Amtrak is on pace for an annual ridership record, with the national passenger railroad seeing 24.1 million riders since the start of its fiscal year in October, up 18 percent compared to the same period a year prior. The Northeast Corridor is responsible for a lot of that — 9.18 million, to be specific — but its regional routes are really seeing success as travelers hop trains rather than drive. The number of riders on the Cascades route in the Pacific Northwest hit 550,000, up 48 percent, and the Pacific Surfliner route in Southern California hit 1.22 million riders, up 34 percent.
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