HUTCHINSON, Kan. — With service cuts because of the pandemic, it's no surprise that ridership aboard Amtrak's Southwest Chief fell again in 2021.
According to the ridership report ending the fiscal year Sept. 30, the Chief had a total of 135,900 passengers compared with 186,400 in 2020. It’s far below the 338,200 that rode the Chief before the pandemic in 2019.
Total ridership for Amtrak was just 12.1 million passengers in 2021 compared with 16.8 million in 2020. In 2019, total ridership was 35.5 million.
Amtrak reduced a number of long-distance schedules and operated smaller trains during the pandemic. The Chief’s schedule was reduced to three days per week from October of 2020 to March of 2021.
As far as passenger numbers in Kansas, only 1,797 people boarded or detrained from the Chief in Hutchinson in 2021, less than half of the usual number. Newton, which normally sees about 14,000 passengers per year, had only 6,040. Lawrence had 2,752; Topeka 3,435; Dodge City 2,187 and Garden City 2,816.
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.