Intercity rail travel out of Chicago has outpaced other regions in the U.S. the past year and is projected to grow 10 percent over the next two years. But Chicago lacks capacity to meet this demand. Slower growth is expected from 2028 to 2030 because of lack of peak-period seats and service additions, according to Growth Spurt: The Outlook for Chicago’s Intercity Rail Traffic Through 2030, a new report by the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University.

Chicago Hub ridership is on pace to return to 2019 levels by late 2026 thanks to the addition of new trains like the new Borealis service launched in May 2024 between Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota with funding from Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin; rising Amtrak demand; and past station and track investments.

State-supported rail based in Chicago saw 1.9 million passengers from October 2024 through June 2025, an increase of 8 percent over the same period in the previous federal fiscal year. That growth outpaces other regional passenger rail hubs in North Carolina-Virginia (7.5 percent), California (3.6 percent) and upstate New York-Vermont (0.2 percent). All state-supported lines grew 3.1 percent. Even without the new Borealis service, the Chicago hub saw 4.1 percent growth, the report noted.

The full report can be found here: Chicago Hub Outlook Report.pdf