Amtrak reports that ridership snapped back as the Covid-19 pandemic receded.
“We worked hard to restore service and grow ridership in the face of lingering impacts from the pandemic, all while modernizing our assets to make train travel a better experience for customers,” said Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner. “Thanks to the hard work and dedication of every employee and the bipartisan support and collaboration from the Biden Administration, Congress and our state partners, Amtrak brought more trains back to more places and expanded our network to connect more people across America.”
The government-owned passenger railroad reported that demand for Amtrak service returned strongly in the second half of FY22 following last winter’s Covid-19 Omicron wave, with overall ridership reaching about 85% of pre-Covid levels.
Northeast Corridor, state-supported and long-distance ridership grew 110%, 85% and 56%, respectively, compared to fiscal 2021. Wilmington is a busy stop on the Northeast Corridor, which runs from Washington, DC, to Boston. Amtrak also employs about 1,000 in northern Delaware in a variety of areas.
Based on current forecasts, Amtrak expects ridership and revenue to improve above 90% of pre-Covid levels by the end of fiscal ’23, bucking the trend of continued lower ridership seen on most commuter railroads and public transit systems, a release stated. The increase in ridership and revenue helped Amtrak reduce operating losses by $145 million compared to anticipated fiscal 2022 levels.
Before the pandemic, Amtrak was nearing break-even operating basis on the Northeast Corridor, although that number does not take into account the billions of dollars needed in replacing century-old bridges and other infrastructure.
Preliminary results for FY22 (Oct. 2021 – Sept. 2022) can be found here and full ridership results can be found here.
