Amtrak ridership hit an all-time high in May, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, CEO Stephen Gardner said Wednesday during a House of Representatives Transportation Committee hearing on the railroad’s performance.

Ridership was 20% higher for the first seven months of the 2024 fiscal year compared with 2023.

What You Need To Know

  • Amtrak ridership hit an all-time high in May, according to CEO Stephen Gardner

  • Fiscal-year-to-date ridership is higher than during the same period in fiscal year 2019

  • Ticket revenues for the federally subsidized passenger rail system were 10% higher in the first seven months of 2024 compared with last year

  • Gardner said Amtrak is on track to set a new all-time ridership record in 2024, breaking a record set in 2019, when 32.3 million passengers used the service

“Of even greater significance, our fiscal-year-to-date ridership is higher than during the same period in fiscal year 2019,” Gardner said.

May was Amtrak’s best month ever for revenue in the 53 years the nation’s passenger railroad company has been providing inter-city service. Congress created Amtrak in 1971 to serve as the country’s rail operator.

Ticket revenues for the first seven months of the 2024 fiscal year were 10% higher compared with 2023.

Gardner said Amtrak is on track to set a new all-time ridership record in 2024, breaking a record set in 2019, when 32.3 million passengers used the service. Shortly after the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, Amtrak saw a 95% drop in ridership and a 50% decline in revenue as riders quarantined.