List of United States commuter rail systems

The following is a list of commuter rail systems in the United States, ranked by ridership. All figures come from the American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) Ridership Reports Statistics for the fourth quarter of 2023,[1] unless otherwise indicated.

List

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Rank System Major cities
served
Annual
ridership
(2023)[1]
Average
ridership
weekdays, Q3 2024[2]
Route
miles
Daily Ridership
per mile
(Q1 2023)
Year
Opened
Lines Stations
1 Long Island Rail Road New York 75,186,900 276,800 321[3] 791 1834[4] 11[4] 124[4]
2 Metro-North Railroad New York / Stamford / New Haven 60,569,700 235,300 385[5] 492 1983[6] 5[5][note 1] 122[5]
3 NJ Transit Rail Operations New York / Newark / Trenton / Philadelphia 57,179,000 140,666[note 2] 530[7] 265 1983[8] 11[9][note 1] 164[9]
4 Metra Chicago 31,894,900 168,600 487.5[10] 243 1984 11[10] 241[10]
5 MBTA Commuter Rail Boston / Worcester / Providence 26,190,500 109,300 388[11] 220 1973 13[11] 127[11]
6 SEPTA Regional Rail Philadelphia / Trenton / Wilmington 17,910,709[12] 77,700 280[13] 173 1983 13[13] 153
7 Denver RTD:
A, B, N and G Lines
Denver 8,559,700 19,850[note 2] 40[14] 496 2016 4 20
8 Caltrain San Francisco / San Jose 5,443,800 24,700 77[15] 207 1863 1 32[15]
9 Metrolink Los Angeles / San Bernardino / Anaheim / Riverside / Irvine 4,861,000 19,200 545.7[16] 39 1992 7[17] 62[17]
10 Tri-Rail Miami / Fort Lauderdale 4,402,300 15,400 80.0[18] 183 1987 2[18] 19[18]
11 MARC Train Baltimore / Washington, D.C. 3,860,600 13,900 187 63 1984 3 43
12 FrontRunner Salt Lake City 3,736,600 15,000 88 140 2008 1 16
13 Sounder commuter rail Seattle / Tacoma 1,630,000 7,300 83[19] 61 2000 2 9
14 Virginia Railway Express Washington, D.C. 1,537,000 6,300 90[20] 60 1992 2[20] 18[20]
15 South Shore Line Chicago / South Bend 1,406,900 6,300 90[21] 51 1908 1 18
16 eBART Contra Costa County, California 1,292,200 4,500 10.1 435 2018 1 3
17 Trinity Railway Express Dallas / Fort Worth 1,163,600 4,100 34 112 1996 1 10
18 Keystone Service Philadelphia / Harrisburg 1,115,779 3,200[note 3] 104.6 31 1972 1 12
19 SunRail Orlando 1,083,300 4,600 49[22] 88 2014 1 17
20 Capitol Corridor San Jose / Oakland / Sacramento 921,112 1,847[note 3] 168 11 1991 1 15
21 Coaster San Diego / Oceanside 831,800 3,000 41[23] 49 1995[23] 1[23] 8[23]
22 Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit San Rafael / Santa Rosa 749,700 3,400 45 46 2017 1 12[24]
23 TEXRail Fort Worth 714,800 2,200 27 62 2019 1 9
24 Rail Runner Express Albuquerque / Santa Fe 584,400 2,800 97 18 2006 1 13
25 Altamont Corridor Express San Jose / Stockton 576,300 3,100 86[25] 22 1998 1[25] 10[25]
26 Downeaster Boston / Brunswick, Maine 542,639 1,219[note 3] 148 8 2001 1 12
27 CapMetro Rail Austin 485,400 1,600 32[26] 46 2010 1 9[26]
28 A-Train Denton, Texas 233,500 1,000 21 28 2011 1 6
29 Shore Line East New Haven 176,979 600 59 10 1990 1 13
30 Northstar Line Minneapolis 142,200 500 40 8 2009 1 7
31 WES Commuter Rail Beaverton, Oregon 116,300 300 15 33 2009 1 5
32 WeGo Star Nashville 108,000 500 32 13 2006 1 7

