Amtrak rail sets record with more than 34 million riders in 2025

Amtrak’s ridership broke records this year after the national railroad introduced new routes across the U.S. and upgraded several cars to expand capacity.

More than 34.5 million people rode Amtrak trains so far in 2025, Roger Harris, the rail operator’s president said Friday in an interview on Bloomberg TV’s Open Interest program. He said the system collected a record $2.7 billion in ticket revenue.

The surge in ridership comes after flight delays and cancellations rocked airports during the government shutdown, pushing travelers to other means of transportation ahead of the holiday travel season. But as airlines restore service, Harris said the railroad continues to monitor a new dynamic pricing model that raises or lowers the cost of a ticket depending on how in-demand the train is.

“Part of the dilemma we have, is that there is so much interest in passenger rail these days across the country, we are seeing ridership surges in all areas - it’s supply and demand,” he said. “If we lower the prices too much, the trains fill up too soon and there isn’t a seat available for that last-minute customer but we see help on the way in terms of more capacity.”

Harris noted that several of the newer Acela trains have 27% more seats than the older models. That rollout, which is focused on a popular higher-speed route between Boston and Washington, is being done in phases - with seven of those trains currently in service and 24 expected by the end of 2026.

Amtrak is focused on introducing higher-speed trains but is limited due to the age of the rail and electrical infrastructure, Harris added.

“We need to replace all of that infrastructure to make the trains go faster,” he said, noting much of the infrastructure is close to 100 years old. The railroad made $5.5 billion in capital investments like upgrading bridges and tunnels as well as new maintenance facilities.

Harris touted his positive working relationship with the Trump administration and emphasized the need to continue working on several large infrastructure projects like addressing congestion challenges along the busy Northeast corridor.

“The most important thing is to not have these projects get interrupted because that’s when things start to cost a lot more money,” Harris said.