Train ridership on Amtrak hits record levels in Nebraska
By Bill Kelly
, Senior Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media
Dec. 26, 2024, 6 a.m. ·

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Ridership on Amtrak in Nebraska has doubled in the past two years.
According to data from the passenger rail carrier, ticket sales broke records nationwide in Fiscal Year 2024.
The California Zephyr, the cross-country line serving Nebraska, makes one eastbound and one westbound stop at five stations.

It's a historic route traveling between Chicago and the San Francisco area. According to Amtrak's annual report released this month, over 350,000 people used that line. That's an increase of 6.9% over the previous year.
Across its entire system, 32.8 million customers bought tickets, a one-year increase in ridership of 14.8%. Announcing the numbers, Amtrak claimed it was "an all-time ridership record" for the carrier since taking over American passenger rail in 1970.
Ticket sales also represent a significant rebound from the loss of ridership during the 2020 pandemic.
Marc Magliari, Midwest spokesperson for the rail carrier, says the company has found increasing interest among younger travelers and vacationers.
"The quality of travel for driving and for flying is just not what it was, (so) it makes people look for options," Magliari said. "That's a large part of people taking Amtrak."
The 18% increase in Nebraska ticket sales outpaced the system's 15% increase.
The schedules are less than ideal for Nebraska travelers since the Zephyr arrives and departs in the middle of the night.
In Magliari's words, Amtrak is "invisible in some places in Nebraska" because people rarely see the train passing through town. He added that interest in taking the train "is not a tough sell, as long as we're reliable."

The overnight scheduling of the cross-country trains to Midwestern locations has been a historic necessity to give passengers the best daytime views of the Rocky Mountains.
Over 44,000 passengers boarded at one of five stations stretching from Omaha to McCook.
Ridership by station in the past year, according to Amtrak:
- Omaha 22,893
- Lincoln 11,607
- Hastings 4,413
- Holdrege 1,710
- McCook 3,584
Using federal infrastructure dollars, the Amtrak depots in Hastings and Holdrege received significant upgrades to improve accessibility and comfort.
The Zephyr has one of the worst on-time records on the Amtrak system, largely due to sharing the tracks with freight trains. However, the Federal Railroad Administration recently reported substantial improvements in on-time performance over the past year.