Amtrak Cascades - Ridership

2022

Amtrak Cascades ridership increases in 2022 compared to 2021 but is still below 2019

A total of approximately 427,000 people rode Amtrak Cascades trains in 2022—a 70% increase from almost 251,000 in 2021—but still 48% below the 824,000 riders in 2019. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Amtrak Cascades train service consisted of four daily round trips between Seattle and Portland, Oregon; two daily round trips between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia; and two daily round trips between Portland and Eugene, Oregon. Moreover, two additional daily roundtrips between Seattle and Portland were planned to start in 2020.

The reduction in service in 2020 was due to the lower demand for train travel, which was the result of state directives restricting non-essential travel, with service slowly restarting over the following years as passenger demand and Amtrak staffing levels resumed. The service had declined to one daily roundtrip between Seattle and Eugene. Amtrak Cascades service between Seattle and Vancouver, BC was suspended due to the closure of the Canadian border. In 2021, service levels increased to three daily roundtrips between Seattle and Portland, with two continuing to Eugene. In September 2022, daily roundtrip service resumed between Seattle and Vancouver, BC.

Comparing 2019 data to 2022 provides a clearer look at pre- and post-pandemic travel trends, while comparing data from 2021 and 2022 offers look at travel changes resulting from the pandemic.

Passenger on-offs below 2019 levels

With no trains operating north of Seattle until September 2022, the six stations between Vancouver, BC and Edmonds had zero passengers for most of 2022. WSDOT and Amtrak did add a second bus between Seattle and Bellingham to provide some connectivity to those communities on February 28, 2022.

Passenger numbers at the busiest stations on the Amtrak Cascades corridor—King Street Station in Seattle and Union Station in Portland—were still below 2019 counts, with approximately 45% and 40% fewer ons and offs in 2022, respectively. Both stations saw increases in total passenger ons and offs in 2022 compared to 2021 levels, with 78% more passengers using King Street Station and 66% more using Union Station.

2021

Amtrak Cascades ridership increases in 2021 compared to 2020 but still far below 2019

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.

Amtrak Cascades train service consisted of four daily round trips between Seattle and Portland, Oregon; two daily round trips between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia; and two daily round trips between Portland and Eugene, Oregon.

In March 2020, as a result of the spread of COVID-19, Amtrak Cascades reduced service to one daily roundtrip between Seattle and Eugene. All other train service was suspended, including all service north of Seattle (due to the Canadian border closure).

In May 2021, Cascades service returned to two daily round trips between Seattle and Eugene and three daily round trips between Seattle and Portland. All Amtrak Cascades service between Seattle and Vancouver, BC, continued to be suspended throughout 2021.

The month of July 2021 saw the highest ridership at 38,494, an increase of nearly 500% compared to 6,425 in 2020, but still far below the 85,647 passengers who rode in July 2019.

Passenger on-offs far below 2019 levels

With no trains operating north of Seattle, the six stations between Vancouver, BC and Edmonds saw no train passengers in 2021. The two busiest stations on the Amtrak Cascades corridor—King Street Station in Seattle and Union Station in Portland—saw the next sharpest drops in passengers with approximately 69% and 64% fewer ons and offs in 2021 than in 2019, respectively.

2020

Amtrak Cascades ridership drops dramatically in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic

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.

All of these factors contributed to the drop in ridership, and consequently in revenue, that began in March 2020

Following seven-year-high ridership levels in 2019, and anticipating additional daily trips in 2020, Amtrak Cascades entered 2020 with a projection of one of its best ridership years ever. More than 100,000 passengers rode the trains in January and February, which ultimately accounted for nearly 60% of the ridership for the entire year. Ridership dropped to 21,420 passengers in March 2020—68.2% below March 2019 ridership. In April, this number plummeted to 1,704 passengers riding the trains—a 97.0% decrease from April 2019 levels. Subsequent months saw decreases of between 88% and 96% from 2019 levels.

Pre-pandemic Amtrak Cascades train service consisted of four daily round trips between Seattle and Portland, Oregon; two daily round trips between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia; and two daily round trips between Portland and Eugene, Oregon. In March 2020, as a result of the spread of COVID-19, Amtrak Cascades reduced service to one daily roundtrip between Seattle and Eugene. All other train service was suspended, including all service north of Seattle (due to the Canadian border closure). WSDOT continuously monitored ridership levels and safety standards to determine whether resuming additional trips was warranted, and as a result continued the single, daily round trip for the remainder of 2020.

Passenger on-offs decrease by 79% from 2019 to 2020

The two busiest stations on the Amtrak Cascades corridor—King Street Station in Seattle and Union Station in Portland—saw approximately 81% and 79% fewer ons and offs in 2020 than in 2019, respectively. All stations north of Seattle, where service was suspended beginning in March 2020 due to the pandemic-related closure of the Canadian border, saw decreases in passenger ons and offs of more than 80%. The largest decrease occurred at the Vancouver, British Columbia station, which had 89% fewer Amtrak Cascades passenger ons and offs in 2020 than in 2019.

2019

Amtrak Cascades sees higher ridership 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. The months of January and February saw particularly high increases of 14.8% and 15.4% respectively. This represents nearly 14,000 more riders in just those two months. A portion of this increase is attributable to the lower ridership levels in January and February of 2018 immediately following the derailment of an Amtrak Cascades train in DuPont, Washington.

The two busiest stations on the corridor—King Street Station in Seattle and Union Station in Portland—both served more passengers in 2019 than in 2018, with approximately 4% and 3% more ons and offs respectively.

2018

Amtrak Cascades ticket revenue rises in 2018

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.

This decline was primarily attributable to January 2018 (the month following the derailment), when ridership was 18% lower than in January 2017. Ridership recovered later in 2018, with March and May seeing notable increases over 2017—12.7% and 5%, respectively. As in previous years, 2018 Amtrak Cascades ridership peaked in the summer; July 2018 saw ridership pass 88,000 passengers—the best July in five years.