Amtrak improved July ridership by 344,000 compared to July 2025, a roughly 11% gain.

Key Stats

-Annual ridership for Amtrak (August 2025-July 2026) is now 36,517,000 rides. Amtrak's FY24 service plan had a goal of reaching 37 million rides by FY28, and are on pace to reach that goal 2 years early.

-Fare revenue was up $32 million, with total revenue up just $4 million and expenses down $12 million. Difference in fare & total revenue mostly due to less state support revenue being collected this July.

-154K rides gained on the NEC, 180K gained on state supported routes, and 10K gained on long-distance routes. Pacific Surfliner led all routes with a gain of 110,800.

-The Acela roared to life in July with a ridership gain of 58,600. So far Acela ridership had been down this fiscal year, now it's up.

-Passenger miles increased by 54 million, and seat miles increased by 56 million. Load factor crossed over 55% for the 1st time.

4 Board members (2 Dem and 2 Rep) + a DOT representative

James j hill aka mr train guy

Hi everyone, I’m taking the Amtrak as an unaccompanied minor from [XXXXX] to Carbondale, IL to see my brother Friday evening. I’ve ridden the amtrak from kankakee to Chicago plenty of times with my parents, but what should I expect since I am riding by myself?

Travelling to Buffalo, got an 8hr layover at Union Station, Chicago rn.

Ive got two hefty luggage cases with me so, Can't go out What to do? Lol. If anyone's here in need of company lmk.

Anyone in the same boat?

So I want to see if there’s any old timetables anywhere online. I want to track some of these old school trains way before I was born on Google/Apple Maps see if the tracks are still there if I can track the whole journey on maps. Any good websites that either have actual timetables or at the very least a route map?? Any help greatly appreciated!

picture in the post

How is the WiFi on the Lincoln Service? Is reception for data generally good while going through rural Illinois?

Hi so I’m trying to plan a trip to cali and I was thinking of flying there but then taking the train back if only to delay the inevitable end of my small vacation. You might be wondering “why not just extend your hotel stay” I would prefer to stay at the lafayette in San Diego and for 3 night it’s already running me about $1,200 dollars and realistically I can do what I want to in that amount of time anyways. So I figured (because I requested off for and was already approved for a lot more that just 4 days) I’d take the Amtrak from california to new york(aka home) but the private rooms are running for about $1000 while coach is 350… I just want to know what experience anyone may have had on an extended coach amtrak trip, good, bad, uncomfortable, funny?

Train 655 just left Paoli and is going at a restricted speed. *sigh*

On my way home from EWR earlier I noticed that Amtrak NER 176 hadn’t moved for some time after I arrived at Newark airport station. Was waiting 20m for the next NJT train… maybe 10m into it I went to ask the engineer/conductor what was going on and they didn’t seem too bothered about having just hit a deer. They told me it’s pretty common which I’d never heard of before? I know trespasser strikes do happen and result in immediate stops for the trains involved but apparently not so for arguably heavier deer that get obliterated lol. My first question was isn’t most of the corridor fenced in..? apparently not at all

Shoutout to the locomotive engineer who was generous in filling me in about how often they freeze in the headlights. He said only every now and then do the brakes take some damage but that’s about it. I wasn’t watching closely the whole time but he told me the fix was to power cycle and reset everything. Saw the pantograph go up and down and back up towards the end which was cool.

Just looking for enlightenment here I searched the sub for deer and didn’t find anything

I like the blue and the silver reminds me of the Santa Fe warbonnet scheme just blue

edit:

FOUND! THANK YOU!!!! there are kind amazing people still (we really should never forget this) and we each can be that kind person for others! have a great rest of your week:)

original post:

Hi all! I hope everyone is having a great day!

Train/Situation:

I took the 7am PHL to NYP keystone 640 this morning and dropped my wallet somewhere between the SEPTA Paoli line, 30th st station Amtrak benches, and the 640 train.

Ive already submitted lost and found ticket on chargerback.com and called Amtrak customer service, so this really is just in case someone by pure chance comes across the wallet.

Wallet description:

its the most generic brown leather clip wallet with a card pull tab.

credit cards (all cancelled now) are under first name starting "J" and last name starting with "S."

I appreciate any helpful tips! thank you all:)

I’ve been planning on taking my first Amtrak ride this winter and have picked emeryville due to the scenic route everyone talks about. I was thinking about traveling in February. Do you think this is plausible? Will bad weather ruin it? Especially riding through the Rockies. I’m a bit nervous but it seems like the best price point so far

Recently, acording to the local news WNEP and Wvia Amtrak is due back in Scranton Pennsylvania heading to Pittsburgh and New York. I am curious about working for them but nothing is posted online about that site specifically (scranton) if anyone has any thought or ideas as to where to look for information I would appreciate it.

Thank you all

Is this normal on Amtrak? On train 171 and these doors have been open the whole trip, from Philly through Virginia for like four cars all open. I told the conductor and she said no. They're supposed to be closed but she stayed chatting with other conductors in cafe car. Also cars are about 59° Weird

Captured this image when I stepped off the train for a fresh air break.

The schedule of City of New Orleans was changed to leave Chicago at 6:05. Does anyone know if they are now serving dinner since it leaves 2 hours earlier?

One way return trip in coach to LA in 2 days. Read that I should try to get on the right side of the train if I want good views. What else should I be prepared for?

I just spent 2 weeks hiking thru Washington so I don't think I have any space in my carry on luggage or backpack for the nice-to-haves, like a cooler for food or anything -- but I can manage some space for instant ramens, etc. I read that the cafe car should have food, but how much food? I eat a lot so afraid of being hungry. Also read that the coach seats recline quite a bit and I'm 23 so i'm ok with being slightly uncomfortable.

And if i'm going up to the observation car, do most people leave their stuff at the seat? Have you found that it is generally safe/OK to leave stuff while checking out the other cars? I'll have my valuables on me at all times but not sure how often people are moving around, etc