Busier Than Ever: Stations Above Pre-Amtrak Records

[gokeefe]

I have noticed in the last few years that when combined with all passenger rail services that terminals such as Washington Union Station and New York Penn Station appear to be "busier than ever" with passenger counts in excess of the pre-Amtrak era records (most of which were set during WWII).

Are there any other stations currently in this category? I'm guessing Boston North Station and Boston South Station may come close. I understand that the variety and type of services may not be the same as the legacy era but I find the record passenger counts impressive nonetheless.

[Station Aficionado]

Some possibilities: Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento.

[mtuandrew]

Perhaps Chicago Union Station too. It’s always been one of the busiest railroad towns in America, but two of the area stations (Dearborn and Grand Central) have closed since WWII and Metra is doing booming business.

[Station Aficionado]

Central Station in Chicago is also gone, and LaSalle St. is a shadow of its former self (is there anything other than Rock Island line Metra service there?).

Another possibility: Seattle King St. In addition to now having Sounder commuter trains, pre-Amtrak service was split between King St. and Union Station (now Sound Transit HQ).

[Bob Roberts]

I don't have a good sense for the historic numbers but Raleigh might be a possibility. Historic service was split between Seaboard station and the smaller Southern station. Cary's station (which certainly did not exist back in the day) might dilute Raleigh's modern passenger numbers so I guess this could go either way. Its possible that Greensboro and Durham get more passengers now as well.

[ExCon90]

Some possibilities: Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento.

Absolutely--almost Clockers???! Plus all the outlying and intermediate stations served from those points.

[mtuandrew]

Some possibilities: Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento.

Absolutely--almost Clockers???! Plus all the outlying and intermediate stations served from those points.

And San Jose, likely.

[rcthompson04]

I would guess that almost every suburban station as many were rural in the pre-Amtrak era.

[Ridgefielder]

Stamford, CT. Between Amtrak, MN and SLE there's more service there today than there was in the high days of the New Haven Railroad pre-WWI.

[gokeefe]

And that's a great example of why I started this thread. For all the times we bemoan the loss of so many trains there are examples such as this where the service levels are higher than ever.

I understand and appreciate that many routes are no longer available from Stamford but that is due in part to jet engines and not merely automobiles.

[mcgrath618]

30th Street Station??? It's the 3rd most used station in the country now.

[gokeefe]

Yes very likely. Fascinating to think it's now busier than it was during the PRR days ...

[ExCon90]

During the War, Broad Street was still the origin and destination of a lot of trains for which 30th Street was an intermediate stop. For a comparison I think you'd have to combine 30th St. + Broad St. then vs. 30th St. today--and maybe even include North Phila. for Harrisburg-and-west passengers who now use 30th St.

Edit: During the War, 30th St. only had 4 tracks on the lower level; the number was increased to the present 10 in preparation for closing Broad St. in 1952.

[mtuandrew]

During the War, Broad Street was still the origin and destination of a lot of trains for which 30th Street was an intermediate stop. For a comparison I think you'd have to combine 30th St. + Broad St. then vs. 30th St. today--and maybe even include North Phila. for Harrisburg-and-west passengers who now use 30th St.

Edit: During the War, 30th St. only had 4 tracks on the lower level; the number was increased to the present 10 in preparation for closing Broad St. in 1952.

Also Reading Terminal and its regional traffic doesn’t exist anymore; Market East is by no means the same type of station.

[Station Aficionado]

Some possibilities: Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento.

Absolutely--almost Clockers???! Plus all the outlying and intermediate stations served from those points.

And San Jose, likely.

San Jose is interesting. I always feel a little disappointed in its Amtrak ridership (230k in FY18) in comparison with Oakland or Emeryville or even Martinez. I know it doesn’t have the same number of frequencies, but it seems like it could do better. I wonder what the Caltrain and ACE numbers are?