | HELP ME |
| San Joquin | 1,071,200 | 846,900 | 908,900 | Best in 5 (Still not great) |
| Adirondack | 117,500 | 24,700 | 69,900 | Mess (still best in 5) |
| Blue Water | 181,800 | 168,800 | 174,900 | Best in 5 |
| Roanoke Regional | 220,900 | 324,600 | 334,500 | Record 1 year |
| Newport News | 335,200 | 355,700 | 373,100 | Best since 2014 |
| Norfolk Regional | 239,900 | 479,500 | 507,800 | Record 1 year (First time over 500,000) |
| Richmond Regional | 128,700 | 153,200 | 148,800 | Best since 2018 |
| Hoosier State | 20,900 | 0 | 0 | |
| Missouri River Runner | 154,400 | 153,200 | 187,800 | Best in 11 |
| Pennsylvanian | 215,100 | 192,700 | 233,900 | Best I have |
| Gulf Coast Limited | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pere Marquette | 97,600 | 85,800 | 94,400 | Best in 5 |
| Carolinian | 244,800 | 315,800 | 347,400 | Best I have |
| Piedmont | 214,200 | 290,000 | 360,700 | Record 1 year |
| Extras | 25,400 | 100 | 0 | |
| State Supported | 15,440,700 | 14,496,900 | ||
| Silver Star | 390,000 | 351,700 | 388,100 | 2019 level |
| Cardinal | 108,900 | 82,700 | 93,000 | Best in 5 |
| Silver Meteor | 353,500 | 283,900 | 298,300 | Best in 5 |
| Empire Builder | 433,400 | 349,000 | 388,000 | Best in 5 |
| Capitol Limited | 209,600 | 126,300 | 163,100 | Best in 2 |
| California Zephyr | 410,800 | 328,700 | 351,200 | Best in 5 |
| Southwest Chief | 338,200 | 253,800 | 261,500 | Best in 5 |
| City of New Orleans | 235,700 | 253,900 | 241,800 | Slid |
| Texas Eagle | 321,700 | 294,400 | 325,700 | Best in 6 |
| Sunset Limited | 92,800 | 77,300 | 76,900 | Slid |
| Coast Starlight | 426,000 | 337,400 | 358,500 | Best in 5 |
| Lakeshore Limited | 357,700 | 351,000 | 398,400 | Best in 12 (5,400) short of all time |
| Palmetto | 345,300 | 318,000 | 357,200 | Best in 6 |
| Crescent | 295,200 | 270,000 | 303,100 | Best in 11 |
| Auto Train | 236,000 | 283,600 | 266,600 | Slid |
| All Long Distance | 4,554,800 | 3,961,700 | 4,271,400 |
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west point
Engineer
LD trains only averaged 774 less riders per day for FY 2024.That would be ~~~ 15 more coaches for 50 riders on all LD trains. Just a little less than 1 extra coach sold on each LD train. Add just one more sleeper with 25 riders then only 1/2 - 2/3 of 1 extra coach needed
