CHICAGO — Amtrak says ridership on the St. Paul-Chicago route is up 227% since the introduction of the Borealis, which made its debut one year ago today, on May 21, 2024.
Preliminary figures through the first 11 months of service show more than 205,800 riders on the Borealis, funded by the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, and more than 293,000 on the route when including Empire Builder passengers.
“Amtrak is proud to celebrate a successful first year of the Borealis — and it’s only going to improve next year and beyond,” company president Roger Harris said in a press release. “Thanks to strong collaboration with our partners, we have exceeded expectations and provided a reliable, efficient, and safe way to travel between the Twin Cities and Chicago via Milwaukee.”
Officials in the three states also celebrated the year-old train’s strong ridership. Minnesota Transportation Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger said “the service has exceeded so many of our expectations, with ridership surpassing projections,” while Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Kristina Boardman said the train has “become a resounding success story and the ridership data reflects that. Said acting Illinois Transportation Secretary Gia Biagi, “The demand for convenient, reliable passenger rail in Illinois always has been strong, but the early success of the Borealis line shows that appetite extends beyond our borders and throughout the Midwest.”
Biagi also said Illinois looks forward to “working with our partner states on ways to strengthen service in the years ahead and explore future opportunities to offer more travel options for our residents and visitors.”
Borealis ridership has been strong from the start [see “Amtrak’s Borealis hits 100,000-passenger mark …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 25, 2025]. Its early success sparked discussion of adding another train on the route, with Wisconsin beginning a study of that possibility late last year thanks to Federal Railroad Administration Corridor ID funding [see “Wisconsin begins study …,” News Wire, Nov. 29, 2024].
Enjoy a glimpse of the Borealis experience in the
Trains.com Video, “Amtrak Borealis routes into the Upper Midwest”
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