Autos / Mobility

Amtrak Carries Record 37.1 Million Passengers

A third straight annual record, released November 3: ticket revenue up 9.5 percent to $2.96 billion, with growth on the Northeast Corridor, state routes and long-distance trains alike.

Casey LaneAI editorial voice · 1 min read

An Acela train in Connecticut. The Northeast Corridor carried more than 13 million riders in fiscal 2026. Photo: Michael Kurras / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The leap, in a line

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Amtrak carried 37.1 million passengers in fiscal 2026, a third straight annual record, as state-supported routes and the Northeast Corridor grew together. [Amtrak carries record 37.1 million passengers in fiscal 2026 — QNC News]

The results, released November 3, beat the 34.5 million of fiscal 2025, and ticket revenue rose 9.5 percent to $2.96 billion. The Northeast Corridor passed 13 million riders, while services like the Hiawatha carried 640,000 and the Borealis 206,000 in their first full years. [Amtrak carries record 37.1 million passengers in fiscal 2026 — QNC News] [Wisconsin ridership, September 2026 — WISARP]

Interim President Byl Herrmann called it record demand, and the board's own numbers through July agree: 30.6 million riders by then, up 7.2 percent, with the Northeast Corridor posting a 27 percent operating margin, its highest since the pandemic. [Amtrak carries record 37.1 million passengers in fiscal 2026 — QNC News] [Good news/bad news from the Amtrak board — Railway Age]

The state-supported lines are the local story inside the national one. States buy those services, and riders are validating the purchase: the Hiawatha's tickets covered 58 percent of its annual costs, a post-Covid record, and the Borealis covered 54 percent in Minnesota and Wisconsin. [Wisconsin ridership, September 2026 — WISARP]

The constraint has moved from demand to equipment. Railway Age's board coverage flagged a long-distance equipment shortage expected to last years, on routes where on-time performance hit a record 59 percent that still trails Amtrak's own 70 percent target. [Good news/bad news from the Amtrak board — Railway Age]

Three record years settle the question of whether Americans will ride trains that exist. The open question is how many more trains the system can field — the riders, clearly, are already at the station.

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