Amtrak Virginia had its highest ridership ever last year

The big picture: Just under 1.4 million passengers traveled on the VPRA's four Amtrak routes in 2024, a 4.3% increase over the previous year — and a 45% increase over its pre-pandemic record set in 2019, according to the agency.

Zoom in: Route 51, which runs from Main Street Station in downtown Richmond to Union Station in D.C., saw the biggest year-over-year increase in ridership by percentage.

• That route went from 139,541, passengers in 2023 to 149,132 last year, a 6.9% increase.
• Route 50, Norfolk to D.C., added the most passengers overall, going from 490,719 riders in 2020 to 515,448 (+5%) last year.
• Route 47, Newport News to D.C., and Route 46, Roanoke to D.C., also posted increases, reporting 381,675 riders (+4.9%) and 343,585 (+3.5%), respectively last year.

Of note: The stats are only for Amtrak's state-support lines, so regular routes out of Staples Mill — the south's busiest train station — aren't included in these numbers.

Plus: All of the routes make multiple stops along the way, so riders didn't necessarily end their trip in D.C.; they could've gotten off along the way, Karina Romero with VPRA tells Axios.

• The Norfolk and Newport News trains also stop in Richmond and the Roanoke routes goes through Charlottesville.

The bottom line: Virginians are traveling all over the state — and they're increasingly taking the train to get there.