COLUMBIA COUNTY, Wis. — It has been just over a year since Amtrak launched its Borealis Service, which runs between Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, Minn. The train also makes stops in a variety of cities around Wisconsin, including Columbus, Portage, Wisconsin Dells, Tomah and others.
Amtrak said ridership has exceeded expectations. According to data released by Amtrak, combined ridership on Borealis and Amtrak’s existing long-distance Empire Builder, which runs along the same route, was around 293,000 between May 2024 and the end of April 2025. Officials said that’s nearly a 230% increase from the same time period the previous year.
The growth in passengers in having a positive impact for some smaller stops along the route. Portage is one of the smallest stops along the route in terms of passenger volume; however, City of Portage Business Development Director Steve Sobiek said the increase in passengers has been noticeable.
“We have really gotten a shot in the arm, I think, because we have seen a lot of people, visitors and tourists and potential new residents coming to Portage to take the train. You see it every day in the community. There are new people coming in,” said Sobiek.
Thirty miles to the east, in Columbus, the ridership growth has been noticed as well. Columbus is the closest station to Madison. The station said it saw ridership grow by about 12,000 passengers in the last year. As communities outside Madison continue to grow, Columbus City Administrator Matt Amundson said it is a good selling point.
“I think it is helpful. It doesn’t hurt. The more transportation options you have, anything we can utilize to promote the community to visitors or potential residents is an asset,” said Amundson.