Amtrak Borealis trains served over 100,000 riders since May

Ridership on Amtrak's new state-sponsored Borealis rail service between Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota, passed the 100,000th passenger mark this week, Amtrak officials announced yesterday.

Launched less than six months ago, the Borealis trains travel between Chicago and St. Paul, with a stop in Milwaukee, twice daily. Amtrak operates the service under contracts with the Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin state departments of transportation.

"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,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris in a press release.

Reaching the 100,000-passenger milestone so soon after the service began demonstrates the public's appetite for multiple transportation modes between cities, said Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman.

Added Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Kristina Boardman: “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. We will continue to work with our federal and state partners to explore additional passenger-rail opportunities.”