Amtrak is performing very well nationally, according to an Illinois-based member of the board of the nation’s passenger rail service. Illinois numbers were not as accomplished, according to Amtrak records.
"Ridership is at an all-time high in the United States. We've had oh somewhere like nine months out of the last fiscal year record ridership and revenue on Amtrak, and it's continuing to grow. It's a problem, but it's a good problem to have because the demand for rolling stock and more trains is as high as it's ever been," said board member Chris Koos, who is also the mayor of Normal.
Amtrak reported ridership for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 was 34.5 million customer trips. That’s up 5.1% over the 2024 budget year.
Koos said in distances up to 300 miles, the rail service ends up more affordable than other modes of transportation and that cost advantage is partly responsible for the increased use.
"The issue that the airlines are having with reliability and cost has a lot to do with it. I think the cost of fuel for automobiles has a lot to do with it," said Koos.
Illinois results
Much of the growth in nationwide ridership happened on the northeast corridor where Amtrak is putting a new generation of Acela higher speed engines into service. Ridership on Illinois routes was not as robust — nearly 4.58 million people for FY 2025, according to an Amtrak fact sheet. That’s a significant increase from FY 2024 but still lags each of the five years before the pandemic.
For many years, the station in Normal was the second busiest in the state behind Chicago. Champaign-Urbana has now taken over the No. 2 spot behind Chicago.
Passengers alighting and departing at the station in Uptown Normal exceeded 230,000. That’s slightly less than the previous year and below several of the five pre-pandemic years.
Koos said Illinois results were sapped by maintenance issues on older equipment and fine tuning of newer [2-year-old] Venture cars and Charger locomotives.
Amtrak executives highlighted an example of equipment problems during the current fiscal year last week. There have been numerous cancellations on the City of New Orleans route that runs through Champaign-Urbana in recent weeks.
“We apologize, we left a lot of customers stranded due to those cancellations,” said Chief Operating Officer Gary Williams.
Williams told the board they had three trainsets in which they found significant wheel damage. He said Amtrak, Canadian National, and the Federal Railroad Administration working together could not find the cause of the damage along the route. Incidents subsided and then new damage happened. Williams said Amtrak has had to change 31 wheelsets in New Orleans and Chicago, and one train’s worth of axles in Jackson Mississippi. They’re still searching for a cause.
Revenue
Total Amtrak operating revenue grew 9.1% at $3.9 billion.
“Adjusted operating earnings improved by 15.1% over FY 2024 to -$598.4 million, on track to achieve the company’s goal of train operational profitability by FY 2028,” said the FY 2025 Company Profile.
Adjusted ticket revenue hit a new record of $2.7 billion. For the current fiscal year, Chief Financial Officer Costin Corneanu said last week Amtrak is on pace for a record $3 billion in total revenue.
And while passenger counts in Illinois have not completely recovered from the pandemic, an Amtrak spokesperson said ticket revenue now exceeds status quo ante levels.
A significant headwind looming for Amtrak is the price of fuel. Corneanu said the price-hedging strategy Amtrak put in place last autumn has so far insulated Amtrak from price shocks caused by the Iran war and other inflationary pressures. He told the board Amtrak has saved more than $50 million in fuel costs so far compared to market prices. That hedging period will run out, and Corneanu said unless market pressures subside, the increased costs may exceed savings to date.
On-time performance
The Lincoln Service, four daily trains that stop in Normal on the Chicago-to-St. Louis corridor, arrived on time 65.1% of the time. That’s below the Amtrak goal of 80% on-time performance [OTP]. The average OTP for all routes funded by states across the nation was 78% last fiscal year and 80% through the first three quarters of the current fiscal year. That’s according to a presentation to the Amtrak Board by Chief Operating Officer Gary Williams last week. That compares to the entire national average OTP of 76%.
Many long-distance routes through multiple states record lower than average on-time performance because delays build over the length of the route. For instance, performance of the Texas Eagle, which runs through Bloomington-Normal once per day, was 46.7%.
The City of New Orleans through Champaign-Urbana was one of only four long-distance routes in the nation to hit the performance target for longer routes of 70% OTP, said Williams. He said long-distance route times in total improved from the previous budget year.
Amtrak uses commercial railroad tracks for its routes and the main contributor to passenger delays is interference from freight haulers. That is even though freight rail companies are required by law to give Amtrak right of way.
Amtrak records show Canadian National and Union Pacific, which own the tracks used by the Lincoln Service through Central Illinois, are significant contributors to delays.
Amtrak executives said relations with host railroads are healthy. Several disputes were settled last year, including one that had lasted a decade.
Williams said another factor challenging efforts to improve on-time performance this year was the heat dome over the July 4 period and other heat warning periods last month.
System capacity
Amtrak continues to ramp up maintenance, infrastructure, and new route spending approved during the Biden administration. Executives acknowledged they have put additional pressure on on-time performance by increasing network capacity 4.3% last budget year. The increases further limit the supply of reserve equipment in case of breakdowns and Amtrak’s fleet is aging.
Amtrak invested 25% more in major capital and repair projects, a total of $5.5 billion.
Borealis service between the Minneapolis-St. Paul and Chicago carried more than 213,000 guests in its first full year.
Nationwide, passengers logged 6.9 billion miles traveled in FY 2025, a record.
At the end of FY 2025, more than 1,200 Amtrak employees lived in Illinois. The company paid nearly $119.5 million in base wages and salary in-state.
