After countless cross-country flights over the years, I recently decided to take the scenic route from Los Angeles to Chicago on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief.
The multi-day train ride cost nearly four times as much as flying and took about 38 hours longer — but it also came with stunning desert views, communal meals with strangers, and games of chess with my husband. Afterward, I was already scheming our next long train trip.
Turns out I’m not the only American rediscovering the delights of train travel.
Amtrak had a record year in 2025, reporting more riders and higher revenue than ever before in its 54-year history. For its fiscal year, which ended in September, the quasi-public national rail service recorded 34.5 million customer trips and $2.7 billion in adjusted ticket revenue, representing a 10% year-over-year increase — even as the company relies on federal funding as it strives to become operationally profitable by 2028.
Something is happening on American rails, driven by investments in Amtrak, rising demand, and growing frustrations with flying and driving. As roads get more crowded and airlines pile on fees, more travelers are turning to trains as a calmer alternative that also aligns with rising interest in lower-emission and experience-driven travel.
Amtrak has benefited from significant investments
Though set up as a for-profit corporation, Amtrak is majority-owned by the US government and operates as a federally chartered corporation. Congress created Amtrak in 1970 because private railroads were losing money on their passenger operations, but train service was considered an important public good.
Today, Amtrak has three main types of service: the Northeast corridor, which runs from Boston to Washington, DC, with many stops in between; the long-distance routes that travel cross-country; and shorter distance state-supported routes.
The Northeast corridor is the “crown jewel” for Amtrak, making up the bulk of its ridership, particularly on short trips between major East Coast cities, according to Allan Zarembski, a professor and director of the University of Delaware’s Railroad Engineering and Safety Program.
Marc Magliari, a spokesperson for Amtrak, also told me that a large majority of Amtrak’s ridership is on its shorter routes, rather than cross-country journeys.
Common complaints about Amtrak include frequent delays as well as aging and poorly maintained train cars, but recent investments have added to its appeal.
“They’ve been making some significant capital investments, and that’s turned out to be a winning strategy,” Sarah Kaufman, director of New York University’s Rudin Center for Transportation, told Business Insider.
The 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill included $22 billion to go directly to Amtrak over five years to replace aging assets, improve its stations, and modernize its fleet.
“They’ve improved the tracks and the trains and the stations, making it a much better experience for travelers,” Kaufman said, adding it has resulted in more on-time trains and more comfortable facilities.
The rail service invested a record $5.5 billion in capital projects in its 2025 fiscal year, marking a 24% year-over-year increase. Those investments include rolling out its newer, faster NextGen Acela trains in the Northeast, adding new long-distance locomotives and upgrades to its Superliner fleet.
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Amtrak still faces challenges. Its long-distance trains, which often run on tracks owned by freight railroads, can be delayed by congestion or weather, and some routes still struggle with aging equipment. But experts said those issues are less noticeable on shorter, high-demand corridors, where most of its riders are traveling.
Riding the train can be more appealing than driving or flying
“If the choice between a train and a car or an airplane is close, people will very frequently take the train,” Zarembski told Business Insider, adding that the comparing factors are typically cost, convenience, and comfort.
Magliari, the Amtrak spokesperson, said driving is Amtrak’s primary competition and that it has become more unpleasant, with drivers on their phones and navigating more congested roads.
“That’s the best advertisement for Amtrak,” he said.
Train passengers can also be productive on their journey, unlike when they’re driving. “Windshield time is wasted time,” he said. Amtrak passengers, on the other hand, “are running up billable hours for their clients because they’re actually able to work.”
Amtrak also competes with flying in some markets, typically on shorter distance trips in the Northeast or Midwest, allowing it to swoop in and attract customers who don’t want to deal with rising airline prices and add-on fees.
In many ways, taking the train is easier than flying — and it’s often price-competitive on the shorter distance routes, Zarembski said.
“You don’t have to restrict the size of the items you bring on board. You don’t have to have a takeoff and landing process, and the boarding process is simpler,” Kaufman said. “You can look out the window at great scenery. There’s a lot to love about riding the train.”
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Political and cultural forces impact Amtrak
Since its creation, Amtrak has never been profitable, a fact its critics frequently point out. Zarembski said that’s the norm for passenger rail services around the world. While some are able to cover their operating costs, he said that almost none can pay their capital costs.
“So when Amtrak needs new equipment, somebody has to pay for that, and it’s not going to be the fare box,” he said. That’s where federal funding decisions come in.
Amtrak has noted it was not created with the expectation of profitability, but to provide efficient and effective passenger rail service. It also notes that other federally subsidized transportation services, like highways, public transit, and air services, are not profitable and are not expected to be.
Still, Zarembski said the “elephant in the room” when it comes to Amtrak is politics.
When the political environment is favorable to passenger rail, federal funding tends to follow, and when supporters wanes, that’s when Amtrak starts to struggle, he said, adding that the past several years have been “passenger-friendly.”
Kaufman said having a “pro-Amtrak president” in former President Joe Biden — who was nicknamed “Amtrak Joe” thanks to his love of trains and daily Amtrak commute while in Congress — was extraordinarily helpful to the rail service, and that it’s hard to predict what the future will hold for capital investments in Amtrak.
She added that Amtrak has been “smartly investing” in things like real estate around its stations that could provide a more sustainable source of income.
There’s also been a cultural shift toward environmentally friendly, or lower-emission, and experiential travel that has helped Amtrak. Magliari said the rail service is performing very well with younger demographics.
“You see more of the country and more of people’s backyards, for good or not, on our trains. And that’s part of the experience too,” he said. “The clouds all pretty much look the same at 35,000 feet. The country looks very different at ground level.”
