Amtrak Ridership Skyrockets on Local Line
Have you noticed an increase in ridership when taking Amtrak?
Short-range Amtrak travel has soared over the past 15 years and Boston’s Back Bay and South Station are stops on the two most popular routes in the Northeast Corridor. According to a Brookings Institution report, Amtrak ridership has grown by 55 percent since 1997 -- most of this increase is short-distance routes (less than 400 miles). Eighty-three percent of all Amtrak ridership in 2012 was via short-distance routes. The two most popular routes in the Northeast Corridor are the Acela and Northeast Regional, which both make stops in Boston. Both routes are slightly more than 300 miles. The Acela had 3.395 million riders in 2012 while the Northeast Regional, which makes more stops, had more than 8 million riders. That’s an increase of 1 …
