Amtrak announced today it carried more than 31.2 million passengers in fiscal year 2012 ending Sept. 30, marking the highest annual ridership total since the rail system started operations in 1971 and the ninth ridership record during the last ten years.
A year-over-year comparison shows ridership grew 3.5 percent in the past year to a new record of 31.2 million passengers and ticket revenue jumped 6.8 percent to a best-ever $2.02 billion. In addition, Amtrak system-wide on-time performance increased to 83 percent, up from 78.1 percent and its highest level in 12 years.
“People are riding Amtrak trains in record numbers across the country because there is an undeniable demand to travel by rail,” said Amtrak president and chief executive officer Joe Boardman. “Ridership will continue to grow because of key investments made by Amtrak and our federal and state partners to improve on-time performance, reliability, capacity and train speeds.”
Amtrak’s Hiawatha Service between Chicago and Milwaukee set a record by rising 2.3 percent to more than 838,000 passengers.
Meanwhile, high-speed rail spurs are being developed to stem from the Chicago hub to Detroit, Mich., St. Louis, Mo., and across Illinois to Moline.
