Amtrak Cascades

2022

• Amtrak Cascades ridership increases 70% to approximately 427,000 passengers in 2022 compared to around 251,000 in 2021
• Amtrak Cascades ticket revenue increased 81% from $9.6 million in 2021 to $17.4 million in 2022
• On-time performance worsened from 51% in 2021 to 47% in 2022, and remained below the target of 88%

2021

• Amtrak Cascades ridership increases 46% to 251,000 passengers in 2021 compared to 2020
• Amtrak Cascades ticket revenue increased 47% from $6.5 million in 2020 to $9.6 million in 2021
• On-time performance worsen from 62% in 2020 to 58% in 2021, and remained below the target of 88%

A total of 251,000 people rode Amtrak Cascades trains in 2021—a 46% increase from 172,000 in 2020 but still a 69% decrease from the 824,000 riders in 2019, prior to the pandemic. This severe decline was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in:

• Directives from Gov. Jay Inslee to reduce non-essential travel,
• New safety protocols to protect passengers and staff,
• Closure of the Canadian border that suspended all train service north of Seattle, and
• A reduction in service levels between Seattle and Portland.

These factors contributed to the drop in ridership and, consequently, in revenue, which began in March 2020 and continued throughout 2021.

2020

• Amtrak Cascades ridership dropped 79% to 172,000 passengers in 2020 compared to 2019
• Amtrak Cascades ticket revenue decreased 80% from $33.2 million in 2019 to $6.5 million in 2020
• On-time performance improved from 58% in 2019 to 62% in 2020, but remained below the target of 88%

A total of 172,000 people rode Amtrak Cascades trains in 2020—a 79% decrease from 824,000 in 2019. This severe decline was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in:

• Directives from Gov. Jay Inslee to reduce non-essential travel,
• New safety protocols to protect passengers and staff, including limiting ticket sales to 50% of available seats (to allow for physical distancing),
• Closure of the Canadian border, and
• A significant reduction in service levels.

2019

• Amtrak Cascades ridership reached a seven-year high of 829,000 passengers in 2019
• On-time performance improved from 50% in 2018 to 58% in 2019, but was below the target of 88%
• Amtrak Cascades ticket revenue increased 6.3% from $31.3 million in 2018 to $33.2 million in 2019

A total of 829,000 people rode Amtrak Cascades trains in 2019—over 27,000 (about 3.4%) more than in 2018. Promotions to encourage travel in the slower months of January through May generated increases in ridership in each of those months.

2018

• Amtrak Cascades ridership decreased by 1.2% to 802,000 passengers in 2018
• Amtrak Cascades revenue increased by 5.7%, from $29.6 million in 2017 to $31.3 million in 2018
• The percentage of Washington's Amtrak Cascades trains on time declined from 56.3% in FY2017 to 53.9% in FY2018
• Positive train control is now operational through the entire Amtrak Cascades corridor

Ridership on Amtrak Cascades followed a similar pattern in 2018 as in 2017, despite an initial dip immediately following the tragic derailment of an Amtrak Cascades train on December 18, 2017. A total of 802,000 passengers traveled on Amtrak Cascades in 2018, down 1.2% from 811,000 passengers in 2017.