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

Rank	System	Major cities served	Annual ridership (2024) [1]	Average ridership weekdays, Q2 2025 [2]	Route length	Average ridership per mile weekdays, Q2 2025 [2]	Year Opened	Lines	Stations
1	Long Island Rail Road	New York	83,777,900	325,500	321 miles (517 km) [3]	862	1834 [4]	11 [4]	124 [4]
2	Metro-North Railroad	New York / Stamford / New Haven	67,778,000	256,300	385 miles (620 km) [5]	611	1983 [6]	5 [5] [note 1]	122 [5]
3	NJ Transit Rail Operations	New York / Newark / Trenton / Philadelphia	59,447,200	140,666 [note 2]	530 miles (850 km) [7]	265	1983 [8]	11 [9] [note 1]	164 [9]
4	Metra	Chicago, IL	34,877,600	174,400	487.5 miles (784.6 km) [10]	346	1984	11 [10]	243 [10]
5	MBTA Commuter Rail	Boston / Worcester / Providence	30,343,900	102,900	429 miles (690 km) [11]	282	1973	13 [12]	142 [13]
6	SEPTA Regional Rail	Philadelphia / Trenton / Wilmington	22,742,200	84,700	280 miles (450 km) [14]	278	1983	13 [14]	153
7	Denver RTD: A, B, N and G Lines	Denver	8,331,200	32,100	54.09 miles (87.05 km) [15]	518	2016	4	22
8	Caltrain	San Francisco / San Jose	7,201,600	37,600	77 miles (124 km) [16]	321	1863	1	32 [16]
9	Metrolink	Los Angeles / San Bernardino / Anaheim / Riverside / Irvine	5,647,700	21,300	545.7 miles (878.2 km) [17]	35	1992	7 [18]	62 [18]
10	Tri-Rail	Miami / Fort Lauderdale	4,952,500	15,800	80 miles (130 km) [19]	193	1987	2 [19]	19 [19]
11	MARC Train	Baltimore / Washington, D.C.	4,187,100	19,300	187 miles (301 km)	74	1984	3	43
12	FrontRunner	Salt Lake City	4,128,700	13,800	88 miles (142 km)	170	2008	1	16
13	Sounder commuter rail	Seattle / Tacoma	1,875,400	7,900	82 miles (132 km) [20]	88	2000	2	12 [20]
14	South Shore Line	Chicago / South Bend	1,766,600	6,500	90 miles (140 km) [21]	70	1908	1	18
15	Virginia Railway Express	Washington, D.C.	1,605,300	11,000	90 miles (140 km) [22]	70	1992	2 [22]	18 [22]
16	eBART	Contra Costa County, CA	1,286,400	4,900	10.1 miles (16.3 km)	446	2018	1	3
17	Keystone Service	Philadelphia / Harrisburg	1,269,005	3,200 [note 3]	104.6 miles (168.3 km)	31	1972	1	12
18	Trinity Railway Express	Dallas / Fort Worth	1,265,500	4,600	34 miles (55 km)	121	1996	1	10
19	SunRail	Orlando	1,215,400	5,200	49 miles (79 km) [23]	94	2014	1	17
20	Capitol Corridor	San Jose / Oakland / Sacramento	1,032,632	1,847 [note 3]	168 miles (270 km)	11	1991	1	15
21	Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit	San Rafael / Santa Rosa	973,700	4,200	48 miles (77 km)	76	2017	1	14 [24]
22	Coaster	San Diego / Oceanside	871,200	3,200	41 miles (66 km) [25]	73	1995 [25]	1 [25]	8 [25]
23	TEXRail	Fort Worth	809,300	2,400	27 miles (43 km)	81	2019	1	9
24	Rail Runner Express	Albuquerque / Santa Fe	773,900	2,600	97 miles (156 km)	29	2006	1	13
25	Altamont Corridor Express	San Jose / Stockton	763,800	2,900	86 miles (138 km) [26]	36	1998	1 [26]	10 [26]
26	Downeaster	Boston / Brunswick, ME	591,948	1,219 [note 3]	148 miles (238 km)	8	2001	1	12
27	CapMetro Rail	Austin	562,600	2,000	32 miles (51 km) [27]	50	2010	1	9 [27]
28	A-Train	Denton, TX	273,000	900	21 miles (34 km)	48	2011	1	6
29	Shore Line East	New Haven	176,979	600	59 miles (95 km)	10	1990	1	13
30	Northstar Line	Minneapolis	127,400	400	40 miles (64 km)	13	2009	1	7
31	WeGo Star	Nashville	125,900	500	32 miles (51 km)	16	2006	1	7
32	WES Commuter Rail	Beaverton, OR, Wilsonville	118,900	500	14.7 miles (23.7 km)	20	2009	1	5

Systems excluded from ridership table

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

• Commuter rail in North America
• List of rail transit systems in the United States
• List of United States light rail systems
• List of United States local bus agencies
• List of United States rapid transit systems

Notes

1. 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. 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. Q4 2022

References

1. "Public Transportation Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2023" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association (APTA). February 19, 2025. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
2. "Transit Ridership Report Second Quarter 2025" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. August 27, 2025. Retrieved 2025-08-29.
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. "Long Island Rail Road - General Information". Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Retrieved 2014-03-23.
5. "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. "NJ Transit Facts at a Glance Fiscal Year 2015" (PDF). NJ Transit. March 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
10. "Operations and Ridership Data". Metra. 2016. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
11. "Commuter Rail Safety and Resiliency Program". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on 2022-11-02. Retrieved 2025-03-28.
12. "MBTA STATE OF THE SERVICE Commuter Rail" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). 2014. p. 3. Retrieved 2019-06-26.
13. "Schedules: Commuter Rail". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2025-03-28.
14. "SEPTA - Media Guide" (PDF). SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority). 2013. p. 7. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
15. "RTD - Facts & Figures". Regional Transportation District. April 4, 2020. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
16. "Caltrain Modernization Quarterly Update" (PDF). Caltrain. February 2016. p. 2. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
17. "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.
18. "Metrolink Southern California Regional Rail Authority Fact Sheet" (PDF). Metrolink. 2018. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
19. "Transportation Division - Moving Around - Tri-Rail". City of Fort Lauderdale . Retrieved 2016-05-27.
20. "Sound Transit Transit Development Plan 2024–2029" (PDF). Sound Transit. August 22, 2024. pp. 9, 24–25. Retrieved 2025-04-08.
21. 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...
22. "VRE Strategic Plan Executive Summary" (PDF). Virginia Railway Express. May 2004. p. v. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
23. "SunRail Celebrates Phase 2 Groundbreaking". SunRail. April 22, 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
24. "Stations".
25. "COASTER Fact Sheet" (PDF). North County Transit District. January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
26. Dan Leavitt (July 23, 2015). "ACEforward IMPROVING THE ALTAMONT CORRIDOR EXPRESS" (PDF). San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission. p. 1. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
27. "Data and Statistics - Fast Facts". Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2013. Retrieved 2014-05-22.