Amtrak’s Borealis beat ridership expectations in first year. Minnesota wants to build on its success.

Amtrak’s Borealis, the passenger rail line running between St. Paul’s Union Depot and Chicago’s Union Station, recently marked its first anniversary.

But there is a bigger reason to celebrate.

Ridership has surpassed the 205,800 mark as of April 30, rolling past original projections from the Minnesota Department of Transportation that showed the line would serve between 125,000 and 135,000 riders annually. The original Amtrak feasibility study from 2015 put that number at 155,500.

Later projections showed as many as 232,000 riders would take the Borealis each year. And with May totals still to come, the 411-mile line may reach that number.

None of that is surprising to Brian Nelson of All Aboard Minnesota, a rail advocacy group.

“We have known for some time the demand has always been there,” Nelson said.

The Borealis debuted on May 21, 2024, and departs St. Paul at 11:49 a.m. daily and arrives in Chicago about 7½ hours later. Trips from the Windy City to Minnesota leave at 11:10 a.m. and arrive in St. Paul about 6:40 p.m.

Nelson said the schedule has a lot to do with the robust ridership as the train goes when people want to go.

“It hits the sweet spot in the time of day it travels,” Nelson said. He said MnDOT did studies to determine when the most people would ride.

“They found the late mornings would have the most ridership and they were right,” Nelson said.

Nelson added the Borealis is appealing to people who don’t like to drive or fly and is popular with young families and students.

In Minnesota, Borealis traffic by station, including total boardings and getting off the train, was 106,581 in St. Paul, 11,336 in Red Wing and 11,372 in Winona, according to Amtrak.

The Empire Builder, another Amtrak route serving Minnesota, also saw passenger gains between May 2024 and April 2025. Together the Empire Builder and Borealis served 293,000 passengers on the Chicago-St. Paul segments, a rise of 227% over the previous year, according to Amtrak

“The ridership numbers clearly demonstrate the need to have safe, reliable transportation options for Minnesotans, and we hope to continue building on its early success,” said state Transportation Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger.

The push for additional Amtrak routes and frequency continues. All Aboard Minnesota continues to advocate for Amtrak to extend Borealis to St. Cloud, Detroit Lakes and the Fargo-Moorhead area.

The group also continues to eye a Twin Cities to Kansas City line where riders could tap into Amtrak’s long-distance routes that run to the East and West Coasts, a line Nelson said “has tremendous potential.”

Across the border in Wisconsin, there are visions of new service that would connect the Twin Cities with Eau Claire and Madison, but that could be years away.

When it comes to trains right now, “there is a lot of excitement and enthusiasm,” Nelson said.

Not all state rail projects have received support. As part of a budget deal, legislative leaders agreed to divert $77 million in state funding set aside for another passenger rail project, the Northern Lights Express that was planned to run from Minneapolis to Duluth.

Last month, four Republicans in the Minnesota congressional delegation signed a letter addressed to a transportation appropriations subcommittee to urge for the elimination of federal funding for the Northern Lights Express project as well as the Northstar commuter rail line and proposed Blue Line light-rail extension, saying there were cost concerns especially as Minnesota prepares for a projected state budget deficit.

It’s prime season for bike riding, even to pedal to work. But for anybody who works downtown Minneapolis, finding secure places to lock up can be hard to find.

Move Minneapolis, a transportation advocacy group, has a webinar set for noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday where four panelists will share their secrets and update us on the Secure Bike Parking pilot that is set to launch in Minneapolis this year.

The webinar is free, but registration is required.