Amtrak's Borealis line connecting Milwaukee to the Twin Cities and Chicago has maintained a steady ridership and boasts one of the highest load factors of any train service in the region, according to an analysis by The Daily Cardinal.
The route, which debuted on May 21, 2024, is a 13-stop service between Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota, with eight stops in Wisconsin (see map). Daily northbound and southbound trains operate along the route, with service beginning from St. Paul at midday and from Chicago in the late morning. The complete route, running on the same tracks as Amtrak’s Empire Builder, takes about seven and a half hours.
When the route debuted, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) estimated that 232,000 people were projected to ride the new trains in their first full year of service. In October, the line surpassed the 100,000 rider mark and has averaged 20,300 riders per full operating month.
"We've been pleasantly surprised by the excitement and ridership that the new service has created and couldn't be prouder of our partnership," Amtrak President Roger Harris said in an October statement. "The number of full trains, even at mid-week on the Twin Cities-Milwaukee-Chicago corridor, is leading Amtrak and our state partners to look at how we can add capacity."
Unfortunately for University of Wisconsin-Madison students, the nearest station on the Borealis line is over 30 miles from campus in Columbus (see map). There are no current plans to reroute to Madison, but the success of this line may help Madison gain passenger rail access in the future, officials said.
“Strong ridership from day one demonstrates the interest in passenger rail in Wisconsin and is a product of the partnership between Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Amtrak to provide this service to riders,” Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Kristina Boardman said in an October statement. “We will continue to work with our federal and state partners to explore additional passenger rail opportunities.”
One way to measure the success of a train line is a statistic known as the load factor. Load factor measures how long seats are filled for along the service, calculated as a percentage of total passenger miles over total seat miles traveled. A 100% load factor would mean the train was completely full from its origin to its destination.
In reality, passengers get on and off at stops along the route. For the full months of service Amtrak has released data for, the Borealis line has averaged a high 63% load factor, according to an analysis by The Daily Cardinal (see chart).
The seven-and-a-half-hour route averages a speed of 54 miles per hour, taking longer than most routes by car. The existing locomotive used by Amtrak Midwest, the Siemens Charger, can operate at over 100 miles per hour. However, Amtrak rarely runs their trains this fast because the freight-owned track they operate on cannot support higher speeds. Upgrading the current track and grade crossings could allow for higher speeds down the line.
Ty Javier is a senior staff writer and photographer at The Daily Cardinal. He is an Economics major and has specialized in university and campaign finances, economic policy and transit.
