Ambitious 2024 Initiatives Propel Amtrak Ridership Growth

Source: Amtrak
Photo: Amtrak

By attracting new riders, serving new communities and transforming passenger rail, Amtrak aims to double ridership by 2040

Amtrak is advancing several key initiatives in 2024 as part of the railroad’s ambitious goal of doubling annual ridership to 66 million by Fiscal Year 2040 (FY40). Building significant momentum in 2024, Amtrak plans to progress substantially on these goals.

“Amtrak has rebounded from the pandemic and is growing again as part of our plan to double ridership by 2040,” said Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner. “With funding from the infrastructure bill in hand, we and our partners are transforming intercity passenger rail across the country in a big way.”

Amtrak is advancing historic infrastructure investments that will, with the help of partners, launch new and expanded services, advance safety and reliability, improve accessibility, drive economic development and enhance the customer experience.

“Amtrak is working on two overarching objectives in 2024 – improving passenger train service for our customers and efficiently and effectively carrying out a massive major infrastructure capital program aimed to modernize and upgrade our infrastructure, stations, fleet and technology,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris. “As both a passenger rail service provider and a major construction company, we are quickly growing and evolving to deliver on both.”

Following strong growth in FY23, Amtrak plans to continue making strides in 2024 towards this ambitious goal of doubling ridership by 2040:

ADVANCING INFRASTRUCTURE

🏛 Investing roughly $5.5 billion in Amtrak’s largest ever annual capital program to modernize trains, enhance stations, tunnels and bridges, and upgrade critical infrastructure; this includes the Frederick Douglass Tunnel Program and East River Tunnel Rehab Project

👷🏽‍♀️ Continuing construction for major Northeast Corridor projects, including the Portal North Bridge and Hudson Tunnel Projects and advancing Sawtooth Bridges Replacement and Dock Bridge Rehab projects, all in coordination with the Gateway Development Commission and partners in New York and New Jersey

🏗 Advancing megaprojects including the Chicago Hub Improvement Program, New York Penn Station Expansion and Washington Union Station Redevelopment; Amtrak is also supporting partners to improve future service, including Penn Station Access in New York, the Long Bridge Project in Virginia, and Compass Rail in Massachusetts

DRIVING TRANSFORMATION

🚄 Advancing initial New Acela service; achieving key milestones for Amtrak Airo where the first trainset will be nearly fully built by the end of 2024 and prepared for testing; and selecting proposals to begin replacing Amtrak’s Long Distance fleet

🌎 Furthering Amtrak’s lead in low carbon emissions AND taking steps toward Net-Zero; progressing Amtrak’s National Network Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Resilience Strategic Plan, engaging suppliers on carbon reduction goals, and advancing towards our target of 100% electric vehicle fleet by 2035

🦺 Continue maturing Amtrak’s industry leading Safety Management System with a focus on driving performance, establishing an engaged and accountable culture, and improving resilience

GROWING THE BUSINESS

🗺 Providing great service – and more of it by working with states to develop new and expanded service through the FRA’s Corridor ID Program; this includes twice-daily service between New Orleans and Mobile and extending the Hiawatha from Milwaukee to St. Paul

🚉 Continue implementing a customer-centric pricing structure nationwide in collaboration with states to drive revenue and ridership growth

DELIGHTING CUSTOMERS

🍴 Increasing Food and Beverage service with more offerings that our customers want, including a significant makeover to the Acela Cafe menu

👩🏻‍🏫 Making big investments in talent and training for frontline teams – with an emphasis on customer service as part of a new World Class training program

♿ Continue advancing accessibility to improve services, communications, equipment, and experiences for customers with disabilities while making stations accessible through Amtrak’s robust Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Stations Programs

EMPOWERING PEOPLE

🤝 Hiring more than 3,500 new employees to rebuild existing infrastructure and meet the growing demand for passenger rail

👩🏾‍💻 Implementing a Connected Workforce that transforms team collaboration, improves digital engagement and enables better decision-making leveraging real-time data; this includes upgrading the HR Information System that offers employees self-service tools, data analytics, dashboards and expands mobile devices and apps used by our staff

📝 Advancing Amtrak’s Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging strategy while expanding Total Rewards Offerings to help retain and recruit the best talent

https://media.amtrak.com/2024/01/ambitious-2024-initiatives-propel-amtrak-ridership-growth