Systems excluded from ridership table

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System Largest city(s) served Opened Route length Reason(s) for exclusion from Ridership table
Hartford Line Hartford / New Haven / Springfield 2018 63 APTA does not provide ridership figures for this system.
Arrow San Bernardino 2022 9 This system is currently too new for APTA to provide ridership figures.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b There are 3 lines operated directly by Metro North, the Harlem Line, Hudson Line, and New Haven Line. The Port Jervis Line is operated under contract by NJ Transit, which also owns the Pascack Valley Line that extends into New York. The New Haven Line has 3 branch lines, the New Canaan Branch, Danbury Branch, and Waterbury Branch.
  2. ^ a b This is the Average Daily Ridership figure, not an "Average Weekday Ridership" figure – it is averaged from the 2023 First Quarter Ridership figure for this system.
  3. ^ a b c Q4 2022

References

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  1. ^ a b "Public Transportation Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2023" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association (APTA). March 4, 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
  2. ^ "Transit Ridership Report Third Quarter 2024" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. November 20, 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  3. ^ "Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Years Ended December 31, 2012 and 2011" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). June 21, 2013. p. 146. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
  4. ^ a b c "Long Island Rail Road - General Information". Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  5. ^ a b c "Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Years Ended December 31, 2012 and 2011" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). June 21, 2013. p. 147. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
  6. ^ "MTA Metro-North Railroad - MNR About MNR". Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  7. ^ "New Jersey State Rail Plan" (PDF). State of New Jersey, Department of Transportation. April 2015. p. ES-5. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  8. ^ "NJ Transit - About Us - History & Structure". NJ Transit. 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  9. ^ a b "NJ Transit Facts at a Glance Fiscal Year 2015" (PDF). NJ Transit. March 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  10. ^ a b c "Operations and Ridership Data". Metra. 2016. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  11. ^ a b c "MBTA STATE OF THE SERVICE Commuter Rail" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). 2014. p. 3. Retrieved 2019-06-26.
  12. ^ "Route Operating Statistics". Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  13. ^ a b "SEPTA - Media Guide" (PDF). SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority). 2013. p. 7. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  14. ^ "RTD - Facts & Figures". Regional Transportation District. April 4, 2020. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
  15. ^ a b "Caltrain Modernization Quarterly Update" (PDF). Caltrain. February 2016. p. 2. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  16. ^ "Metrolink Celebrates 30th Anniversary by Gifting Customers and Introducing New Logo". Metrolink Celebrates 30th Anniversary by Gifting Customers and Introducing New Logo (Press release). October 26, 2022. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
  17. ^ a b c "Transportation Division - Moving Around - Tri-Rail". City of Fort Lauderdale. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  18. ^ "2015 Financial Plan" (PDF). Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit). June 2015. p. 3. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  19. ^ a b c "VRE Strategic Plan Executive Summary" (PDF). Virginia Railway Express. May 2004. p. v. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
  20. ^ Jay Jones (July 8, 2012). "Dunes Country choo-choo". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2016-05-27. Along the 90-mile route, sightseeing and recreational opportunities are plentiful...
  21. ^ "SunRail Celebrates Phase 2 Groundbreaking". SunRail. April 22, 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  22. ^ a b c d "COASTER Fact Sheet" (PDF). North County Transit District. January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
  23. ^ "Stations".
  24. ^ a b c Dan Leavitt (July 23, 2015). "ACEforward IMPROVING THE ALTAMONT CORRIDOR EXPRESS" (PDF). San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission. p. 1. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  25. ^ a b "Data and Statistics - Fast Facts". Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2013. Retrieved 2014-05-22.