By the numbers
Ridership on Amtrak’s “Hiawatha” service between Milwaukee and Chicago grew only 4.7% in fiscal year 2024 compared to the year prior, according to the railroad’s end-of-year report.
Approximately 665,300 people rode the line between Oct. 1, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2024. While that represents an increase of more than 30,000 people compared to fiscal year 2023, it still falls short of the line’s historical peak ridership of more than 873,500 in fiscal year 2019. Ridership on the line cratered during the COVID-19 pandemic and has yet to fully recover.
In May of 2024, Amtrak added the state-supported “Borealis” service between Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul, with a stop in Milwaukee. Figures provided by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation show that an additional 26,711 riders used the Borealis line to ride between Chicago and Milwaukee in fiscal year 2024.
The Badger Institute previously reported on Amtrak ridership in 2023 in relation to Governor Tony Evers’ proposal to expand Amtrak service in the state.
As the Badger Institute then reported, state funding is required to pay for “any operating costs not covered by ticket revenue.” For fiscal year 2024, the shortfall between ticket revenue and operating expenses on the Hiawatha service was $14.3 million, or $21.49 per ride.
The underlying numbers
| Fiscal year ending in | Hiawatha riders (000) |
| 2007 | 595.3 |
| 2008 | 749.7 |
| 2009 | 738.2 |
| 2010 | 783.1 |
| 2011 | 819.5 |
| 2012 | 838.4 |
| 2013 | 778.5 |
| 2014 | 799.6 |
| 2015 | 799.3 |
| 2016 | 807.7 |
| 2017 | 829.0 |
| 2018 | 844.4 |
| 2019 | 873.5 |
| 2020 | 403.1 |
| 2021 | 241.6 |
| 2022 | 501.9 |
| 2023 | 635.0 |
| 2024 | 665.3 |
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